NonGMO Movement | Jackson County Update




Ban on genetically engineered crops stands as Federal
court approves settlement


YEARS
OF EFFORTS BY LOCAL FARMERS AND CITIZENS YIELD VICTORY




Moderator’s
Note: More good news on the legal
front of the movement to ban genetically engineered crops. Followers and
readers of this blog know that organic farmers and food sovereignty activists
in Jackson County, Oregon managed
in May 2014 to pass an ordinance through a countywide election that banned
GEOs (a.k.a. GMOs). The ordinance was challenged by GE crop growers backed by
Monsanto, Syngenta, and other biotechnology corporations and their armies of
lawyers and lobbyists.





In a
second Federal Court ruling, the novel ordinance has been upheld with the
approval of a crucial settlement agreement that will allow current growers of
GE crops (alfalfa) in Jackson County to continue their current GE production
cycle until the GE crop is replaced in the next crop rotation. These growers
would then have to comply with the current ordinance and switch to nonGMO
alfalfa. This has huge implications for other counties seeking to enact and
enforce such bans and establishes a legal precedent and benchmark for future
settlement agreements in other parts of the country.





We
are reposting the press release from a lead organization in the defense of the
ordinance, Our
Family Farm Coalition.








PRESS RELEASE


Our
Family Farms Coalition





Medford,
OR – Today an Oregon Federal Magistrate approved a settlement that will allow
Jackson County Oregon’s voter-approved law prohibiting cultivation of
genetically engineered crops to stand. 



“This is really an important victory since
it creates the potential for farmers growing traditional crops in Jackson
County to thrive without the fear of contamination by GMOs,” said Elise Higley,
the executive director of OFFC. “It is great to know that the will of the 66
percent of our county’s voters that passed this measure will be given effect.”



The law was challenged last year by two GE alfalfa farmers, with financial
backing from the biotechnology industry. In May, Federal Magistrate Mark D.
Clarke rejected that challenge and ruled in favor of those defending the law,
the Our Family Farms Coalition (OFFC), Center for Food Safety (CFS), and
Jackson County. The GE alfalfa growers continue to claim that the law would
constitute an un-Constitutional taking if they were required to remove their
GMO alfalfa crop which is a perennial.






“Today’s settlement protects Jackson County’s ordinance from any appeal, and in
so doing is another important victory for farmers and the environment,” said
George Kimbrell, CFS Senior Attorney and counsel in the case. “GE-Free Zones
like Jackson County are important to the future of our food because they allow
farmers to grow traditional and organic crops without risk of transgenic
contamination. U.S. farmers and consumers have a right to say no to Monsanto’s
damaging and pesticide-driven business model.”



Under the proposed settlement, OFFC and CFS agreed not to bring an enforcement
action requiring growers to remove their perennial GMO alfalfa crop if they had
planted it before the Jackson County ban took effect. Those growers, in turn,
would agree to take specific measures to prevent the spread of GMO alfalfa to
neighboring farms, not plant any new GMO alfalfa and switch their fields out of
GMO alfalfa at the end of their current crops useful life (not to exceed 8
years.) While the settlement was supported by farmers who would continue to be
impacted by the phase-out period for GMO alfalfa they said the impacts on their
operations highlight why claims that GMO cultivation could co-exist with
traditional crops are without merit.



“It is very good that Jackson County’s ban on GMOs will stand, but even under
the settlement we will have a reminder about the impacts of GMO contamination
and that co-existence between GMOs and traditional crops is not possible,” says
Jackson County farmer David Salch who farms near a Jackson County field where
GMO alfalfa is grown. “Even though I support the settlement as the best
available option, our farm, our customers, and our neighbors will pay the price
of not being able to raise GMO-free honey due to the nearby GMO alfalfa until
they decide to remove it in 5 to 8 years.”



OFFC and CFS were jointly represented by legal counsel from CFS and the
Earthrise Law Center. “This case is important in that it makes clear that
farmers growing traditional crops have the right to adopt local laws to protect
their crops against GE contamination,” said attorney Lia Comerford with the
Earthrise Law Center. “This has always been a David and Goliath battle and we
are very pleased Jackson County’s ban on GE crops will stand.”

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