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| Voice of the Environment's mission is to educate the public regarding the transfer of public trust assets into private, mostly corporate, hands. |
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| Ukiah office: 1330 Boonville Rd Ukiah, CA 95482 707-467-0329 |
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| Marin office: 270 Beach Rd Belvedere, CA 94920 415-435-2007 |
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| For more than a decade, Voice of the Environment has stood up for the people and our communities against the avarice of corporations and the misguided policies of the corporate-dominated state. |
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That's why 30 countries have banned, or propose to ban GMOs, including many European countries. In the U.S., Gerber and Heinz baby foods, Frito-Lay, IAMS Pet Foods, Trader Joe's and even McDonald's and Burger King are now refusing GMO corn, potatoes, and other ingredients. Contrary to industry contention, GMOs have increased pesticide use and produced significantly lower yields than natural varieties. The citizens of Mendocino County placed Measure H on their March, 2004 ballot to ban the growing of GMO plants and animals. Despite being outspent 10-1, the initiative passed with a resounding 58% of the vote. Two other California counties--Marin and Trinity--quickly followed suit. Several others, including Humboldt and Sonoma, have anti-GMO initiatives coming up. Meanwhile, the biotech industry--led by its trade association CropLife America and supported by the American Farm Bureau--is trying to "preempt" counties and cities from taking this matter into their own hands. They want state, and ultimately, federal laws that will force genetic engineering literally down our throats. Voice of the Environment will work hard to support local initiatives banning GMOs. We will also do everything in our power to stop preemption of local laws like Measure H by the biotech industry, corporate agribusiness, and their allies in the California legislature. |
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April 20, 2008 Exposed: the great GM crops myth enetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis. ... more April 9, 2008 Investigation: Monsanto's Harvest of Fear Monsanto already dominates America's food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation's tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination. ... more March 21, 2008 ew Rules In Mexico Pave the Way for Transgenic Crops After a three-year-long process, Mexico is about to clear the way for legal cultivation of transgenic crops, in spite of resistance from environmentalists and several small farmer associations. ... more March 20, 2008 Grain Farmer Claims Moral Victory in Seed Battle Against Monsanto Percy Schmeiser’s decade-long legal odyssey has finally come to an end - and he’s got a cheque for $660 to prove it. ... more August 4, 2007 Frankenforests: GE Trees Threaten Ecosystem Collapse In China, over a million poplar trees have been planted since 2002 to combat deforestation. But the move has not been widely applauded by everyone. ... more September 27, 2006 Oregonians dig in against plans for biopharming The idea of genetically modifying crops to create drugs has failed so far to find fertile ground among Oregonians, if comments to date on a state proposal are any gauge. ... more September 1, 2006 California Senate Preserves Local Rules on GE Crops Proponents of precautions for genetically engineered crops today declared victory in their battle to defend the rights of counties and cities to enact local restrictions on genetically engineered (GE) organisms. ... more August 16, 2006 Gene-Altered Crops Denounced Environmental groups yesterday called for a moratorium on open-air tests of crops genetically engineered to produce medicines and vaccines, citing a federal court's conclusion last week that the Agriculture Department repeatedly broke the law by allowing companies to plant such crops on hundred of acres in Hawaii. ... more August 16, 2006 Grass Created in Lab Is Found in the Wild An unapproved type of genetically engineered grass has been found growing in the wild in what scientists say could be the first instance in the United States in which a biotechnology plant has established itself outside a farm. ... more August 3, 2006 More Than Just a Food Fight The debate over genetically modified organisms just got a lot hotter in California. ... more July 5, 2006 Beyond Genetically Modified Crops For years the life science companies have argued that genetically modified food is the next great scientific and technological revolution in agriculture and the only efficient and cheap way to feed a growing population in a shrinking world. ... more June 26, 2006 Santa Cruz County outlaws genetically engineered plants Citing failure of regulatory agencies to address risks posed by genetically engineered plants, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a moratorium on GE crops that will hold until the state adopts regulations that will protect the rights and health of the county's residents and environment. ... more June 26, 2006 Seed sellers to home gardeners don't carry genetically engineered goods Santa Cruz County's moratorium on genetically engineered food crops won't have an immediate impact on