There have been developments with the U.S. Department of Agriculture relating to the disposition of whether to regulate production of genetically engineered alfalfa on which we would like to keep you updated. Robynn Shrader from the National Co-op Grocers Association (to which River Valley Market belongs) attended a conference call with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on December 16 just prior to USDA's release of the Environmental Impact Statement, and a December 20th meeting at USDA to discuss this further. The following excerpt is from a recent letter she sent to member co-ops on this topic.

"Greetings, NCGA members,

The meeting at USDA on Monday regarding GE alfalfa was disappointing. The Secretary and Deputy Secretary made it crystal clear that continued regulation is not an option. We will see either full deregulation or modified deregulation, announced on or shortly after January 24th.

We've been given thirty days for industry to work toward compromises within their Environmental Impact Statement that would regulate the co-existence of GE and organics. I think we have no choice but to make the best of a bad situation and think it is critical to be at the table to fight for member and consumer interests in ensuring integrity of organic and right to information.

I'd like to give this process a good faith effort of ten days to determine if biotech will make a genuine effort to work with us. Deregulation of alfalfa will affect all the crops to follow (evidenced by sugar-beet and cotton advocates present at the meeting). If we can gain meaningful protections, we'll be better positioned for the next battle.

If not, we must be ready to mobilize consumers and call on the USDA to support our criteria for conditional regulation. This means right after the holidays.

 Deregulating GE alfalfa at all has long-term consequences for farmers, the land, the USDA Organic label, and consumers seeking to avoid GE products. Any program of co-existence must:

1) ensure the integrity of organics and prevent contamination,

2) assign all costs for co-existence to GE patent holders,

3) require mandatory labeling, and

4) be fully transparent."

We will keep you posted as the situation develops. Meanwhile, you may follow the links below for more information on the USDA decision.

• USDA GE EIS Press Release, December 16, 2010
   

• Final Environmental Impact Statement (PDF, 15.26 MB, 2,300 pages)