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OR Voters Want GM Crop Ban; What is ID Agribiz Hiding? USDA Approves GMO Grass
‘Tide is Turning’ as Oregon Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Ban of GE Crops. In a victory for sustainable food advocates everywhere, two counties in Oregon on Tuesday voted to ban the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. Despite an onslaught of spending by agribusiness giants such as DuPont and Monsanto, voters in Jackson County and Josephine County overwhelming took a stand for measures protecting “seed sovereignty and local control” of food systems. The Jackson Measure 15-119 passed 66-34 percent, while the Josephine County Measure 17-58 passed 58-42 percent.
What Is Idaho Agribusiness Trying to Hide? Idaho became the latest state to pass an “ag-gag” law, punishing whistleblowing in animal agriculture, just this past February. In March, it became the latest state to get sued for doing so, when a coalition of animal activists, journalists, workers’ rights groups, environmental organizations and civil liberties defenders came together to challenge the law in a federal lawsuit. Now, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is joining the coalition, filing a brief that outlines several ways Idaho’s ag-gag law violates the First Amendment.
USDA Approves GMO Grass: No Tests Needed Just Sell It! The USDA slipped through an innocuous-looking press release about Kentucky bluegrass late Friday afternoon before the Fourth of July weekend. It’s GMO bluegrass, engineered to resist Monsanto’s nasty plant-killer, Roundup, so you can plant it on your lawn and then douse the whole joint with their chemical weedkiller.
Sources: Common Dreams, Popular Resistance, Truthout.
Paul Brown is a retired neuroscience professor whose primary interests are human rights, overpopulation, mass extinction, global warming, and the military-industrial complex. Links to all his Before It’s News articles are at /contributor/pages/189/210/stories.html.
