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| In Oregon, this would be contraband. |
In the wake of Jackson County, Oregon’s recent vote to ban genetically modified foods, lots of people have forgotten the people most hit by this — farmers.
Sure, the anti-GMOers thought they were going to stick it to Monsanto and Syngenta. But admist their hateful passion and anti-science agenda, they forgot that it’s farmers that grow that food, profit from it, and use that money to support their families.
The message was clear: if your’e a family farmer in Jackson County, Oregon, screw you!
The Oregonian Editorial Board published this response to the recent vote:
Syngenta and Monsanto don’t live in Jackson or Josephine Counties. People do, and some of them are farmers who are now less free to use their land as they see fit than they were just weeks ago. The farmers affected by the ban don’t use GE crops because they want to help agribusinesses. They use them because doing so suits their own purposes.
The GE crop ban is, above all, a property rights issue. Voters who saw in the election an opportunity to hit Monsanto and Syngenta with a crowbar ended up hitting their neighbors instead. Those neighbors aren’t going anywhere, their livelihoods have been affected by popular vote, and the measure explicitly thumbs its nose at the notion that Oregon protects the ability of farmers to operate in the face of development by squeamish urbanites. For these reasons, the fighting may not be over, even though the voting is.
The opinion piece goes on to discuss various methods that farmers might use to take back those property rights, including litigation through the Right to Farm legislation in the state. Unfortunately for those farmers living there, they cannot just pick up their fields and move.
They’ll have to stand up to the new law or become organic (eek!).
You can continue reading here.
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supply and demand. the farmer's supply what their customers demand. their customers don't eat what the farmer's feel like planting. "organic – eek!" lol
I'm from Josephine County and I was asking everybody I knew to vote no on it. I got responses from the shill of, "so you're on Monsanto's payroll?" to stuff as far-fetched as, "Monsanto is poisoning our kids in the grocery stores. Are you saying you want my kids poisoned?" Thanks for your blog!
Farmers don't HAVE to grow organic.Please dont grow GMO as the seeds costmore and chemical use is more… whereia the advantage to the farmer or theconsumer?? Too much unknown aboutGMO's. What is known would suggest itwould be UNWISE to grow or consumeGMO's. Fatmers can increase their profitablityby going Non gmo or organic. :)))
Normally, I would not give a comment like this the compliment of posting it…However, I'm going to reply: 1. GMO seeds cost more because they are better quality and give us a better crop. They also were created from some pretty expensive technology that the companies need to recoup. 2. We do NOT use more chemicals on GMO seeds. We actually less. 3. GMOs have been extensively tested so, yes, we actually know a lot about them. In fact, we know more about GMO cropsthan they know about non-GMO crops. They have been studied from every angle. 4. The advantage to the farmer is numerous – better yields, less time in the fields, lower fuel expenses, quality products, etc.5. If farmers all go organic, we're going to have starving people. Organic is not efficient enough to sustain the level of population we have now — that means people are going to starve.
Anonymous, GMO is the most studied science on the planet right now. I'd like to see any evidence you have of your claims. Here are about 2000 peer reviewed studies that say they are as safe as conventional foods and more economically sound. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/10/14/…
Anonymous is obviously not a farmer. Possibly no education at all as this person is unable to do his own research. He/ she doesn't have a clue.I am a farmer's daughter myself and we do grow GMO seeds with great success. So many just scream "Down with GMO's" without having ANY clue what it is all about. I SO appreciate this article and the followup, "Suck it Up!" (< lmao)I wish I could afford to farm organically and still produce the same amount of food. It just isn't possible. Shoot, I can't afford to buy organic fruit and veggies myself! Or a $5 loaf of bread… Imagine what would happen if the food supply was cut by one-third. And then a drought on top of that… well there would be riots in the streets and more homeless and starving than we see now.Perhaps Anonymous will volunteer to come work on our farms hand watering and weeding while HE gives up his share of food at the table?? That would be a good start if he wants to "stop killing our children." There is so much misinformation out there from folks who have no idea what they are talking about but just feeding off the media frenzy.What I do find alarming is the control that the BIGS now have over us little guys. Shoot, we can't even save a dang seed anymore. I DON'T like their power to decide what is available and what is not.And as to the science behind the seeds… I know there is a ton of work involved. I am amazed at the variety available for each micro climate. Can you please site some articles with solid evidence to support the safety?
Handful,I definitely appreciate your thoughts on this topic. As to the companies not allowing us to save seeds, this is obviously because they have a patent on the technology. However, according to my dad, farmers were not really saving seeds any more by the time GMOs became available. He indicated that it was really better to purchase new seeds from the seed companies each year, because they had been treated (among other things). I included some of his thoughts here: https://www.thefarmersdaughterusa.com/2013/03/farm…. At least for us, not being able to save seeds is not a big deal.Of course, you can always choose not to buy those particular seeds, in which case you would be allowed to save them.As to the issue of safety, I encourage you to check out this article that I wrote recently: <a href="https://www.thefarmersdaughterusa.com/2014/07/just-ignore-those-2000-studies-showing.htmlhttps://www.thefarmersdaughterusa.com/2014/07/just… />In the article, you will find a link to an organization that is working on compiling all scientific studies done on biotechnology. At present, they have 2,000+ studies (including 600 by independent groups) that show the GMOs that are commercially available are safe for humans and the environment.Thanks again for your comments!