OpEdNews - Article: Attack of the GMOs: GMO Alfalfa Will Make Organic Dairy Impossible

The USDA and Secretary Vilsack, in collaboration with Monsanto, are about to lift a court-ordered ban on Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) "Roundup Ready" alfalfa. This GMO would have disastrous effects on US and global agriculture. Genetically engineered alfalfa would be the first perennial GM crop, and would result in a huge increase of toxic RoundUp in the environment. It would widely expose livestock to both genetically-engineered genes and pesticide residues. It would especially affect cows and horses - their health, their reproduction, and their byproducts, particularly milk.

Alfalfa pollen is carried far and wide by the wind and bees, so the presence of GM alfalfa in the environment would contaminate organic alfalfa, rendering organic dairy impossible. Consumers who eat alfalfa sprouts would be exposed directly, as well as those who eat meat.

This is the most serious GMO threat yet to your health, as it creates a legal precedent at the Supreme Court level for GMO contamination to be acceptable for any crop, with the support of the USDA (see Background below).

To prevent this, action needs to be taken before the Wednesday, March 3 deadline. Steps you can take:

1. Follow the directions in the True Food Network page pasted below to conveniently call your Senators and Representatives on Monday and Tuesday, and tell them that they should not support the commercialization of GM-alfalfa. This will have a strong impact, as there have not been enough comments to date.

2. Follow this link: http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=14469696 to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) where you can send the OCA email letter by clicking "take action now." This will take only about 2 minutes and can be done on the weekend.

3. Submit comments directly to the USDA at: http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480a6b7a1. You can write your own comments from the points below and above, or copy and paste the letter found at the OCA link: http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=14469696 , in the "Take Action Now" section. This will take you 4-5 minutes and can be done on the weekend, and will have a strong impact.

". . . Alfalfa is the fourth most widely grown crop in the U.S. and a key source of dairy forage. The first perennial crop to be genetically engineered, GE alfalfa can regenerate itself from its root-stock. It is open-pollinated by bees, which can cross-pollinate at distances of several miles, spreading the patented, foreign DNA to conventional and organic crops. GMO-contamination of organic alfalfa is inevitable if the Obama Administration successfully commercializes Monsanto's GM alfalfa. Consumers who ingest Roundup Ready alfalfa genes are risking their health; according to the Environmental Impact Study, "acute toxicity in mice was observed.'"

[Thanks to Susel and John Fagan for the alert.]