go butte county

[Guest guest]

i hear humboldt county is also doing something similar

 

Genetically modified crop ban qualifies for ballot

 

By Chico Enterprise-Record Staff

 

OROVILLE The petitions calling for a vote in November on whether Butte

County will ban genetically modified organisms have been validated by the

county elections office.

 

Organizers of the effort got word Tuesday that they had submitted enough

signatures of registered voters to require a vote unless county supervisors

vote July 13 to adopt the law.

 

The group needed 6,200 signatures, and 7,981 were verified.

 

In March, Mendocino County became the first country in the United States to

ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Other counties in the state are

also working on similar efforts.

 

Citizens for a GE-Free Butte formed shortly after the presentation by Percy

Schmeiser, a Canadian farmer who claims his canola farm was contaminated by

genetically engineered seed.

 

Genetic engineering is the splicing of genes from one plant or animal into

another. Commonly genetically engineered foods include corn and canola,

which are spliced with genes that are immune to the herbicide Roundup. Then

the chemical can be sprayed on the fields and only the " Roundup ready " seeds

will survive.

 

With the measure slated for the November ballot, unless the Board of

Supervisors approves it without a vote, the group plans to start a campaign

to talk about the issue including guest speakers, film viewing, tables at

local supermarkets and group presentations.

 

***************************************************************

 

Biotech crop ban makes Butte ballot

It would bar the new seeds in a key rice-growing county

..

By Mike Lee -- Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

Friday, June 18, 2004

 

Mendocino County's ban of biotech crops has been cloned: Butte County has

validated enough signatures for a November ballot measure that would

prohibit genetically engineered crops in the heart of rice country,

activists said Thursday.

 

The ballot measures and congressional legislation introduced Thursday by a

farm-state senator signal continuing public discomfort about holes and

secrecy in the regulatory system for biotech foods. The problems were

highlighted last week in The Bee's series about genetic engineering.

 

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wants to force companies to submit their

new biotech foods to the Food and Drug Administration for review before

marketing them, a change from the current voluntary process.

 

" We need to understand more of what is going on, " said Lou Ann Choss, a

massage therapist in the Butte County community of Paradise.

 

Choss and her like-minded friends announced the county had certified more

than enough signatures - 7,981 - for a November ballot measure that would

ban cultivation of genetically engineered crops. Butte County supervisors

have the option to adopt the measure or send it to the ballot.

 

If successful, Butte would follow Mendocino County, which banned biotech

crops in March. Anti-biotech organizers in Humboldt County say they are

nearly ready to submit 8,000 signatures for a similar November ballot.

 

The effort in Butte is arguably the most significant in California because

the county is a leading rice producer. Companies reportedly are close to

marketing genetically engineered rice immune to popular herbicides -

products that some Butte farmers no doubt would embrace.

 

Choss said the decision to seek a ban was based on fears about the spread of

biotech genes to non-biotech crops and the implications for organic

consumers trying to avoid engineered food. Those fears were crystallized by

the recent efforts of a Sacramento biotech company to boost production of

rice laced with common human proteins.

 

" This isn't just a bunch of granola-eaters who want to stop scientific

research, " Choss said. " It's a broader scope across all lines in the farming

community, organic as well as conventional. "

 

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group based in Washington,

D.C., is watching Butte for now and didn't rule out a fall election

campaign.

 

" We feel strongly that farmers should have the right to choose the types of

crops they want to grow, whether it's conventional or biotech or organic, "

said spokeswoman Deb Carstoiu.

 

Durbin took a different approach to regulating biotechnology, which mostly

is done by federal agencies. His bill would force companies to alert the FDA

when they want to market a new biotech food and give the public time to

comment. It's up to companies if they want to tell the FDA about a biotech

product, and the FDA does little independent verification of company

science.

 

Biotech industry watchdog Greg Jaffe at the Center for Science in the Public

Interest in Washington, D.C., said the bill offered a sensible, streamlined

and transparent way to regulate biotech foods.

 

But at the Grocery Manufacturers of America, a major food trade group in

Washington, D.C., spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said Durbin's tinkering with

the regulatory system isn't needed. " Overall, we are confident that the FDA

.... has had an adequate review " of products on the market, she said.