Phantom Phamers of Jackson County
Don't forget about the rest of Oregon. We may have made the biggest ruckus over losing our right to decide if we wanted invasive plants growing here by the square mile, but we're no different than the rest of Oregon when it comes to gene modification. Of our food, and contamination of wild and domestic plants and the bees that are necessary for it all to work right. The following is an action alert that gives some of the arguments for and against GMOs. Keeping in mind that nobody knows the long term effects on us and the ecosystem.
Unbeknownst to most people, fishermen and their political allies, have decimated the normal fisheries. And not just by fishermen. Inland human activity like logging and dam building removed 10,000 miles of spawning habitat from the salmon's usual haunts in the Pacific Northwest alone. Let these biotech companies get their way, by any guise or campaign financing, and beware. And I sure wouldn't want to be the politician who enabled them when judgement day comes for them. Medford's own Sal Esquivel sponsored the original Oregon 'Monsanto Protection Act.' Dennis Richardson voted against keeping GMO canola out of the Willamette Valley. Now he's running for governor. Where is he going to get the money to come from a virtually unknown statewide to the Governor's office? And someone running for Medford City Council is on the Farm Bureau, a biotech lobbying group. Smells fishy to me.
I thought I had heard that some committee chair had snuck SB 633 into the funding package for this upcoming Special Session of the Oregon Legislature and not the Governor. And I thought it was weird when one of our favorite GMO cheerleading politicians said he couldn't meet with his constituents because he had a meeting with my group at the exact same time. The Phantom Pharmers didn't even tell me they were connected to my blogging or me. Heck, I didn't know they existed. Well this could be fodder for that production company that contacted me for regular people to be in a reality show. Non-people would be a cool twist in the reality show craze. They are always looking for a new angle. Wow, they could be implicated in the mysterious destruction of local GMO sugar beets, slipping in some GM wheat seed in Eastern Oregon, and more recently in Washington State. This could be bigger than 'The Invisible Man' series.
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His Twitter tag is @GovKitz
Post your opposition to 633 there and then if you haven't called yet. Let the governor know you wan't stand for this give-away of your rights to have a say in your local agricultural economy
Biotech Corporations Say - Different restrictions on seeds in different counties and municipalities creates a regulatory nightmare for growers, manufacturers, distributors, and local governments.
Farmers could potentially face new regulations from 36 counties and over 400 cities in Oregon.
Counterpoint - Oh come on, how many Counties are going to do this? California has a whopping three Counties ten years after the first ban. California agriculture is not suffering. If citizen's in an Oregon County want GMOs, they just won't pass a ban.
Biotech Corporations Say - Counties and cities lack the financial resources and expertise to enforce regulations on agricultural seed, and SB 633 will relieve them of this potential.
Counterpoint - This is unfounded speculation, how about some facts? What's the budget in Jackson and Umatilla Counties to enforce the two agricultural ordinances they already have in place. The answer?- next to nothing.
Unbeknownst to most people, fishermen and their political allies, have decimated the normal fisheries. And not just by fishermen. Inland human activity like logging and dam building removed 10,000 miles of spawning habitat from the salmon's usual haunts in the Pacific Northwest alone. Let these biotech companies get their way, by any guise or campaign financing, and beware. And I sure wouldn't want to be the politician who enabled them when judgement day comes for them. Medford's own Sal Esquivel sponsored the original Oregon 'Monsanto Protection Act.' Dennis Richardson voted against keeping GMO canola out of the Willamette Valley. Now he's running for governor. Where is he going to get the money to come from a virtually unknown statewide to the Governor's office? And someone running for Medford City Council is on the Farm Bureau, a biotech lobbying group. Smells fishy to me.
I thought I had heard that some committee chair had snuck SB 633 into the funding package for this upcoming Special Session of the Oregon Legislature and not the Governor. And I thought it was weird when one of our favorite GMO cheerleading politicians said he couldn't meet with his constituents because he had a meeting with my group at the exact same time. The Phantom Pharmers didn't even tell me they were connected to my blogging or me. Heck, I didn't know they existed. Well this could be fodder for that production company that contacted me for regular people to be in a reality show. Non-people would be a cool twist in the reality show craze. They are always looking for a new angle. Wow, they could be implicated in the mysterious destruction of local GMO sugar beets, slipping in some GM wheat seed in Eastern Oregon, and more recently in Washington State. This could be bigger than 'The Invisible Man' series.
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Dear John
Some
of you asked about the petition I referred to in my last email. You
actually received that email because you previously have signed it. But
if you want to send it to others via email or social media , here is
the link
Here is the latest. Oregon Governor Kitzhaber's "Vision" for the future of Oregon in the special session he has called on Sept. 30 includes
a cynical attempt to give corporate bio-tech companies control of
agriculture in the State by including SB633 and denying you your rights
to act via citizen's initiative - your only recourse when the government won't act on a serious problem. SB633 preempts citizen initiatives on "seed-related matters" (GMOs).
The
other day I asked you to call and write Kitzhaber to post your
opposition to SB633. Today I'm asking that you post your opposition on
his social media pages if you use Facebook or twitter
Kitzhaber's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/johnkitzhaber His Twitter tag is @GovKitz
Post your opposition to 633 there and then if you haven't called yet. Let the governor know you wan't stand for this give-away of your rights to have a say in your local agricultural economy
You can also find the Facebook and Twitter tags for your local reps easily, send them a message too.
And if you haven't done it yet all
AND write to Governor Kitzhaber's office 503-378-4582, be sure to say
you want a response and/or send him an electronic message at
http://www.oregon.gov/gov/Pages/ShareYourOpinion.aspx
http://www.oregon.gov/gov/Pages/ShareYourOpinion.aspx
Also Call your State Representatives and Senators http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
Here's some additional information you can use .
