The time to act on GMOs is now
OPINION
Editor’s note: The following is a reader-submitted column from Carah Wertheimer, a resident of Boulder.
Making hay from GMO alfalfa: Standing our sacred ground in the latest crisis
Carah Wertheimer
The USDA’s sudden announcement on Jan. 27 to allow unregulated planting of GMO alfalfa sent shockwaves and a sense of betrayal through the food integrity movement. (Alfalfa hay is used primarily to feed dairy cows and goats.) Questions have arisen among farmers, retailers, manufacturers, advocacy groups and other stakeholders as to the legitimacy of the manner in which recent events have unfolded. In a complex situation such as this involving the courts, the USDA, the White House, and major players in the natural foods and biotech industries, the exact truth of backroom dealings may never be known, at least not in the short run. Legal experts question whether the USDA’s recent actions are in accord with the Supreme Court’s June 2010 decision regarding GMO alfalfa, which required impact studies and economic compensation agreements to be in place before commercial planting could commence. We are also left with speculation that pressure from a nervous White House wanting to shore up its image with big business may have prompted premature USDA action (e.g., the USDA itself told the Court that an environmental impact study would take at least a year, not a mere six months, to complete.) To say that the situation is delicate and dicey, and that an array of vested interests may have played a larger than appropriate role, is an understatement.
In the more than 15 years since GMOs were introduced, the U.S. has caved to the biotech and petroleum industries in ways that would be inconceivable in other industrialized and democratic nations. As a result, our health, our environment, our agricultural resources and our civic fabric has been under prolonged and pernicious attack from those very institutions which are supposed to safeguard, not actively endanger, our welfare. There have been tremendous successes in the food arena, such as the emergence of organics into the mainstream and the more recent interest in food localization, and we need to rejoice in those. At the same time, and as painful as it is to acknowledge, while the American food movement has significant battles, it is losing the GMO war.
Over 200,000 concerned Americans took the time to send comments to the USDA opposing deregulation of GMO alfalfa prior to this latest decision. We participated, we made our voices known, we are aware of food, and that is a major accomplishment. Despite this growing groundswell of engagement, government appears to be disregarding the will of the people in favor of corporate interests in ever more pronounced and flagrant ways. The sight of a defiant Scott Walker facing off with a growing mass labor movement in Wisconsin is yet another example of the same. Like a child trapped in a dysfunctional family, we may wish to deny the reality that we are not being heard. But as adults we have a responsibility to future generations, and as Americans we have a responsibility to other people and life forms all over the world that we impact through the sheer power of our consumption. We must intimately know our landscape, our literal landscapes in the form of bio-regions, and our political and economic landscape, however polluted any of them may be. Without taking the time to investigate and understand where we are and how we got here, our effectiveness will continue to be inefficient at best, ineffectual at worst.
We are at a crossroads and in the crosshairs, no doubt. As the food integrity movement regroups in the face of this latest and pivotal setback, it appears that except for a lawsuit filed by the Center for Food Safety for a temporary injunction to halt planting, many highly respected voices are calling for the leveraging of consumer buying power through GMO labeling as a strategy of last resort. Perhaps this is appropriate and will have some effect, but is this where we should leave it? This is a potent time in human history. A surging demand for freedom, dignity, transparency and participation is sweeping the globe: As humans we want to have a say in the shaping of our world, and as that voice grows louder, so do the forces that would maintain the status quo. This is to be expected.
There is more at stake here than just GMOs, despite the very real threats they pose. While we are pausing to survey the current landscape, we might take a moment to notice who we are. I think we will be delighted to find that despite Madison Avenue’s incessant drumbeat, we are more than just consumers. As we gaze down at the food we hold in our hands, and at the soil that nourished it, we will recognize this food as more than a product or a commodity, but as birthright. Food in all its delicious and beautiful forms is sacred sustenance, biologically, culturally, historically.
And one last reflection as we look up from our hands and our food, and look out toward the horizon: We can remember yet another birthright that we have as Americans — our citizenship. We are called on to be active agents in a vital process and radical ongoing experiment known as democracy. To acquiesce in the abdication of our larger identities as human beings and as citizens when the inherent dignity of these essential roles has been systematically violated and undermined, is the most essential thing we must protest. This is our ground zero.
