Over the space of two nights this
month, the sugar beet crop in two fields in Jackson County, Oregon, was
destroyed. Someone, or a number of somebodies, chose to destroy a valuable
crop, likely because it consisted of beets that had been genetically engineered
to be resistant to Roundup, a herbicide.
It would be nice to see the
criminals who did this caught, and according to reports by the Oregonian, the
FBI is taking the case seriously. They have deemed the case
"economic sabotage and a violation of federal law involving damage to
commercial agricultural enterprises," according to the report of reporter
Kimberly A.C. Wilson of the Oregonian, the only major media outlet so far to
report on the issue from what I can tell.
Farmers do their best to manage
weather risk (they can and do lose part or all of their crops due to weather),
volatile markets (prices often drop when the crop does well), government
regulations (which get more onerous each year), and common problems like theft
but the wanton destruction of a year’s crop by criminal activity can’t be
planned or managed.
Grange members stand united against
what amounts to terrorism against our American farmers. No matter what crops
our farmers choose to raise, no matter what animals our farmers choose to
nurture, if it is legal American farmers deserve to be able to supply their
fellow citizens with that product. It doesn’t matter if you are an animal
rights or anti-GMO (genetically modified organisms) believer, actions such as
these are unacceptable and criminal.
I have a hunch that those who
committed this crime are operating on emotion. I’ve heard a lot of argument
against the use of GMOs over the last couple of years. While I believe that
everyone has a right to their own opinion, when someone claims that GMOs will
cause the death of the human species, any middle or common ground is hard to
find, and facts to support that argument are hard to find. Every
peer-reviewed scientific study I have seen or heard of shows that no difference
can be seen between the end product of a natural seed, a naturally modified
seed, or an engineered seed.
The National Grange has debated the
issue of GMOs for a number of years and from those debates we have created our
current policy. We support the use of GMO seed and want studies on their safety
to continue. It is a pragmatic viewpoint and yet one that is based upon the
available facts and science. I am sure that it will continue to be discussed
and debated in our organization and by the public for many years to come. As
new studies are conducted, their results will be included in the policy
development process of the Grange.
It is good to have passion, but if
we allow that passion to overshadow logic and facts we will see more crimes
such as this one in Jackson County. It is our duty to engage in discussion and
debate the issues of the day. Through this process we only stand to learn from
each other.
The Grange stands in support of the
American farmer, especially those who are the victims of terrorist acts like
this one because of the crop they’ve chosen to plant. Every American should
join us in condemning criminal acts like the one reported.
Brothers and Sisters...It should not make any difference if you are pro or con in regards to GMO's...damaging property of other people is always a criminal act and the perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
ReplyDeleteBrother.... Why is the FBI not prosecuting Monsanta, Syngeta, DuPont, for damaging neighboring crops on millions of acres, with their mutated GE pollen?
DeleteHalf the heirloom corn seeds, by Baker Creek Seeds' own tests, are now contaminated.
It should not make any difference I am pro or con in regards to GMOs, damaging property of other people is always a criminal act and the perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
Why is the FBI only protecting these two fields of GE crops and not all the other farmers conventional and organic crops during these last 20 years?
Does the FBI belong to Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont too?
Grange #843
Excellent observations
DeleteI agree that the destruction of property is a crime and a poor way to make an argument. But I am very proud of the Oregon State Grange, which voted earlier this month to remove our former support of GMOs, thus becoming neutral on the issue.
ReplyDeleteUntil the research that Ed mentions—independent research, not funded by the companies who stand to benefit—has proven no harm over the long run, I don't feel we should promote the use of GMOs.
I would echo Virginia's comments, and with all due respect to WM Brother Ed, I do not consider these people "Terrorists." Rather, they are CRIMINALS. To brand them "terrorists" is giving them too much power and credit. Never mind the fact that these acts were not done to "terrorize" which is the true meaning of the word, (like flying planes into buildings or blowing up bombs at public events). They were done as criminal acts, meant to send a political message.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't make it right. The perps should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But it is NOT "terrorism." Back in "the day" of the early Grange, the hot-button term was "Anarchist." In the 1930s through 1950s, it was replaced with "Communist." And now we have "Terrorist." A frame meant to inflame public sentiment and often leads to enacting special rights for special interests with a net result of less freedoms for the average person and(or) society as a whole.
I myself agree with WM Brother Ed in regards to GMOs. As one with a strong scientific background, I support additional research, and do not see genetic modification of organisms inherently "evil" as many others apparently do. Indeed, I firmly believe that there is a case to be made for such efforts, in regards to creating crops of higher yields, more resistance to drought, or other environmental effects that have and will continue to be issues in the coming years due to climate change and other challenges.