The lobby group Oregonians for Food And Shelter (OFS) and Oregon Farm Bureau are the sponsors for SB633. If you ever wondered who they are here's some members of the OFS Board.
· Michael Diamond, Monsanto Company
· Debbie Ego, Rasmussen Spray Service
· Danelle Farmer, Syngenta Crop Protection
· Rick Krohn, Pacific NW Aerial Applicators Alliance
· Kent Pittard, DuPont
Oregon
Farm Bureau's Political Action Committee (PAC) receives major funding
from biotech firms Monsanto and Syngenta. Who pays the piper calls the
tune.
Here are some points you can make to counter SB633.
Biotech
Corporations Say - SB633 is not about whether or not agricultural seed
is regulated, but rather where that regulation takes place.
Counterpoint - So what Oregonians for Food and Shelter the sponsor of this bill really means is that multi-national biotech corporations not local citizens should regulate farms in Oregon by their unregulated and cavalier planting of cross pollinating GMO crops? That's not surprising because Syngenta (Danelle Farmer) and Monsanto (Michael Diamond) sit on the Board of OFS. The question is correct, but the answer is that the Feds, State and County refuse to deal with this issue and appear to be content to let Syngenta and Monsanto dictate that organic seed production and seed saving here is doomed and that Oregon wheat and alfalfa growers can kiss off their foreign export markets.
Biotech Corporations Say - Local counties and municipalities are not technically or financially equipped to regulate agricultural crops.
Counterpoint How so? Jackson and Umatilla Counties, both have local ag ordinances, in fact Measure 15-119, the GMO crop ban measure in Jackson County is modeled directly on Jackson County's existing pear orchard ordinance.
Biotech Corporations Say - USDA, EPA, and the FDA, currently regulate GE plants and have access to the needed expertise on the issue.
Counterpoint - None of these entities care about or deal with GMO contamination and its deleterious effects on markets that rely on customers that don't want them. Washington alfalfa growers are on their own as USDA has washed their hands of any deregulated crop. Can't sell your wheat to Asia? Tough beans Farmer John
Biotech Corporations Say - The cost of discovery, development and authorization of a new plant biotechnology trait introduced between 2008 and 2012 was $136 million, and takes an average of 13.1 years to make it from discovery to commercial market.
Counterpoint - So? Traditional breeding techniques in land grant colleges deliver as many or more useful traits, but public funding is drying up.
Biotech Corporations Say - ODA has the plant scientists expertise to determine if additional Oregon specific regulations are needed.
Counterpoint So that is why ODA tried to jam canola into the Willamette Valley? Some expertise, it smells more like bias to me. It took the legislature to force the issue. Hardly a stellar track record on that score. ODA has no charter to deal with contentiousness between organic and GMO means of production.
Counterpoint - So what Oregonians for Food and Shelter the sponsor of this bill really means is that multi-national biotech corporations not local citizens should regulate farms in Oregon by their unregulated and cavalier planting of cross pollinating GMO crops? That's not surprising because Syngenta (Danelle Farmer) and Monsanto (Michael Diamond) sit on the Board of OFS. The question is correct, but the answer is that the Feds, State and County refuse to deal with this issue and appear to be content to let Syngenta and Monsanto dictate that organic seed production and seed saving here is doomed and that Oregon wheat and alfalfa growers can kiss off their foreign export markets.
Biotech Corporations Say - Local counties and municipalities are not technically or financially equipped to regulate agricultural crops.
Counterpoint How so? Jackson and Umatilla Counties, both have local ag ordinances, in fact Measure 15-119, the GMO crop ban measure in Jackson County is modeled directly on Jackson County's existing pear orchard ordinance.
Biotech Corporations Say - USDA, EPA, and the FDA, currently regulate GE plants and have access to the needed expertise on the issue.
Counterpoint - None of these entities care about or deal with GMO contamination and its deleterious effects on markets that rely on customers that don't want them. Washington alfalfa growers are on their own as USDA has washed their hands of any deregulated crop. Can't sell your wheat to Asia? Tough beans Farmer John
Biotech Corporations Say - The cost of discovery, development and authorization of a new plant biotechnology trait introduced between 2008 and 2012 was $136 million, and takes an average of 13.1 years to make it from discovery to commercial market.
Counterpoint - So? Traditional breeding techniques in land grant colleges deliver as many or more useful traits, but public funding is drying up.
Biotech Corporations Say - ODA has the plant scientists expertise to determine if additional Oregon specific regulations are needed.
Counterpoint So that is why ODA tried to jam canola into the Willamette Valley? Some expertise, it smells more like bias to me. It took the legislature to force the issue. Hardly a stellar track record on that score. ODA has no charter to deal with contentiousness between organic and GMO means of production.
Biotech Corporations Say - Different restrictions on seeds in different counties and municipalities creates a regulatory nightmare for growers, manufacturers, distributors, and local governments.
Farmers could potentially face new regulations from 36 counties and over 400 cities in Oregon.
Counterpoint - Oh come on, how many Counties are going to do this? California has a whopping three Counties ten years after the first ban. California agriculture is not suffering. If citizen's in an Oregon County want GMOs, they just won't pass a ban.
Biotech Corporations Say - Counties and cities lack the financial resources and expertise to enforce regulations on agricultural seed, and SB 633 will relieve them of this potential.
Counterpoint - This is unfounded speculation, how about some facts? What's the budget in Jackson and Umatilla Counties to enforce the two agricultural ordinances they already have in place. The answer?- next to nothing.
Thank You for your help in this struggle.
Brian Comnes, Ashland Oregon
posted by Alaskacafe at 6:11 PM
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