In gardening timing is everything. The time is right not only for growing more beautiful, nourishing and delicious food, but for growing ourselves, our society and our world.
To a fruitful harvest.
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March 18th, 2011 at 10:41 am
So, what do you suggest? Do what? This is the age old question…. I wish I knew.
March 19th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Well put.
It’s interesting to note alfalfa originates from the middle East, historically a fodder for Arabian horses and animal production. al Falfa, in the genetically altered context, has become weaponized. It’s now a patented, wind-born method for seed companies, like Monsanto and Bayer, to expand market share by LITERALLY riding the winds of nature. The rest of us, those of use who don’t want Monsanto’s property to infiltrate and contaminate our property, are defenseless. The government has awarded patent protection giving Monsanto et al property rights to seeds which trample my personal and private property rights. It offensive and undermines the constitution not to mention the ill-health effects caused by genetic mutant proteins.
As a species, humans co-evolved with our food system. Organic stewards of the land have been historically able to create stronger and more nutritious plant varieties by what the GM-advocates claim is genetic engineering. More accurately, they used selective breeding, a process entirely possible in nature, to achieve their end result. What the Monsanto, Dow Chemical and Bayer GM companies do is create monstrosities that cannot happen in nature. The results of their patented altered food, which is all cases is the foundation for our species evolution, is to own and control the means of production. So as we’ve been acclimatized to our food over thousands of years, GMO have been silently slipped into our food supply for over 15 years. Our bodies, accustomed to normal foods, recognizes novel proteins, such as GMOs, as foreign invaders and begins to isolate them in our immune system. Adults may have minor symptoms and merely attribute them to age. Children, whose systems aren’t as well-developed and which are more susceptible to compromise, it would seem, are defenseless against GMO’s assault.
Over the last 15 years, in fact, childhood illness has skyrocketed. Autism, allerginicity, ADHA and Asthma are near epidemic. All are auto-immune illnesses. Something has been attacking our children’s immune systems. It’s either environmental or in what they eat. I submit it’s the latter considering that virtually all processed food in the US uses GMO ingredients and we, as consumers, haven’t been told about it and don’t have a choice to avoid it.
Weaponized alfalfa is literally the last straw in defense of organic food. When one considers that organic dairy cows feed on alfalfa during Winter, in combination of GMO alfalfa’s highly mobile pollen, how can anyone defend against this genetic jihad?
As an activated citizen, I think everyone should speak up and say GM-No. No more unleashing of genetically altered crops onto our lands, especially here on Boulder County open space. We should demand that food companies stop using GM ingredients and, at the very least, begin labeling their GM ingredients. Ironic that as Americans people tout a Woman’s right to choose but we’re denied an even more basic right: the right to choose food we eat that is without genetically altered materials. Holy Mackerel, is anybody even aware that Genetically Altered food is in your children’s Kelloggs Corn Flakes? How about the Coke for lunch is filled with genetically altered sweetener? How about Kraft Macaroni and Cheese filled with GMO garbage here in the US while Kraft furnishes a GMO-Free product to the UK?! The UK citizenry are much more informed and demanded such service from the food companies. Here in the US, we’re treated like freaking animals in a concentrated animal feed lot. Shut up and eat what’s put in front of you.
SPEAK UP. ACT. DEMAND LABELS. DEMAND CHOICE. EDUCATE. AND VOTE WITH YOUR VOICE, ACTIONS AND $.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:38 am
Very well said!
Citizens of Boulder County have a unique opportunity to be heard by the world regarding GMO foods, crops and appropriate use of the County’s natural capital. Boulder County Open Space has put together an Open Space Cropland Advisory Group to formulate a policy for the use of 25,000 acres of Open Space agricultural lands. These acres are County owned and, by extension, are jointly owned by each and every citizen who resides in Boulder County. Our tax dollars are used to acquire and manage these lands. The majority of these acres are being leased to farmers who are using chemical management (pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers) and/or planting GMO crops.
Currently, less than 1% of food consumed in Boulder County is produced in Boulder County. We, as a citizenry, are food insecure. In addition, the 16,000 acres of irrigated agricultural Open Space lands are being leased to less than 75 farmers, most of whom are exporting their crops outside of Boulder Country. The soil of these acres is being mined and polluted and the product of these commonly held lands are being exported away from our County for the financial benefit of a select few.