sellers of seed to the home gardener. ... more June 26, 2006 Laws governing commercial produce critical, but backyard crops may still be at risk Monsanto's purchase of Seminis, the world's largest developer of fruit and vegetable seeds, in 2005 is probably part of a push to extend genetic engineering technology into commercially grown fruits and vegetables. ... more June 26, 2006 Bill would prevent towns from banning modified seeds, starting next year Santa Cruz County would be exempt from a bill introduced by state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, that would ban counties and cities from regulating the sale, use and labeling of seeds and nursery stock. ... more June 8, 2006 Genetically Engineered Crops May Produce Herbicide Inside Our Intestines Pioneer Hi-Bred's website boasts that their genetically modified (GM) Liberty Link corn survives doses of Liberty herbicide, which would normally kill corn. The reason, they say, is that the herbicide becomes "inactive in the corn plant." ... more January 3, 2006 Lax Oversight Found in Tests of Gene-Altered Crops The Department of Agriculture has failed to regulate field trials of genetically engineered crops adequately, raising the risk of unintended environmental consequences, according to a stinging report issued by the department's own auditor. ... more November 2, 2005 Biotech ballot debate: Sonoma County in ag spotlight The newest showdown in a global cultural clash over genetically modified food is set for Tuesday, when Sonoma County voters decide whether to become California's fourth county to ban biotech crops. ... more October 11, 2005 Dominant traits: Time to bust the GM seed trusts? According to a recent study by ETC Group, the world's ten largest seed vendors control about half the global seed market. ... more October 9, 2005 GM crop 'ruins fields for 15 years' GM crops contaminate the countryside for up to 15 years after they have been harvested, startling new government research shows. ... more |
April 28th, 2008 Monsanto Goes After Farmers for Acting Like Farmers Donald L. Barlett & James B. Steele/Vanity Fair As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the "seed police" and use words such as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" to describe their tactics. When asked about these practices, Monsanto declined to comment specifically, other than to say that the company is simply protecting its patents. "Monsanto spends more than $2 million a day in research to identify, test, develop and bring to market innovative new seeds and technologies that benefit farmers," Monsanto spokesman Darren Wallis wrote in an e-mailed letter to Vanity Fair. "One tool in protecting this investment is patenting our discoveries and, if necessary, legally defending those patents against those who might choose to infringe upon them." Wallis said that, while the vast majority of farmers and seed dealers follow the licensing agreements, "a tiny fraction" do not, and that Monsanto is obligated to those who do abide by its rules to enforce its patent rights on those who "reap the benefits of the technology without paying for its use." He said only a small number of cases ever go to trial. Some compare Monsanto's hard-line approach to Microsoft's zealous efforts to protect its software from pirates. At least with Microsoft the buyer of a program can use it over and over again. But farmers who buy Monsanto's seeds can't even do that. For centuries-millennia-farmers have saved seeds from season to season: they planted in the spring, harvested in the fall, then reclaimed and cleaned the seeds over the winter for re-planting the next spring. Monsanto has turned this ancient practice on its head. Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops. Monsanto then patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office had refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. "It's not like describing a widget," says Joseph Mendelson III, the legal director of the Center for Food Safety, which has tracked Monsanto's activities in rural America for years. Indeed not. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, turned seeds into widgets, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world's food supply. In its decision, the court extended patent law to cover "a live human-made microorganism." In this case, the organism wasn't even a seed. Rather, it was a Pseudomonas bacterium developed by a General Electric scientist to clean up oil spills. But the precedent was set, and Monsanto took advantage of it. Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Farmers who buy Monsanto's patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. Those increased sales, coupled with ballooning sales of its Roundup weed killer, have been a bonanza for Monsanto. |
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Voice of the Environment is a 501 (c-3) not-for-profit Montana-based corporation formed in 1991.
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A genetically modified organism is a man-made, patented, organism created in a laboratory through genetic engineering. It is created when a gene from a totally unrelated species is shot into the genetic material of another species. Scientists worldwide now admit that the rush to sell genetically engineered product has put people's health, property and the environment at risk.