I learned at work that Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, has ruled against GM sugar beets. His decision was based on his opinion that the government failed to adequately assess the environmental impacts of genetically engineered sugar beets before approving the crop for cultivation in the United States. The decision could lead to a ban on future planting of the GM beets, which have been widely adopted by farmers. How widely? Over 95% of the U.S. sugar beet acreage is planted to Roundup Ready beets this year (2009). Worse than that, there is no non-RR seed available. It could take up to two years for the sugar beet industry to be in a position to completely switch back to non-RR beets. This could cripple the beet industry - an industry with a lot of powerful senators. Which states grow the most beets? Minnesota and Idaho are at the top of the list. I'm sure there will be a lot more to this story. In the mean time, rest assured that the cane sugar industry is not similarly impacted. The above picture was taken in Rupert, Idaho by Chad Chase for The New York Times, which reported the story on September 22. I don't know where you come down on the GM issue, but here is a provocative video that ties my last two posts together, done by Penn and Teller. It's about 10 minutes long, if you have the time.
1 comment:
Wow, that's quite the eye-opener. I really enjoyed that Penn & Teller segment - I love that show. :) It's frustrating that the misinformation always seems to get more media attention. It's tragic that Zambia turned away all that food because of it. These types of things boggle my mind - what is the true intent if you have to lie to get the results you want? Anyway, I'm glad at least the cane industry is ok for the time being...
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