measure H in Mendocino

[Guest guest]

Measure bans gene-altered crops

By Paul Elias

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

UKIAH - The center of the nation's anti-biotechnology movement can be

found these days in a renegade Northern California county where the

biggest cash crop is marijuana.

 

Mendocino County farmers and businesses are trying to persuade voters on

March 2 to pass a first-in-the-nation measure that would prohibit

genetically modified plants and animals from being raised or kept in the

county.

 

Processed food made with genetically modified ingredients would still be

allowed on store shelves.

 

"I believe that genetic engineering at this stage is the biggest

uncontrolled biological experiment going on in the world today," said

Els Cooperrider, co-owner of the Ukiah Brewing Co., a brew pub that uses

only organic ingredients in its beer and food and has become the

headquarters of the campaign.

 

Cooperrider, who worked as a medical researcher for 20 years before

opening the restaurant with her husband, a zoologist, said it is too

risky to allow genetically engineered organisms to be released into

nature: "It's an irreversible process -- we can't pull them back once we

do it."

 

The industry counters that the negative effects are nonexistent,

pointing out that not a single stomach ache has been reported since the

Food and Drug Administration first approved genetically engineered crops

for human consumption 10 years ago. Moreover, they note that crops

genetically engineered to resist weeds and bugs enable farmers to

decrease pesticide use.

 

Genetically modified organisms already being experimented on outdoors

include tomatoes, corn, soybeans, salmon, pigs and cows.

 

Supporters of Measure H say success could galvanize similar movements

from Vermont to Hawaii. Failure could be the biggest setback for

activists since the 2002 defeat in Oregon of a proposal to require

labeling of all food with bio-engineered ingredients.

 

Activists and biotech lobbyists are increasingly battling over

bio-engineered crops and animals at the state and local level.

 

In 2001-02, 158 pieces of legislation relating to biotechnology were

introduced in 39 states, according to the Pew Initiative on Food and

Biotechnology. Maryland, for example, imposed a five-year ban on

gene-engineered fish in 2002.

 

But none have been as sweeping as the attempt in Mendocino County, a

place with a frontier spirit. The rugged and remote county is proud of

its eclectic politics, quirky independence and somewhat hedonistic ways.

It is populated by the wealthy and the working class alike, as well as

by aging hippies and organic-food growers.

 

Its district attorney is a Libertarian who served time in prison on tax

charges. Its sheriff is an outspoken proponent of medicinal marijuana.

 

Wine grapes recently surpassed timber as the region's top-selling legal

crop, though it is no secret that marijuana brings in the most cash.

 

More and more organic farmers are also staking out small operations on

the arable land below the county's redwood-studded hills. Some 3,500

acres of the county's 18,000 acres of farmland are certified as organic,

which means the crops were grown without pesticides and artificial

fertilizers.

 

In truth, the ban would have little direct effect inside Mendocino

County if enacted, since there are no known genetically modified crops

growing in the area, nor are there any commercially available biotech

grapes.

 

But the ban could benefit Mendocino County's organic growers, who could

use the law as a marketing tool, especially in Europe, where opposition

to genetically engineered foods is fierce.

 

"Beyond the political quirkiness, there is some protectionism going on

here," said Glenn McGourty, a University of California plant science

adviser for Mendocino County who said he is neutral on the issue.

 

Similar movements are under way in Vermont, where several towns have

passed resolutions recommending biotechnology bans. In Texas, activists

want to ban the genetic engineering of plants to produce

pharmaceuticals.

 

Many coffee growers in Hawaii are campaigning to ban outdoor genetic

engineering experiments of coffee plants for fear of accidental

cross-pollination.

 

"We are following this real closely," Nancy Redfeather, an

organic-coffee grower near Kona, Hawaii, said of the Mendocino County

campaign. "It's extremely relevant to what we're trying to do."

 

If Measure H is defeated, it would again highlight the biotechnology

industry's political muscle. In 2002, industry groups spent $4 million

to help defeat the Oregon proposition.

 

This time, the industry-backed California Plant Health Association sued

Mendocino County in an unsuccessful attempt to alter the ballot's

language and is expected to file another lawsuit if the ballot passes.

 

"It's bad policy for individual counties to start banning certain

crops," said association chief Steven Beckley. "It's also denying

farmers a technology they may someday need."

 

County Agricultural Commissioner Dave Bengston, who would be responsible

for enforcing the ban, said he is officially neutral on Measure H but is

concerned about overburdening his seven-person department.

 

"We don't have staff trained in dealing with genetically modified

organisms, and no one in the country has a ban like this," he said.