Is alfalfa next to go GMO?

by: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, CBAN

After working on Genetic Engineering (GE) issues for 15 years, it’s clearer to me than ever before that GE poses an immediate threat to our food system, to organic and family farming in Canada, and the right of farmers to save seed.

Say “alfalfa” and most of us immediately think of tiny green sprouts in sandwiches. Many don’t realize how vital this humble plant is to our entire food system. It’s fed to farm animals and organic farmers use it to improve soil fertility without chemical fertilizers. The GE contamination of alfalfa would severely impact the food system. As well as negatively affecting conventional grain growers and livestock farmers, GE alfalfa could end organic grain and livestock farming as we know it.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture acknowledges that growing GE alfalfa will result in fewer small farmers and fewer organic farmers because of contamination. But they also say it doesn’t matter. Canada takes the same approach — our rules don’t even consider the social and economic impacts of GE crops.

Right now, there’s still a U.S. court injunction in place that stops the planting of Monsanto’s GE alfalfa (engineered to be herbicide tolerant) but this could be lifted later this year. If allowed in the States, GE alfalfa will quickly contaminate in Canada.

Unfortunately, Canadian flax farmers can now tell us about the costs of GE contamination. Grain farmers in Canada’s prairie’s are in the midst of a crisis caused by unexpected contamination from GE flax, found late last year. Our flax exports to 35 countries were shut down and farmers are now paying the price.

Flax farmers not only face the uncertainty of who will buy their crop and at what price, they are also paying for testing and cleanup. Grain companies are jumping at the opportunity to force farmers to give up their farm-saved flax seed and buy certified seed instead.

The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), a Tides Canada project, works to support Canadian farmers and secure a future for seed saving and for organic food and farming in North America. We work with farmers to protect food and farming from corporate control over seeds and to prevent the chaos of contamination from GE crops.

Support CBAN by donating to our project at Tides Canada. Learn more and take action on www.cban.ca. Become a fan of CBAN’s Facebook page to stay on top of GE issues