BACKGROUND

On January 27, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that Monsanto’s genetically engineered RRA was now legal to plant anywhere in the United States without regulation or safeguards for non-GMO growers, domestic animals, wildlife, the environment or public health. Alfalfa covers 21 million acres in the US and this is the first genetically engineered perennial crop ever approved. There is no benefit to introducing this technology into the food supply, as normal alfalfa grows virtually weed free. The announcement was met with shock and dismay by conventional and organic growers, conventional and organic dairy producers, pastured meat and poultry producers, pet and professional horse organizations, consumer advocacy groups, parents with children who suffer from allergies, farm to school advocates, environmentalists of every stripe, beekeepers, scientists, researchers, social and food justice groups, socially responsible investors, policy makers, pro-democracy groups, natural healthcare practitioners and almost everyone – almost everyone that is, except Monsanto. Monsanto has never been elected to any representative position in this country and yet their executives and allies occupy the highest echelons of the federal government and the judiciary, dictating domestic and foreign policy with a complete disregard for the wishes of the public or its safety.  Since the announcement of the unfettered release of RRA, the USDA has announced the approval of Monsanto RR sugar beets and a variety of corn engineered for the biofuel industry that can cross pollinate with food grade corn from Sygenta. These are the first of many approvals to come, including ‘engineered animals’, even though there is almost universal rejection of this technology. NONE of these products are required to be labeled in the United States.   Check out the <a href="http://alfalfa2011.crowdmap.com/feeds" target="_self">News Feeds</a> for more background. Other good sources:  OCA: <a href="http://www.organicconsumers.org/" target="_blank">http://www.organicconsumers.org</a> CFS: <a href="http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/">http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">IRT: <a href="http://www.responsibletechnology.org/" target="_blank">http://www.responsibletechnology.org</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">  Ushahidi We are a nonprofit tech company that specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, visualization, and interactive mapping. Our History "Ushahidi", which means "testimony" in Swahili, was a website that was initially developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. Since then, the name "Ushahidi" has come to represent the people behind the "Ushahidi Platform". Our roots are in the collaboration of Kenyan citizen journalists during a time of crisis. The original website was used to map incidents of violence and peace efforts throughout the country based on reports submitted via the web and mobile phones. This website had 45,000 users in Kenya, and was the catalyst for us realizing there was a need for a platform based on it, which could be used by others around the world.

RoundUp Ready Alfalfa: Who is Opposed, Where, Why

BACKGROUND