Monsanto Receives Full Deregulation From Vilsack's USDA For Roundup Ready Alfalfa

The Obama Administration continues to appease Big Ag despite known risks and *Alabama is following right along in lock step manner to the Monsanto drumbeat.
*(document linked from Auburn University Agricultural Dept. www.ag.auburn edu)

Monsanto shill supreme, USDA Head Tom Vilsack pushed hard for his favorite corporate demon, the dreaded Monsanto, to further gain total control of US agriculture with this latest power bestowal by granting full deregulation for Monsanto's genetically modified Alfalfa:

Organic and sustainable farming advocates were disappointed by the decision. "This creates a perplexing situation when the market calls for a supply of crops free of genetic engineering. The organic standards prohibit the use of genetic engineering, and consumers will not tolerate the accidental presence of genetic engineered materials in organic products yet GE crops continue to proliferate unchecked," said Christine Bushway, executive director and CEO of the Organic Trade Association in a statement.

Bill Tomson and Scott Kilman of the Wall Street Journal reported that Vilsack's rejection of a compromise proposal--partial deregulation, which was vehemently opposed by biotech companies and only tepidly accepted by non-GE interests--was the result of an Obama administration review of "burdensome" regulations.

Sources familiar with the negotiations at USDA, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Food Safety News they believe the White House asked Vilsack to drop proposed regulations so the administration would appear more friendly to big business.The White House did not respond for comment.

Read more here

Vanity Fair covered this issue in an investigative piece from May 2008 aptly entitled "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear" that is a compelling read and an in-depth probe into the frightening power that Monsanto has and wants.

And thanks to this latest ruling from the USDA, in conjunction with the false Food and Safety Bill that passed in the lame duck session of Congress, they are well on their way to getting it.

There were two choices here for Obama and the USDA: partially regulate the Monsanto Alfalfa or don't regulate it at all.

"...deregulation as one option and the other deregulation accompanied by a combination of isolation distances and geographic restrictions on the production of GE alfalfa seed and, in some locations, hay."

Obviously they made the wrong one for us, but it was the right one for Monsanto and future campaign contributions to spineless politicians on both sides of the aisle.

More consequences of the wrongheaded ruling reported by Grist.org:

Alfalfa is a prolific pollinator, meaning that GM alfalfa can easily cross-breed with non-GM alfalfa. If organic producers find their crop contaminated with GM material, they risk losing their organic certification and, likely, their livelihoods. The organic dairy industry, which relies on a steady supply of organic alfalfa, would also be imperiled.
The second problem is so-called "superweeds" -- weeds that develop resistance to Roundup, Monsanto's flagship herbicide. Such weeds are already rampant in the South, where Monsanto's Roundup Ready cotton holds sway, and are moving into the Corn Belt, which is blanketed by the tens of millions of acres with the agrichemical giant's corn and soy seeds. The rise of superweeds is unleashing a virtual monsoon of dodgy poison cocktails onto affected farmland.

It's worth checking out this recent Food & Water Watch report on the gusher of cash the biotech industry spends on D.C. lobbying. The industry spent more than a half billion dollars on lobbying between 1999 and 2009, FWW reports. In 2009 alone, the GMO giants dropped a cool $71 million pushing its agenda. It's also worth noting the number of Monsanto-related people now working in key policy positions in the USDA

Welcome to the Hope and Change of the best government that corporate money can buy. Let's all sit back and watch Alabama Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan become the next "farmer friendly politician" who caves into the corporate world of deceit that is Monsanto.

Scientific study on the dangers of GM crops and "Terminator Technology" from Dr. Mae-Won Ho and Professor Joe Cummins, Institute of Science in Society, London: "Chronicle of an Ecological Disaster Foretold"

No Alabama newspapers have taken Senators Shelby and Sessions to task for their last minute vote switching on the Monsanto backed Food Safety Bill and both senators offices continue to claim they were firmly against the bill. They lie.

They're hiding behind one of the first votes in November 2010 which recorded both as casting "Nay" votes. But another vote occurred in December of 2010 that was strictly a voice vote, no pesky records to point to later, that passed unanimously without a single "Nay" vote.

The infamous Senate Bill 510 “Food Safety Bill” was passed by the US Senate Monday night in a sneaky, last minute voice vote. All Senators voted for it, Republicans and Democrats alike. Not a single U.S. Senator — not even Senator (Dr.) Tom Coburn-R, one of the bill's loudest opponents — objected to its passage.

This last-minute sneak vote of unanimous consent is widely considered a betrayal of food freedom by the public and the few Republicans who had opposed this bill abruptly voted in favor of it. TheHill.com posted their report on this unexpected turn of events late last night and has since been overrun by comments from steaming mad members of the public who feel utterly betrayed by their Senators.

Moral of the story: what Monsanto wants, Monsanto gets.

Here's a Monsanto blog featuring an AU senior who's obviously fully indoctrinated in Monsanto's propaganda. Any guesses where she learned it from?

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