letter shows monsanto planted GMOs before USDA approval

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/letter-shows-monsanto-planted-gmos-usda-approval-1335971971

Did Monsanto actually plant genetically modified alfalfa before it was deregulated by the USDA? There is some shocking evidence that, until recently, was withheld from the public showing that Monsanto’s genetically altered alfalfa may have been set free in 2003 — a full two years or more before it was deregulated in 2005. In a letter, obtained by NaturalSociety with permission to post for public viewing, it becomes clear that the USDA may have turned a blind eye to the entire situation, allowing widespread GMO contamination of GMO-free crops.

Amazingly, the letter actually proves that the USDA was fully aware of the situation. In order to fully understand the intricate details of this event, it is first important to understand a few key factors regarding alfalfa and its connection to the entire food supply.

Alfalfa is a perennial plant that grows for more than 2 years and may not need to be replanted each year like annuals. Because it is a perennial plant, it is exceptionally vulnerable to contamination. Interestingly, the modified alfalfa — created by Monsanto in partner with a group known as Forage Genetics — was the first perennial plant to be deregulated for open planting by the USDA. But did Monsanto unleash the plant before this occurred?

This is very serious because it is only a matter of time before alfalfa across America could be corrupted with Monsanto’s patented genetically modified trait. Organic meat and dairy could be tainted when animals are fed the modified alfalfa as well, threatening the very integrity of the organic food supply. What’s more, the contamination of natural alfalfa could be nearly impossible — if not entirely impossible — to remedy, so it could actually fracture the genetic stability of the entire crop on a global scale.

[drokhole]

1. Criminals.

[byeya]

2. Should never have been given permission to loose GMOs on the

nation. It's not too much of a surprise that Monsanto is alleged to have gone ahead before approval, which
they knew was coming.

[marmar]

3. Monsanto =

[ieoeja]

4. 2007 CalWest tells USDA that in 2005 they discovered the gene in seeds from 2003.

Go to your link. Take link from there to blurred link of the memo. You can still easily see that the letter is dated 2007. The portion of the letter they choose to make readable states the contamination occurred in 2003, but that CalWest Seeds did not discover this until 2005.

So "the USDA was fully aware of the situation" two years AFTER it was deregulated in 2005.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

5. this came in today from: [e-mail]

Outrage!
What is going on? In the past few months GMO labeling legislation has been introduced in Washington State, Minnesota, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Vermont. In each state, the same frustrating story repeats itself. Legislators are optimistic, the bills seem to move quickly at first, they receive a record breaking amount of public support, and then they stall in committee and never move again, despite unprecedented numbers of calls and emails from citizens to legislators. A representative in Minnesota told us they expected "fallout" for supporting the bill, even though it didn't pass. In Washington state an unprecedented coalition of anti-GMO wheat farmers and organic consumers were stymied by agriculture committee legislators, who, it turns out, had received money from Monsanto. In Vermont, legislators and Governor backed off from a California-style labeling bill, despite polls showing 90% of Vermonters supported the bill, openly admitting that they were fearful of a lawsuit from Monsanto and the biotech industry. It's clear that Monsanto and the biotech bullies will go to great lengths to keep their stranglehold on our food supply, and unfortunately most state legislators are either intimidated by or complicit with Monsanto.

It is also clear that we are at a major turning point in this fight. More people than ever care about what is happening to our food supply. More people than ever want to see GMOs labeled. The energy is building!

Here's what OCA wants to do about it:

Our Millions Against Monsanto Campaign plans to join forces with the Occupy Monsanto protests across the country the week of September 17th, 2012 to create the largest Days of Action for GMO Labeling ever! We want to raise the clamor for labeling to a fever pitch and you can help!

Here's what we need:

More activists and more awareness in each state!

There are now 692,413 in our Millions Against Monsanto campaign! Let's get one million by September 17th! In the months leading up to the Days of Action, we need you to gather petition signatures (PDF) and pass out leaflets at your local farmer's market or natural food store. Summer is the perfect time to raise awareness about food.

Petitions (PDF)

Leaflets, Posters and other Educational Materials

Please contact us if you want any of these materials in quantity!

[proverbialwisdom]

8. Label GMOS.

EMAIL:

May 2, 2012

Dear Friend,

Today is the day Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have been dreading, and the day that millions of us have been waiting for.

Today a grassroots corps of volunteer petition gatherers arrived at County Clerks' offices in all 58 counties in California. They delivered almost a million petitions signed by registered voters along with this message:

Millions against Monsanto are taking back our democracy and restoring our fundamental right to know what's in our food.

This is the first step in putting the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the ballot in November. Now it's time for the next step: ramping up the campaign so that millions of fired-up voters in California will turn out in record numbers on November 6 to pass this initiative.

To make this happen, a broad coalition of food, farm, health, public interest, and environmental groups all over the country, joined by leading organic food companies, are delivering this same message today: Let's drop the money bomb on Monsanto.

Please help these groups raise $1 million dollars by May 26th for the California Right to Know GMO Labeling Campaign. You can donate online, by phone, or by mail.

After decades of allowing corporations like Monsanto to buy off our politicians and regulatory agencies, to intimidate everyone from small farmers and state legislators to the Governor of Vermont - to poison our food and our planet - it's time to say "No more."

It's time to tell Monsanto and the rest of the Biotech Bullies that we demand the right to know whether our food has been genetically engineered. It's time for the 99% of us to tell our elected officials that if they won't protect us from CEOs and corporations - the 1% that are destroying our health, our food, and our planet - we will bypass them. We will organize ballot initiatives and write our own laws. And then vote them into law.

It's time to drop the money bomb on Monsanto.

Monsanto, Big biotech and Food Inc., are desperate to defeat the California Right to Know Ballot Initiative. They will spend millions on a campaign based on lies and intimidation. They'll try to convince voters that GMOs aren't dangerous, and that labeling them will make food more expensive. They're counting on us to cower in the face of their massive spending and TV ads, and their threat to sue any state that dares to stand up to them.

What they aren't counting on is you - and millions like you across the country - who know what's at stake in California. Millions who know that if this law passes in the state with the eighth largest economy in the world, it's only a matter of time before we win the battle everywhere.

Monsanto isn't counting on millions of people like you who know that GMOs in our food have been linked to a host of health issues, including kidney and liver damage, infertility, auto-immune disorders, allergies, accelerated aging and birth defects.

It doesn't matter what political party you belong to, or which candidates you support. The right to know issue belongs to all of us. It's about our food, our health, and our environment. We are all in this together. That's why together, we are going to raise $1 million in the next few weeks to help pass this law, and shift the balance of power back to the grassroots, the 99%.

Please donate today - online, by phone, or drop a check in the mail. Every dollar that you contribute will go directly into the California Right to Know ballot initiative and other state GMO labeling campaigns, including a legal defense fund to defend states that pass GMO labeling laws from Monsanto lawsuits.

We can do this. It's time. Let's drop the money bomb on Monsanto and take back our food supply. Thank you!

For an Organic Future,


Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund

P.S. All money raised for this campaign will go through the Organic Consumers Fund, a 501(c)4 allied organization of the Organic ConsumersAssociation, focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action. Donations are not tax-deductible.

Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on web sites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!

Mistakenly posted in archive: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101612279

[joeybee12]

6. Of course they did, and they will suffer no repercussions...

That's America today, owned by coporations for the benefit of corporations.

[xchrom]

7. +1