Protect
organic crops from contamination by genetically
engineered crops
Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary of Agriculture Johanns,
I am writing to ask your agency to do
more to protect the public from the risks
of genetically engineered foods. Specifically,
the USDA should impose a moratorium on
open-field growing of genetically engineered
corn. On April 19, 2006, the USDA issued
a report titled "The First Decade
of Genetically Engineered Crops in the
United States." Astonishingly, this
report completely ignores the problem of
contamination of organic crops from cross-pollination
by genetically engineered crops.
I find this omission outrageous since
your agency knows it has been very well
documented that organic corn IS being contaminated
by transgenic varieties. In its report "Gone
to Seed," the Union of Concerned Scientists
says that genetically engineered DNA is
contaminating most of the crop seeds in
the United States. This contamination seriously
threatens organic crops, which by definition
are produced without genetic engineering.
Americans are flocking to organic food
in record numbers. Organic food represents
one of the fastest growing segments of
the U.S. food industry - sustaining an
astonishing 20 percent annual growth rate
for more than a decade. It states quite
clearly in the USDA organic standard that
genetically engineered foods are NOT organic.
A huge number of Americans are choosing
organic foods because we believe they are
a healthy choice for our families, and
more beneficial for the environment. After
all this brilliant success, it would be
a great tragedy to see the purity of organic
foods destroyed by genetic contamination.
The USDA has acted irresponsibly by allowing
genetically engineered crops to be grown
with little concern about how they may
be harming organic agriculture. Evidence
indicates that corn pollen can blow for
several miles and that buffer zones are
not adequate to prevent pollen drift. All
this, not to mention the fact that there
have never been ANY human safety tests
conducted to prove that genetically engineered
crops and foods are safe for human consumption.
Indeed, a growing number of studies indicate
that genetically altered crops may pose
serious health and environmental risks.
I therefore call upon you, as one of the
key guardians of the safety of the food
supply for this country, to demand that
the USDA place an immediate moratorium
on the open growing of genetically engineered
crops and restrict them to greenhouses
or similar controlled environments.
Please write me back and tell me what
you plan to do to address this issue of
genetic contamination of organic crops
in the United States before it grows into
a national scandal. Thank you.
Sincerely,
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name)
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