[1] Barry Estabrook at [2] Politics of the Plate has posted a cogent summary of how the USDA is violating its own rules on GMO crops by permitting farmers to plant genetically modified sugar beets without filing the legally required Environment Impact Statement.

Tom Stearns, founder and president of High Mowing Seeds, along with the Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club, and the Organic Seed Alliance, are suing the USDA for disobeying its own rules. This excerpt explains what’s at stake:

Of all the plaintiffs in the case, Stearns has the most to lose. By the USDA’s own definition, crops grown from genetically modified (GMO) seeds cannot be labeled “organic.” Sugar beets are notoriously promiscuous, not only breeding with themselves, but with their close cousins, table beets and Swiss chard, both of which Stearns sells. If his seeds became contaminated with GMO genes, they would have to be destroyed.

But all of us have a stake in the game. Widespread contamination could mean that consumers would no longer have the option of buying non-GMO beets and chard. Half of the sugar we consume comes from beets, and does not have to be labeled as being made from GMO sources, meaning that Americans are being force-fed GMO products.

Because of climactic conditions, the vast majority of sugar beet, table beet, and Swiss chard seed in this country is grown in a small, confined area of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. And since beet pollen can be carried for distances of over a mile by the wind, Stearns has good reason to worry about the threat of contamination…

To read article, please visit [3] Politics of the Plate >