from the National Farmers’ Union<\/p>\n
SASKATOON, Sask.\u2014Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled that genetically-modified (GM) alfalfa cannot be planted or sold in that country.\u00a0 This ruling has very significant implications for Canadian farmers and all other citizens.\u00a0 Canada\u2019s National Farmers Union (NFU) participated in an \u201camicus brief\u201d to the US Supreme Court as part of this case.<\/p>\n
The case, Monsanto v. Geerston Farms, marks the first time a GM crop case has been brought before the US Supreme Court.\u00a0 Ruling on a lower court decision, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the sale and planting of Monsanto\u2019s Roundup Ready alfalfa.\u00a0 The ban will remain in place until the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prepares a proper Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and until the USDA succeeds in officially \u201cderegulating\u201d the crop\u2014a move that will be scrutinized and opposed (possibly in court) by many groups.\u00a0 Work on an EIS and possible deregulation will take at least a year, possibly much longer, giving farmers and others opposed to GM alfalfa time to gain a permanent ban.\u00a0 The US ruling also makes Canadian GM alfalfa commercialization less likely.<\/p>\n
The proposed introduction of GM alfalfa in North America threatens Canadian agriculture and food in several ways.\u00a0 First, organic farmers will face risks and lost income.\u00a0 Experience with canola and flax in Canada and rice and other crops in the US shows that GM alfalfa, if approved, will contaminate our fields and seed stocks.\u00a0 Alfalfa plays a key role in organic farming systems and crop rotations.\u00a0 The introduction of GM alfalfa will make it difficult for some farmers to continue in organic crop production.\u00a0 It will make it more difficult to raise organic livestock.\u00a0 The threat (or reality) of contamination may close overseas markets for a wide range of organic (and conventional) crops.\u00a0 And the risk of rejected shipments will create unbearable financial risks for organic and conventional farmers alike.\u00a0 Several groups in Canada share the NFU\u2019s concerns, including key players in the alfalfa seed industry.<\/p>\n
Second, many Canadians choose alfalfa sprouts as a nutritious food.\u00a0 Most of those citizens want non-GM sprouts.\u00a0 The introduction of GM alfalfa will mean that all alfalfa-based foods will have some level of GM contamination.<\/p>\n
Third, alfalfa is a main feed source for Canadian livestock\u2014beef and dairy cattle, especially.\u00a0 NFU President Terry Boehm commented: \u201cThe alfalfa that goes into our beef and dairy cattle is turned into the beef and milk we serve our families.\u00a0 And if that alfalfa is genetically-modified, that makes a difference to Canadians.\u201d\u00a0 The NFU was part of a broad coalition that won a multi-year campaign to prevent the use of genetically-modified milk-production hormones in Canadian dairy herds.<\/p>\n
Fourth, alfalfa is one of the most widely grown crops in Canada, covering more than ten million acres.\u00a0 It is also a primary food source for the bees that make our honey, and that pollinate other food crops.\u00a0 \u201cIntroducing GM alfalfa will have a huge impact on the landscape, and on our ecosystems.\u00a0 No one has evaluated the effects of GM alfalfa on the environment.\u00a0 Canadians will not accept widespread environmental risk just so Monsanto can make large private profits,\u201d concluded Boehm. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled that genetically-modified (GM) alfalfa cannot be planted or sold in that country. This ruling has very significant implications for Canadian farmers and all other citizens. Canada\u2019s National Farmers Union (NFU) participated in an \u201camicus brief\u201d to the US Supreme Court as part of this case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[79,77,78],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-membersubmissions","tag-alfalpha","tag-gm-foods","tag-monsanto"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myavma.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}