That said, I do have issues with corporations, like Monsanto, that made their way in the world by creating chemicals, including herbicides and pesticides. And now they are modifying crops to be resistant to these very same products that they create. Not to make a better world, but to sell more of these chemicals. Then resorting to strong-armed tactics to send a clear message to the world's farmers:
"OUR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY! Don't save your seeds. Buy more every year from us instead. And if you don't, we will sue."
As such, I also believe that people have the right to KNOW what is in their food, and how it got there. The violent opposition to proposed "labeling laws" by these large corporations is an indicator of market trends. If they truly consider their products safe, then what do they fear?
If these corporate chemical companies put more effort into traditional marketing coupled by the truly independent research mentioned by Virginia, then it wouldn't matter if these facts were on the label. Instead we have a system that intentionally keeps people in the dark, because they (these chemical companies) know that people will choose wisely. And they don't want that.
Bottom line: If the news is good, they would be happy to share it with everyone. If otherwise, well then, hide the facts and fight tooth & nail to keep them hidden. As a corporation they are LEGALLY beholden to their investors, to create more "return" for them. The public at large is simply a resource to tap.
There is an old saying: "Communism is when the government owns the corporations; Fascism is the opposite." IMHO, both systems are undesirable, and equally onerous. However, our country has more to fear from the latter than the former.
My $0.02 worth.
Gus Frederick
Silverton Grange No. 748
Perhaps Ed destroyed the fields himself to take the Grange's attention off his failed attempt to reorganize the California State Grange, remove the duly elected Master and Executive Committee and disenfranchise over 9,000 Grangers.
DeleteJust my 2 cents.
Chuck Voss
486
I feel shame that the current leadership of The Grange has embarked on this divisive and partisan exercise to inflame the passions of people by using highly pejorative expletives to exaggerate the importance of some hooligans on the one hand while completely sweeping under the rug the criminal activities of their adversaries on the other.
ReplyDeleteI don't know when it started becoming "normal" for The Grange to support chemical manufacturer's interests and placing them over the interests of families and small farmers but I find the exercise disgusting and a perversion of the purpose of the founders who worked to create a common community that supported the health and welfare of it's members unlike what we are seeing from our current leadership.
If our president thinks GMO and chemicals are okay based on his research. He should check out our facebook page. It is filled with why GMO are dangerous.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/southardgrange218?fref=ts
"Every peer-reviewed scientific study I have seen or heard of shows that no difference can be seen between the end product of a natural seed, a naturally modified seed, or an engineered seed." Really if that is true what natural plant terminates it own seeds so the next generation cannot be replanted?
The president should stop pondering and make it clear that the Grange does NOT support GMOs or pesticides. Chemical dependent farming has brought devastating effects to the health of the planet, environment, people animals and insects. He should state that organically grown and growing is the natural state of the environment and that is what he wants to protect.
The Grange on all levels should be focused on making all members independent, self sufficient and sustainable. It is a contradiction in terms to be the National Order of the Patrons of Husbandry and support UNnatural products that destroy, insects, animals, and people.
If it is not labeled, it is not science!
ReplyDeleteThe word "Science" means to"Know."
I am a science teacher, with 20 diet copyrights, and even I did not know that I was feeding this to my family until 2 years ago.
Saying that GE corn is the same as heirloom corn is fake science.
In my opinion, the scientists who assert this is safe to test on our babies and families in America, are phony corporate scientists.
Henry Miller, who said there has not been a single case of harm from GE food, worked also for the tobacco companies. That is clearly not true, as a 100 people died in 1989 from GE L-Tryptophane and thousands were crippled. It was only discovered because L-Tryptophane caused immediate and unusual symptoms.
We have no idea of long term chronic disease from GE foods. We do know that there are now 1/3 of our children who are obese and 1/3 who have autism, severe allergies and behavior disorders. How sad is that?
Why is the FBI not going after these corporate terrorists who have blown this untested, unlabeled pollen into millions of acres of neighboring fields? Half our heirloom corn seeds are now contaminated with GE seed, according to Baker Creek seeds own tests. This is a crime. Why are the criminals not being pursued who spread this mutant pollen?
Why is the national Grange, cradle of farming and ranching, not supporting transparency in our food system as 64 other countries already do?
It is time to put the children's fires first, as is done in Native American councils, in every decision.
