Update on Biogate: Iowa Suicide Gene Billby Linda Thieman
This past Monday, March 14, the Iowa House, as expected, rushed through the passage of what has come to be known amongst activists as the Suicide Gene Bill. This bill would take away the right of local governments to ban the planting of certain seeds, such as those that have been genetically modified, in order to avoid contamination from cross pollination and other methods. Some GM crops have been modified so that all seed produced from these crops is sterile, hence the name Suicide Gene, forcing farmers to buy new seed every year and robbing Mother Earth of her ability to reproduce.
The Inside Scoop
The expectation was that once the Iowa House rushed the bill through (it passed 70-27), the Iowa Senate, under pressure from Gov. Vilsack, would follow suit. However, according to Carlos Jayne, a lobbyist for Iowa Farmer’s Union, there is some resistance amongst Democrats in the Iowa Senate who feel this “fast track” is too fast. Opponents of the bill hope to get Democrats to stand up in caucus for delaying further consideration of this legislation until next session.
Additionally, it is Jayne’s perception that Vilsack is suddenly less insistent on getting this gift to big agribusiness and the biotech industry passed quickly. This, Jayne believes, is because Sandy Greiner (R-Washington), the representative who introduced the bill in the House, crowed too soon on the floor of the House, claiming support from Vilsack.
Jayne insists, however, that we aren’t winning this battle yet, so “don’t anyone let up.” If the bill actually makes it to the floor of the Senate for a vote, it will probably pass.
Contact your Iowa senator here.
“Democracy Works Best at the Local Level”
One of the fascinating things to come out of this legislative session thus far was the testimony to the Agriculture Committee of the Iowa House regarding the Suicide Gene bill given by George Naylor. Naylor is a farmer from Churdan, Iowa, and is president of the National Family Farm Coalition.
Naylor’s testimony was moving and eloquent. It’s the kind of thing we usually don’t get to hear about. Blog for Iowa is including it here. After the brief excerpt, scroll down and click on more>> to read the full text of Naylor’s testimony.
George Naylor:
As the president of the National Family Farm Coalition representing the hopes of family farmers around the country, my remarks today against passage of H.F. 202 are based on two simple messages: First, don't fall for the idea that H.F. 202 will be of benefit to farmers, and second, democracy works best at the local level which H.F. 202 precisely prohibits. (This applies to siting hog factories, too.)
Democracy depends on a well informed citizenry. This must be why the giant genetic engineering corporations have lied so much to farmers and consumers about their technology. An executive of DuPont-Pioneer Seed-as recently as two years ago was repeating the misleading statement that genetic modification is no different that when people first made bread and beer. You would have to drink a lot of beer to believe that moving genes from one species to another at will is the same as making bread or beer, or for that matter, crossing different varieties within a species. The statements that genetically engineered crops were the most regulated and studied plants in history also led citizens to believe that scientists were confident that there was no need to worry about these products' effects on human health or the environment. The fact is, the crops were only voluntarily registered with the FDA and no transparent scientific studies were ever available for peer review.
The lack of regulation of these GE crops starting from the federal government on down illustrates that the democratic process breaks down the further we move away from our local communities. There has been a widespread cover-up of the lack of regulation and possible dangers of the technology resulting in unbelievable power in the board rooms of giant corporations over our food and the biosphere. I hope the outcome of the debate on H.F. 202 may ironically open up the larger debate and reveal this treacherous cover-up -- I would call it Biogate.
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