On the interest of sharing another perspective on this, I am re-posting Cornucopia's response here:
The three companies in question decided to split with most of the organizations in the organic community, like Cornucopia, that recommended not approving genetically engineered alfalfa for release.
They favored a compromise that would have attempted to protect organic farmers through new regulations allowing for “coexistence.” We unfortunately feel, along with our scientific advisers, alfalfa seed producers and farmers, that coexistence is impossible and we would’ve ended up with widespread genetic contamination.
Although we did not agree with their ill-conceived approach I would not say that they “sided with Monsanto.” And in the end the USDA was not willing to make any compromises.
Sadly, who knows how many comments could have been received by the White House, asking the president to ban genetically engineered alfalfa, if these companies, with hundreds of thousands of followers via e-mail and social networking, would’ve worked with the rest of the organic community.
Although USDA Secretary Vilsack said this was not politically possible, he reports to the President. And if Mr. Obama had felt enough heat he might have thought twice about the political implications of approval.
Cornucopia will aggressively pursue possible additional legal action against the USDA to block the release of genetically engineered alfalfa.
In the meantime, the only thing we can all do, as farmers or consumers, is contact the White House and ask Mr. Obama, and the first lady, to think about the benefits their own organic garden has for their children and to overturn this corporate-friendly ruling. [PRW Editor in Chief's note--Unfortunately, the WH garden is not organic, as PRW has previously reported, Toxic Sludge Taints the White House (and, in fact, the WH conceded the garden was not organic and even promoted that fact, here).]
We respect the work of the Organic Consumers Association, and understand why its leadership and members feel so aggrieved. But we do not support boycotting Stonyfield, Whole Foods or Organic Valley. That would seriously injure the many family-scale farmers who supply those brands.
We certainly don’t believe that the CEOs of these organic giants were intentionally doing anything to injure the organic movement. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to all of us—we are all smarter when working together.
This store is called a quality food store NOT a health food store. Appropriate as it now demonstrates a lack of concern for health with the endorsement of the very evil empire previously demonized.The ONLY right action is boycott.
You might want to temporarily suspend your disbelief and see if you can find some information that helps you understand that there is a difference between your local day-to-day weather and the global climatic trends. There's a reason that the price of wheat doubled this year, it's heat in other regions of the world. While you get to see snow this winter (go figure) the former Soviet Union saw record heat last summer, leading unprecedented crop failures, and in case you can't stomach the mere mention of a communist country, look at what just happened to Australia...
It's morons like you that keep science from entering its proper place in political debate. You may think it's patriotic to flack for environmental degradation in order to preserve you hedge fund bets on coal, oil and natural gas, but it's not going to stop your grand children from cursing your lack of understanding.
On the interest of sharing another perspective on this, I am re-posting Cornucopia's response here:
The three companies in question decided to split with most of the organizations in the organic community, like Cornucopia, that recommended not approving genetically engineered alfalfa for release.
They favored a compromise that would have attempted to protect organic farmers through new regulations allowing for “coexistence.” We unfortunately feel, along with our scientific advisers, alfalfa seed producers and farmers, that coexistence is impossible and we would’ve ended up with widespread genetic contamination.
Although we did not agree with their ill-conceived approach I would not say that they “sided with Monsanto.” And in the end the USDA was not willing to make any compromises.
Sadly, who knows how many comments could have been received by the White House, asking the president to ban genetically engineered alfalfa, if these companies, with hundreds of thousands of followers via e-mail and social networking, would’ve worked with the rest of the organic community.
Although USDA Secretary Vilsack said this was not politically possible, he reports to the President. And if Mr. Obama had felt enough heat he might have thought twice about the political implications of approval.
Cornucopia will aggressively pursue possible additional legal action against the USDA to block the release of genetically engineered alfalfa.
In the meantime, the only thing we can all do, as farmers or consumers, is contact the White House and ask Mr. Obama, and the first lady, to think about the benefits their own organic garden has for their children and to overturn this corporate-friendly ruling. [PRW Editor in Chief's note--Unfortunately, the WH garden is not organic, as PRW has previously reported, Toxic Sludge Taints the White House (and, in fact, the WH conceded the garden was not organic and even promoted that fact, here).]
We respect the work of the Organic Consumers Association, and understand why its leadership and members feel so aggrieved. But we do not support boycotting Stonyfield, Whole Foods or Organic Valley. That would seriously injure the many family-scale farmers who supply those brands.
We certainly don’t believe that the CEOs of these organic giants were intentionally doing anything to injure the organic movement. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to all of us—we are all smarter when working together.
Best regards,
Mark A. Kastel, Codirector
This store is called a quality food store NOT a health food store. Appropriate as it now demonstrates a lack of concern for health with the endorsement of the very evil empire previously demonized.The ONLY right action is boycott.
http://www.orgasminc.org/
(Disclaimer: BUY TICKETS isn't me.)
Well said mate, couldn't agree more.
You might want to temporarily suspend your disbelief and see if you can find some information that helps you understand that there is a difference between your local day-to-day weather and the global climatic trends. There's a reason that the price of wheat doubled this year, it's heat in other regions of the world. While you get to see snow this winter (go figure) the former Soviet Union saw record heat last summer, leading unprecedented crop failures, and in case you can't stomach the mere mention of a communist country, look at what just happened to Australia...
It's morons like you that keep science from entering its proper place in political debate. You may think it's patriotic to flack for environmental degradation in order to preserve you hedge fund bets on coal, oil and natural gas, but it's not going to stop your grand children from cursing your lack of understanding.
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