Stand up for Labeling, National Grange, of our baby formula. It is all bGH in the US, unless organic! This results in 400% more breast and prostate cancer in test animals.
Our cancer rates are skyrocketing. Half of us will get cancer.
We know there is money and power in GE foods. Nearly $50 million was spent against us in the Prop 37 campaign.
The California Grange was embroiled in 3 petty lawsuits all year against its officers, by the National Grange when we needed your support the most. You have revoked our Charter, in my opinion, for having the courage to stand with small family farmers who want to save their seed and have sustainable soils.
We know that Roundup kills the good soil bacteria and leaves staph, salmonella, botulism and fungi.
Be the voice of the people, the 90% who ask for labeling and support the fundamental freedom to know what we eat. Do this for our children. We know that there are no grandchildren in mice eating GE soy.
Do this for our grandchildren too. There are fertility clinics now in every city.
BE the Grange of healthy families and healthy farms, with farmers not immersed in poisons. Stand up for labeling.
While I agree that Ed Luttrell is leading the Grange Movement down the wrong road, and while we must make cogent, passionate cases against GMOs—we should balance our criticism with a positive vision of what the Grange can do and be and advocate today.
ReplyDeleteHealthy food, protecting the soil, and economic justice for the small, independent farmer—those are only a few of the key messages we must share with our sisters and brothers of the Grange.
Time to elect a new National Grange President, one who is more in touch with modern times!
DeleteChuck Voss
486
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs a dietitian working in small livestock production and biologically based agriculture, I have been studying the ecological/health effects of GE cropping systems since their introduction. The hazards of GMOs and high levels of herbicides on farmland, food and feed is not open to this kind of unsubstantiated bashing. We want to learn from peer reviewed studies like those referenced in publications like GMO Myths and Truths http://earthopensource.org/index.php/reports/58. There are subsequent alarming peer reviewed reports implicating GMOs in health risks since Myths and Truths was published last year. Mr. Luttrell, please be concrete with comparable peer-reviewed evidence. What studies do you cite that contradict the conclusions of independent scientists documenting or suggesting potential risks to the satisfaction of expert, unbiased peers?
ReplyDeleteGE crops are marketed as requiring heavy repeated use of glyphosate herbicides (like Monsanto's Roundup). Accumulated Roundup from GE crops in food and drinking water has recently been reported to potentially underlie many chronic diseases rising steeply and otherwise without satisfactory explanation over the past 15 years.
Roundup's effect on human metabolism combines with effects from foreign GE proteins in food, especially in conventional baby formula containing HFCS &/or soy. It is a crime that the FDA approves these foods in the face of the rise in allergies, gut anomalies, diabetes and autistic spectrum disorder among other increasing health problems in American children. Of concern as well is the amount of GE protein in corn-based diets with conventional food corn being a registered pesticide. Corn is engineered to kill caterpillars by a corollary process to leaky gut syndrome rising in societies that eat GMOs. The amount of GE soy and corn in pet food is one more noteworthy circumstance in light of the rise in cancer, auto-immune diseases and other costly, heart-breaking chronic diseases in pets.
Grangers, it's time to wake up! Help young parents avoid baby formula that risks a lifelong burden of compromised health in this generation! Save on vet bills by avoiding GMO feed for livestock and pets! Spread the word among our brothers and sisters to find sources of organic corn for tortillas and tamales!
Master Luttrell, it's time to wake up, and lead Grangers in questioning the self-serving "science" of the pesticide industry. They promote myths to support their unscrupulous marketing and vertical integration goals to monopolize agricultural inputs. Their myths are given credence by some unprincipled university researchers who depend on pesticide industry grants and partnerships for their chosen livelihood. GE industry myths are promulgated in the USDA, the Farm Bureaus, the farm press and other media outlets whose policy and editorial positions are purchased using the unbelievable profits spent on GE seed and pesticide industry advertising and other considerations representing conflicts of interest.
A strident disregard for independent peer-reviewed science matches the kind of thinking that also disregards and, in fact, vigorously attempts to overturn the democratic election of our beloved brother California Grange Master Bob MacFarland. Do you feel you must continue to ruthlessly attack for months on end our dedicated and sacrificing Worthy State Master because he reflects what the majority of California Grange delegates at repeated State Conventions hold as true about GMOs?
State Grange Masters, it's time to wake up and search your hearts for a choice of Master for the National Grange who shows respect to true science and fundamental democratic principles and honors diverse, but sincere, paths of service and truth-seeking viewpoints within the National Grange.