GE CONTAMINATION & 2,4-D COMMENT PERIOD DEADLINES

Speak out! Deadlines as follows:

COMMENT ON COEXISTENCE   HERE  DUE:   MARCH 4  COMMENT ON2,4-D RESISTANT CORN & SOY     HERE DUE: MARCH 11  VOICE YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT GMO CONTAMINATION The USDA currently has two comment periods open on decisions that will have serious and long lasting impacts on our food supply and the spread of GMOs. The first concerns agricultural "coexistence" or how GMO and non-GMO crops can grow side by side. The second concerns the approval of the use of 2,4-D resistant corn and soy bean plants. These are separate decisions but both offer a chance for you to voice your concern or opinion with the USDA's unwillingness to seriously regulate GMO's, denying choice to America's farmers and consumers. "Coexistence" It only takes a speck of pollen to spread the genes from GMO to organic and other non-GMO farms. Companies that own those genes don't take any responsibility for the contamination and the damage it causes. Farmers whose crops have been contaminated must shoulder all of the costs and burdens of trying to prevent contamination and not only stand to lose income, but are even at risk of being sued for patent infringement by biotech companies! Farmers deserve to have choice in what they grow and sell! Now is an opportunity to start to change how our government regulates GMO technology and to hold biotech companies accountable. The USDA is accepting public comments on recommendations concerning agricultural "coexistence" or how GMO and non-GMO crops can grow side by side, without threatening the other. But make no mistake, until the USDA protects non-GMO farmers and concerned consumers from contamination, there can be no "coexistence." We need real, mandatory measures that prevent GMO contamination, and the assurance that companies like Monsanto, not farmers, will be held accountable for the serious impacts of GMO contamination. Let your voice be heard and submit your comment to the USDA today! Tell Secretary Vilsack to use his authority to fully investigate the state of contamination in our seed and food supply and reform USDA's weak framework for regulating GMOs and evaluate their safety as well as their potential for economic harm. The USDA should prevent GMO contamination now by issuing mandatory contamination prevention measures and make biotech pay for contamination. Non-GMO farmers deserve fair compensation when contamination occurs and should not be the ones forced to purchase additional crop insurance to protect themselves, as currently proposed. Go to http://sustainableagriculture.net/take-action/coexist/ now for step by step instructions on how to comment or comment immediately to the USDA here. You only have till March 4! 2,4-D Resistant Corn and Soy Beans Make corn and soybeans resistant to Roundup, spray Roundup everywhere, weeds become resistant to Roundup.   Make corn and soy beans resistant to main ingredient of Agent Orange (2,4-D), spray everywhere, wait for weeds to become resistant. This seems to strategy of big Ag, and USDA is doing nothing to stop them. Roundup ready crops were released in 1994 and, after 20 years of regular spraying glyphosate to maintain the monoculture, there are now glyphosate resistant weeds covering 60 million acres of American farmland.  Instead of looking towards more sustainable weed management techniques being pioneered by organic farmers across the country, the USDA announced it will allow the release of Dow AgroSciences' new genetically corn and seeds designed to be used with Dow's infamous herbicide 2,4-D, which was a major component of Agent Orangeand initially developed as a chemical weapon during World War II. There is little chance the USDA will rescind its decision to allow 2,4-D resistant corn and soy beans and there are reports that salesman are already pushing the seeds on farmers throughout the Midwest. But let's not give up the fight! Submit your comment to the USDA today urging to keep 2,4-D resistant seeds off the market. Tell USDA that we don't need more seed bred for companion herbicides. We need more seed bred for low-input systems that are adapted to diverse regions, ecologies, climates, and markets. Read more about 2,4-D resistant crops on the Union of Concerned Scientists' website and Pesticide Action Network's website. Submit your comment to the USDA by March 11! Let's make sure the USDA knows we are watching and won't stand for the continued destruction of natural resources in the name of giant agribusinesses' profits!

NOFA-NY is a statewide organization leading a growing movement of   farmers, consumers, gardeners, and businesses committed    to promoting local, organic food and farming.  www.nofany.org