So, imagine, 16,000 acres divided into 50 acre farms. Now 320 individuals are making a living instead of 70. And, as these lands are now being used to grow food that stays within the County instead of commodity crops being exported outside the County, imagine the number Boulder County residents this land could feed. We currently have 20 acre CSAs feeding over 200 families. That’s 1/10th of an acre per family. At 16,000 acres, the potential is staggering.
We all have an opportunity as Citizens of Boulder County to define how our commonly held lands are to be used. Write your Commissioners. Better yet, send a letter to the Advisory Board through the Boulder County Open Space offices. Demand that the policy they are writing for the use of these Ag lands be for the exclusive use of growing food, fiber and fuel for the Citizens of Boulder County, and that organic and biological methods (not chemical) be used and the planting of GMO crops strictly prohibited. Demand your letter be read out loud. Show up at the meetings so this committee knows they are being held accountable. (link to info page with scheduled meetings, agendas and minutes http://www.bouldercounty.org/government/pages/cpag.aspx)
Our world is looking for some sanity amidst the ever growing move for profit at the expense of the common good. As citizens of the County, let’s take the opportunity put before us and set an example for the rest of this Country and for the world. Let’s get action behind our philosophies and intentions!
And spread the word. The more citizens that understand what is at stake here, the more power we as a citizenry can have. Remember, these are country owned lands we are talking about so each and every one of us has a say in how they are used and managed. Let’s create such a loud voice that Open Space and our County Commissioners cannot ignore us. Let’s be a voice that can be echoed in other communities in this country. Let Boulder set the example for what communities can do when the power of the people is manifested.
Take action, write that letter, send out emails to your friends and associates and ask them to do the same. This thing is doable. Let’s get it done.
March 20th, 2011 at 7:20 am
That was a good article and essentially a very accurate recounting of what is going on. It is a veritable outrage. The question is: do continue on as ‘sheeple’ or do we demand that GMOs are labeled at the very least, optimally banned.
March 20th, 2011 at 7:59 am
When has government NOT caved in to big business?!?! It IS a sad thing.
I hope that dairy and goat milk farmers will identify if they are and are not using GMO. This can not stop cross-contamination however.
<:(
Thanks for reminding us that we can still take action.
karen
March 20th, 2011 at 10:12 am
I strongly recommend that this timely article be published. It shows a rare commitment to some basic, fundamental human values that, in the commercially-guided media, rarely get addressed, let alone emphasized. I personally the writer is right — it’s ground zero time, when the heretofore voiceless become vocal in self-defense, health-defense, USA-defense, and world-defense.
March 21st, 2011 at 11:36 am
Kudos to Ms. Wertheimer, for a well-crafted and informative article. Hopefully, her passion for this cause will motivate others to pay attention to this critical issue.
March 22nd, 2011 at 3:03 pm
So glad to see this strong article being published. Congratulations!
Richard
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:57 pm
I enjoyed your article and the comments below especially the info about boulder county open space use. There is a rally going on in Co. Springs 3/26 https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115805598493929
There will also be a rally on 4-16 in denver http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203020906390630&ref=ts
Organics consumers association has started a truth in labeling campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQIw5qkq2QY&feature=player_embedded#at=46
Volunteers are gathering signatures in each district in the us and there are chapters forming in each district
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22517.cfm
April 1st, 2011 at 5:24 am
Scott Smith, may I copy/paste your post onto a note on my facebook page? I’d also like to print parts of it to give to my family members and acquaintances.
I also want to memorize parts of it for when I am talking to people and teaching them about GMOs.
I can’t formulate my thoughts as simply and clearly, and I feel I have to do everything I can to influence people around me.
April 5th, 2011 at 6:43 am
Kim et al ….. Feel free to cut and paste my comments (above) with or without attribution. The messages benefit all!
Cheers!
April 12th, 2011 at 7:50 am
Very true, and disturbing. The biggest challenge is to be aware and responsive, to engage our elected representatives and not accept these actions to push GModified foods onto our people and ecosystems.
August 3rd, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Very well written, Carah. The time to act is NOW. Do we wish to live in a total Genetically Modified World? We are on our way, as each new addition to the GM seed offering cross pollinates with conventional and organic as the new crops blow in the wind. It is heartbreaking to realize the loss, but even more heartbreaking to realize how few people — including our govt. representatives — are standing to resist.