Here is the most recent on the seed pre-emption bill. Please take action so your voice is heard. I have combined info from Claire O'Leary Maitre and Cynthia Price. Note there are persons to contact and their info included in this email. Vicki Morrone Organic Vegetable and Crop Specialist C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems CARRS Departent of Community, Agriclture, Recreation and Resource Studies 303 Natural Resources Bldg Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1222 Phone: 517-353-3542 Cell: 517-282-3557 FAX 517-353-3834 E-Mail: [log in to unmask] Don't forget! A carrot a day may keep the doctor away but an ORGANIC carrot a day, grown locally will taste good, support your farmer neighbor AND may keep the doctor away!!! -----Original Message----- From: Linking growers, consumers, and all those in-between [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dutcher Farms Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 7:36 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Fw: Take action on seed pre-emption bill Hello All, If this bill passes, I am sure that this will only be the first of many bills to come to remove any control at the local level. The politicians are always talking about how we need less big government and more local level government, but then are always quick to pass a bill that removes local control, esp. when it comes to large multi-national corporation profits. We better start to wake up at what changes are being made in our government's interests. I am personally getting fed up with all this federal and state control i.e. TB testing,tagging and Quarantines( cattle and goats), Scrapies testing and tagging( sheep and goats), The National Animal Identification System( all animals, even possibly all the way down to cats,dogs, and even parrots, the Texas version now includes parrots, even though parrots that are imported already have leg rings with federal id numbers) and of course ALL the penning, tagging, recording, and any other "work" that has to be done falls on the farmer. Under the NAIS, livestock farmers will have 24 hours to report "each of the following: a birth, a death, any animal you slaughter,any animal you ship to the sale yard, any animal you may sell to your neighbor,etc. 24 hours to report or you get a $1,000/day fine. Now folks on our farm I sure am going to be busy on the phone calling USDA, granted it most likely be seasonal, but here we go again the onus is on the farmer, I wonder how many hours a year this will require? I will not be paid for my time, not even minimum wage. I do not believe any of this has anything to do with food safety, it is more about control and tracking than anything else. For all of you non-farmers reading this, I have heard quite a few small farmers saying that the NAIS will be the nail in the coffin for them, as well as it may be for us too!! Fear has completely overridden any shred of common sense that we once had. The time has come to say enough of this foolishness( and a large waste of money and time, who is going to keep track of the database? Cripe we can't afford books in our schools!!) and move back towards a society of greater freedoms. Cowardice asks the question:is it safe? Expediency asks the question:is it politic?Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right! - Martin Luther King Jr. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cynthia Price" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 6:27 PM Subject: Take action on seed pre-emption bill The message below is for those concerned about what's widely called the "seed pre-emption bill," because it's a pre-emptive strike aimed primarily at keeping local entities from outlawing Genetically Engineered seed. Apparently it will be taken up tomorrow on the main floor of the Senate. If it passes, there really is not much hope that it can be stopped in the House, but there may be some slim possibility that the governor would veto it. So this really may be close to the last chance, if you agree that the locals should have control over the seed that grows our food rather than the state or by default the Federal government (or if you feel strongly about local control at all), to stop this bill. Thanks, Cynthia Price Secretary, Greater GR Food Systems Council Please take action NOW to stop Senate Bill 777-a bill that would strip cities, counties, and townships of their ability to regulate seeds, including genetically engineered seeds. Because of your opposition so far, this bill was stalled in committee since November. However, the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism Committee voted on the bill last week and it will be voted on TOMORROW (Thursday, 3/30) on the Senate floor. Please contact your Senator by Thursday noon and urge them to oppose this bill. Ask them to instead create a workgroup to study this issue and recommend how the state should address genetically engineered crops. Take Action! Some senators' phone numbers are listed below, or visit this link to find your Senator: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/FindYourSenator/michiganfys.asp Birkholz, Patricia L. Saugatuck Twp. (517) 373-3447 Hardiman, Bill Kentwood (517) 373-1801 Kuipers, Wayne Holland (517) 373-6920 Schauer, Mark Battle Creek (517) 373-2426 Sikkema, Kenneth R. Wyoming (517) 373-0797 VanWoerkom, Gerald Muskegon (517) 373-1635 Background: This fall, the Senate introduced SB 777, which would strip the authority of cities, counties, and townships to regulate seeds, including genetically engineered seeds. Now the bill will be voted on by the full Senate tomorrow. Genetically engineered crops pose risks to public health and the environment, including the risk of allergic reactions, the creation of superweeds, and the contamination of neighboring crops. Dozens of farmers, residents, and environmental groups turned out to testify against SB 777 before the Senate Committee this fall and winter. Further concerns are posed by experimental crops, including "biopharmaceuticals"-food crops genetically engineered to produce prescription drugs and industrial chemicals. Examples include soybeans or corn genetically engineered to produce blood clotting agents or contraceptives. There already have been more than 750 open air field test sites of experimental crops in Michigan alone, and contamination of food crops in the U.S. has already occurred in more than one instance. It is inappropriate to preempt the ability for local governments to regulate GE crops when State and Federal regulations are inadequate. Specifically: o The Food and Drug Administration does not require pre-market safety testing or labeling of genetically engineered foods, and does not approve the safety of GE food. o The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires no specific safety tests for the approval of GE crops, leaving the testing procedures to the industry it oversees. The National Academy of Sciences criticized this process as often lacking scientific rigor. o The Environmental Protection Agency has few required safety tests specifically designed for GE crops, and has not required the use of internationally accepted testing procedures to ensure that new GE foods are not allergens. (from Claire O'Leary Maitre)