Deja Vu? GE Alfalfa Headed to Court Again

Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa is going to Washington. Again.

Attorneys with the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They contend that if fully deregulted, GE alfalfa, which is engineered to live through regular dousings of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, will contaminate non-GE alfalfa and bring down the organic alfalfa, dairy, and beef industries. This lawsuit aims to have the USDA rescind its decision to completely deregulate GE alfalfa.

Opponents of GE alfalfa claim that the new crop infringes on consumer and farmer rights. The USDA's latest stats show very little use of any herbicide on alfalfa. The decision to deregulate GE alfalfa would dramatically change that.

This is not the first time the USDA has been taken to task regarding its treatment of GE alfalfa. The Center for Food Safety previously sued the USDA when the agency first moved to deregulate GE alfalfa. That case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. While officials lifted a ban on the planting of GE alfalfa, they did demand that the USDA conduct an environmental review — a review that the agency was required to do by federal law anyway. According to the groups involved in the current USDA lawsuit, this was the first time ever that the USDA had done such a study, even though the agency has been approving genetically engineered (GE) crops for more than 15 years.

There are quite a few GE crops on the market already, but the situation with GE alfalfa is especially dire. The reason for that is that we can't just think of GE alfalfa affecting alfalfa. Instead, we have to think of it affecting other industries that rely on the crop — namely, dairy and beef.

Organic dairy and beef farmers regularly feed their cattle organic alfalfa hay. Organically raised beef needs to be fed organic food, and if GE alfalfa contaminates non-GE alfalfa fields, organic alfalfa will become harder and harder to come by. Organic ranchers may have trouble finding feed for their cattle.

If this happens, remaining organic alfalfa will become more expensive. That translates to higher prices for the rancher and higher prices for the consumer at the grocery store. This could be a death knell for the  organic beef industry, and the same is true of organic dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt.

You can still take action. Join us in letting President Obama know that consumers need a thriving organic industry, and we are counting on him to protect it. Add your name to Food & Water Watch's petition to President Obama and take a stand for consumer choice and organics.

Photo credit: Sam Beebe/Ecotrust via Flickr