GreenpeaceMonsanto’s unapproved genetically engineered (GE) “Roundup Ready” wheat was found growing in a random Oregon field last week.
The farmer doesn’t know how it got there. Neither does anyone else since Monsanto ended field testing this type of wheat eight years ago. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently investigating the extent of the contamination.
But in some ways this story isn’t surprising.
GE crops can’t be controlled. The fact is that environmental contamination is inevitable so long as companies like Monsanto are allowed to experiment with nature and our food supply.Putting an end to the production and use of these unnatural products is the only certain way to stop them from spreading.
Greenpeace and other groups have been warning about contamination of our food and the environment from GE crops for years now.
What’s happening in Oregon is a perfect example of why precautionary policies are necessary:Government and industry mechanisms to regulate and monitor open field tests to prevent contamination simply aren’t working. They never will.
There are so many questions surrounding what happened in Oregon. How did this wheat escape the field tests and end up growing on a farm – eight years later? Who is responsible? Who will pay for the decontamination and damages to farmers? How many other places is this wheat growing?
The one thing we do know is that the field testing of GE crops has to end. Please join me and send a message to the USDA today calling for an immediate ban on field testing GE crops.
Monsanto abandoned testing this GE wheat back in 2005 – due to massive opposition by consumers and farmers in the US and abroad. Now, news of the recently-discovered contamination in Oregon is spreading rapidly around the world, causing countries like Japan and Korea to immediately stop importing US wheat.
No matter what companies like Monsanto try to tell us, it will never be possible to control nature. And there’s too much at stake to continue to allow this type of experimentation to take place.
If we want to ensure our food is safe and that American farmers are not harmed by these kinds of events we need to demand an end to the field testing of GE crops.
For the planet,
Charlie Cray
Research Specialist
Greenpeace USA
P.S. There’s no way to prevent contamination from genetically engineered (GE) crops planted in test fields. Tell the USDA to put an immediate ban on all field testing of GE crops. And then share this with anyone you know who cares about the food they eat.
http://us.greenpeace.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=31601.0&dlv_id=37381
The dumb bastards will never learn that in the end, Nature wins, even if we’re not around to see the finish.
What’s worse than this farmers crops being infected with that garbage, is that now Monsanto will sue him for stealing their “intellectual property.”
I would guess that the farmer can counter-sue Monsanto for damages to his produce, but I doubt he’d win.
Was it ever really UNDER control to begin with?