Judge Bans Planting GMO Sugar Beets; Monsanto Gets Ban Overturned

[HealthWyze]

"On Friday 13th, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled that genetically engineered beets can not be planted, because regulators did not complete a review of how genetically modified crops effect other plants through cross-pollination.  The judge instructed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue an environmental impact statement, which normally takes two to three years.

"Before being approved for use, genetically modified beets were never evaluated for the impact that they would have on the environment, and the risks presented to both organic and conventional growers.  This is actually contrary to the law.  While organic produce is still becoming more popular, it is becoming harder to grow, because genetically engineered foods cross pollinate.  There is usually no visible difference between organic and G.E. produce, so farmers can only know if their crops have been infected by spraying Monsanto's Roundup on them, and watching to see if they die."

http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/470-judge-revokes-approval-for-genetically-engineered-sugar-beets.html

[donnay]

Judge Revokes Approval of Modified Sugar Beets

Andrew Pollack
New York Times
Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:15 EDT


A farmer in Rupert, Idaho compares a genetically engineered sugar beet, left, with a conventional sugar beet.

A federal district court judge revoked the government's approval of genetically engineered sugar beets Friday, saying that the Agriculture Department had not adequately assessed the environmental consequences before approving them for commercial cultivation.

The decision, by Judge Jeffrey S. White of Federal District Court in San Francisco, appears to effectively ban the planting of the genetically modified sugar beets, which make up about 95 percent of the crop, until the Agriculture Department prepares an environmental impact statement and approves the crop again, a process that might take a couple of years.

The decision could cause major problems for sugar beet farmers and sugar processors. In the past the sugar industry has warned there might not be enough non-engineered seeds available. However, the judge ruled that crops currently in the ground can be harvested and made into sugar, so the effects will not be felt until next spring's planting season.

Beets supply about half the nation's sugar, with the rest coming from sugar cane. Sugar beet growers sold the 2007-8 crop for about $1.335 billion, according to government data.

The decision came in a lawsuit organized by the Center for Food Safety, a Washington advocacy group that opposes biotech crops.

Judge White ruled last September that the Agriculture Department's approval of the beets violated the National Environmental Policy Act, but he did not specify a remedy. Earlier this year, he denied a request by the plaintiffs to prohibit the planting of the engineered seeds this year, saying that would be too disruptive. But he warned farmers to move toward using conventional seeds.

In his order Friday, the judge granted the plaintiffs' request to formally vacate the approval of the beets. That would bar farmers from growing them outside of a field trial.

But Judge White denied the plaintiffs' request for a permanent injunction that would have also banned the growing of the crops. He said an injunction was not necessary if the crop was no longer approved for commercial planting.

A decision by the United States Supreme Court earlier this year in a similar case involving genetically engineered alfalfa essentially precluded the granting of an injunction.

In the alfalfa case, the Supreme Court indicated that the government might grant partial approval of a genetically modified crop. It seems that such an option might be available in the sugar beet case as well, which could reduce any hardship for farmers. It is also possible the Agriculture Department will appeal.

Read more...

[Optimus]

Sugar Beets- Monsanto Wins Again

By Cassandra Anderson
August 17, 2010

Last Friday a federal judge imposed a nationwide ban on GMO sugar beets and it was overturned the next business day. Sugar beets comprise 50% of the sugar used in US food, and 95% of the sugar beets grown in the US are GMO. It is the jurisdiction of the US Department of Agriculture to determine whether plants are environmentally safe; this case is about whether the plants can cross pollinate (by wind, insects, etc) and contaminate other plants. This could have cost Monsanto billions of dollars.



Less than 2 weeks ago, wild growing canola in North Dakota was discovered to be 86% GMO. Because GMO crops are crossed with herbicide resistant plants (usually weeds), they grow like weeds and contaminate natural plants. Alarmingly, two of the canola samples collected by scientists showed that multiple genes from different species of GMO canola plants cross pollinated without cultivation, and probably for several generations. The implication of this is that GMO seeds can readily contaminate natural seeds and become out of control.

The GMO alfalfa ban lawsuit about contamination was the first GMO case ever heard by the Supreme Court, despite countless lawsuits from farmers whose fields have been polluted by GMOs. The sugar beet ban was overturned, based on a Supreme Court decision (7-1), which lifted the nationwide ban on GMO alfalfa in June.

The Supreme Court ruling stated that the nationwide GMO alfalfa ban was too broad, so it was lifted; an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to be performed by the USDA is still pending. GMO crops are environmentally dangerous because they can readily spread, as proven by the wild GMO plants found in North Dakota. The Supreme Court never addressed the issue of whether GMO plants contaminate natural plants through cross pollination.

Read More...

[donnay]

They're not winning as long as many of us get the word out--and we are!  They know it too! 

I believe what goes around will come around and ultimately they will lose!

[Optimus]

They're not winning as long as many of us get the word out--and we are!  They know it too! 

I believe what goes around will come around and ultimately they will lose!

Absolutely we will win!

[seven_deviations]

  I grow bull's blood beets. 

  There was a massive crisis with regard to sugar beets in the 70's in the US.  The percent sugar content was dropping each year despite the increase in application of chemical fertilizers.  The problem was discovered to be caused by a depletion of a trace mineral in the soil which was not being added by the NPK petrochemical fertilizers.

  Personally, I have been growing beets in the garden using "organic" methods for decades without any problems.  The surest way to create crop failures and famine is to allow corporations to dictate farming policy.