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Protesters In Barrie tackle genetically modified alfafa

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In Agriculture
Apr 10th, 2013
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By Cheryl Browne, Barrie Examiner April 9, 2013
As the ice thins on the bay and farmers’ minds turn to seeding, a half dozen people rallied on Lakeshore Drive to protest against genetically modified alfalfa.
They were a good distance from any farm, yet their demonstration in front of Barrie MP Patrick Brown’s office was to garner more signatures for their petitions to go along with the 38 other rallies across Canada, Tuesday.
“I’m worried about what’s going into our foods,” said Pat Olan, who has a small hobby farm in Utterson, near Huntsville.
“We have up to 200 signatures on our petition now. I think everybody should be interested in what’s going into our bodies.”
Sharyn Rutledge of Allensville, also near Huntsville, waved a sign that read ‘Take Action – Stop GM Alfalfa’, as cars honked driving by the Lakeshore Drive-Minet’s Point Road intersection.
Rutledge said she’s concerned about the grain her cattle and horses consume.
“I don’t want any genetically modified product near my farm,” Rutledge said. “If it’s nearby – the bees pollinate everything. It’s definitely going to be affecting our health and our grandchildren’s health.”
Alfalfa is one of the mostly widely grown forage crops in Canada. Because it is pollinated by insects, farmers are concerned — especially organic farmers — that they will lose their domestic and export markets if the modified alfalfa is registered.
And many are concerned about the unknown health effects of genetically modified foods, especially those fed to cattle.
People in more than 17 cities across Ontario alone gathered to educate the general public about farmers’ concerns about a genetically modified alfalfa grass that is manufactured by an American company called Forage Genetics International.
The alfalfa would resist infestation and could be sprayed with the pest control product Round-Up which is manufactured by Monsanto.
People like, Ann Salter, who works with the National Farmer’s Union near Stratford. She insists the Round-Up Ready product is not suitable for animal or human consumption.
“The thing is, farmers are not asking for Round-Up Ready alfalfa,” said Salter.
Most livestock feed better on mixed grasses, and those grasses would be killed when they were sprayed with the Round-Up product for the pest-resistant alfalfa.
“It’s not being registered for the benefit of farmers,” she said.
The problem is, they may well be too late.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada granted authorization for the product in 2005.
It is currently in limbo until it’s registered by CFIA, but as Joe Taguchi of the Ministry of Agriculture points out, the original authorization was given after scientific review by both the ministry and Health Canada.
“It’s cleared the hurdle of scientific review, so now an independent committee made up of industry, stakeholders and academics – who are independent of the CFIA – will review it once more and report back to the CFIA,” Taguchi said.
Once that report is complete, the seeds could be registered by Forage for sale.
Nobody is sure when that registration review process will happen, so demonstrations were planned across Canada for April 9 to spread the word before it was given final approval, said Salter.
CFIA does not release the date of the review, agreed Taguchi.
“We’re well aware of what’s happening,” he said about the demonstrations. “It’s all about safety within a science-based regulatory system.”

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