Let's start with the excellent summary provided by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition:
USDA Secretary Vilsack, appearing before the Committee in the 112th Congress for the first time, was the primary witness at the Forum. Last December, USDA released a Final Environmental Impact Statement for commercial use of GE alfalfa. USDA has indicated that the agency is ready to approve the partial deregulation of GE alfalfa for commercial planting under a plan of "co-existence," a position restated by Secretary Vilsack at the House hearing. The Secretary's view on co-existence is laid out in an open letter to opponents and proponents of GE crops.
As you can see, the idea of coexistence can apply to anything, but the USDA is specifically talking about GE alfalfa. The USDA is, as ever, pro-biotechnology, but after getting smacked by the courts a few times, they are now paying a bit of attention to the Environmental Impact Statement for GE alfalfa. Vilsack's open letter states:
As a regulatory agency, sound science and decisions based on this science are our priority, and science strongly supports the safety of GE alfalfa. But, agricultural issues are always complex and rarely lend themselves to simple solutions. Therefore, we have an obligation to carefully consider USDA's 2300 page EIS, which acknowledges the potential of cross-fertilization to non-GE alfalfa from GE alfalfa - a significant concern for farmers who produce for non-GE markets at home and abroad.
The rapid adoption of GE crops has clashed with the rapid expansion of demand for organic and other non-GE products. This clash led to litigation and uncertainty. Such litigation will potentially lead to the courts deciding who gets to farm their way and who will be prevented from doing so.
Vilsack would prefer that the USDA makes the decisions about biotechnology, not the courts. Thus, he's called for "coexistence." And for that, he's drawn criticism from both biotech interests and anti-biotech interests.
GE alfalfa is not the first GE crop to go through the regulatory process. However, it's open-pollinated, and that's driving a lot of controversy. From what I have gathered, it's difficult to hybridize alfalfa, and the first hybrid alfalfa was introduced to the market only in 2001 (compared to corn and other crops, which were successfully hybridized decades ago). The relevant difference between hybrids and open pollinated (OP) seeds is that farmers generally don't save seeds if they plant hybrids, but they can save seeds if they plant OP seeds.
For a genetically engineered crop, this means that in the past, when GE corn was put on the market and purchased by the majority of corn growers in the U.S., the genes for the GE traits could be passed via wind to non-GE or organic corn growing nearby... but then the vast majority of that corn was eaten, not planted. But when GE alfalfa pollen is taken by bees to non-GE or organic alfalfa plants, the result could be a next generation of seeds that will be saved and planted with the GE traits in their DNA.
For an organic farmer or a farmer who is paid a premium for planting and selling a non-GE crop, this is trouble for an obvious reason. They might plant a non-GE crop while their neighbor next door plants GE alfalfa... and with some cross-pollination, their non-GE alfalfa can produce GE seeds. Thus, they might lose the premium price they were expecting to get for their crops if testing reveals the GE contamination.
But there's another issue, which Joanne Rigutto brought up: alfalfa is a perennial. Farmers can get rid of their alfalfa by tilling or spraying herbicide - typically Roundup (glyphosate), perhaps mixed with 2,4-D. After Joanne brought it up, I checked in with some folks who know more about this than I do and they confirmed it. The benefits of Roundup (to a non-organic farmer) are that it is cheap and it doesn't stay in your soil and kill future plants you grow there. For a non-organic farmer who plans to grow non-GE alfalfa and then kill it with Roundup, it would be a BAD surprise to suddenly find out that their alfalfa is Roundup Ready! To kill a field of alfalfa, they would be forced to choose between tilling or using another (potentially more toxic) herbicide instead of Roundup.
Going back to the NSAC synopsis:
USDA is scheduled to announce its final decision for the regulation of GE alfalfa on or very soon after January 24. The plan for partial deregulation would rely on buffers, restricted planting areas and other methods in an attempt to prevent the contamination of non-GE alfalfa, including organically produced alfalfa, with genetic material from GE alfalfa.
The issue is especially critical for the growing organic dairy sector, in which many farmers rely on organic alfalfa for feed. There are numerous examples of contamination of non-GE crops by GE crop genetic material, including an entire line of a major rice variety. USDA has yet to adequately demonstrate that there are effective methods for preventing such contamination.
This past week, as I've reported here, a few Republican Congresscritters sent a letter to Tom Vilsack expressing their views that the USDA should go ahead with allowing GE alfalfa to be planted everywhere, with no buffer zones or geographic restrictions. Also this week, the House Ag committee held a hearing, which it called a "Public Forum." The House Ag committee site is a mess these days, and I have yet to get all of the testimony, let alone a transcript or a recorded webcast of the hearing. But NSAC said of it:
An important point to note is that no one at the House Forum raised the issue of the proliferation of glyphosate-resistant weeds, especially in the South and Mid-West, where large amounts of glyphosate are applied every year to agricultural land growing Round-Up Ready GE crops. Recent reports indicate that farmers are abandoning some fields, undoing years of work in conservation tillage to control weeds with heavy tillage, and turning to the use of more toxic herbicides. Before the development of GE crops, glyphosate herbicide was used more judiciously because it could damage emerging crops. With the development of GE crops, the agricultural landscape has been flooded with glyphosate using methods that include large-scale aerial spraying.
USDA has yet to adequately address the issue of herbicide resistance in its oversight of GE crops. USDA should turn its attention from promoting GE crops to provide at least equal time for a concerted effort to promote the use of cover crops, resource-conserving crop rotations, and other sustainable techniques that can help control weeds and provide additional benefits in improvements to soil quality and water quality.
Well, the latest news is that the Organic Trade Association has sent a letter to Vilsack, agreeing to the idea of coexistence. In their own words:
In response, OTA's Executive Director and CEO Christine Bushway sent a letter to Secretary Vilsack outlining OTA's willingness for dialog but also stressing OTA's belief that in order to have meaningful coexistence, policy decisions regarding GE regulation should shift the costs related to inadvertent contamination from the organic and non-GE sectors to the patent holders of the GE crops, protect organic seed crops, and assure implementation of requirements to avoid contamination in the first place
Whole Foods has also taken a stance favoring coexistence. And on the very other hand, Organic Consumers' Association (an organization I am proud to be affiliated with!) says "Hell no!" to coexistence.
I think all who support sustainable ag would obviously prefer GE alfalfa allowed with restrictions instead of having it allowed and unrestricted. And, in that case, I quite agree with the OTA request that the cost of any contamination of organic costs be shifted away from organic producers. But, given the general track record of GE crops in this country... the fact that they undergo very little (if any) independent testing and any scientist who publishes findings of anything negative about GMOs gets shouted down and the very well-established fact that GMOs cannot be contained... I think it would be better if GE alfalfa was not allowed for commercial planting at all. It seems that OTA and Whole Foods have given that option up as a lost cause (which it likely is) and that's why they've thrown their support to "coexistence."
There's certainly more to say on this, but I will save it for a future post. |
