Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

If there was any doubt whatsoever about the USDA being just another terrorist arm of the biotech industry, it has left the building. No doubt remains at all about the USDA’s intentions to cooperate with the contamination and poisoning of our food supply, planet, and every living thing on it by the chemical companies now in charge of just about everything used to formulate the food-like substances that we see lining our grocery store shelves. 

Under a new two-year pilot program at the USDA, regulators are training the world’s biggest biotech firms, including Monsanto, BASF and Syngenta, to conduct environmental reviews of their own transgenic seed products as part of the government’s deregulation process. (Truth-out)

It’s the equivalent of letting BP do their own Environmental Assessment of a new rig.” They frankenbuild it, approve it in-house, then force us to eat it because no one is supposed to know it is there. If it is labeled, and people actually are allowed to know what they are eating, then that evidently poses a barrier to trade. In other words, if they know it is GMO they won’t eat it, so we’d better get going with the complete deregulation process now before too many people start waking up.

With 19 deregulation petitions pending with more on the way, requiring an EIS for each product would amount to a de facto moratorium on commercialization and would send an unprecedented message that USDA believes that these products do have an environmental impact, when in fact most do not. Any suggestion by USDA that biotechnology plants as a category are likely to cause significant adverse effects on the quality of the human environment (i.e., require an EIS) would make approvals by other trading partners virtually impossible … (Truth-out)

So, it seems that even any suggestion that “biotechnology plants as a category are likely to cause significant adverse effects on the quality of the human environment (i.e., require an EIS)” is VERBOTEN! Not even allowed to be suggested! How dare we even suggest that they be required to fill out a phony EIS! Yes, that is where this is headed. Since biotechnology plants as a category are supposed to be substantially equivalent to their non-genetically engineered counterparts, the endgame for all of this is NO REGULATION AT ALL. Not even the phony kind. Got to keep the bean counters happy by eliminating pesky court costs and EIS paperwork.

Let us not forget that the same USDA that is in charge of this phony biotech regulatory facade is the same USDA that is in charge of the National Organics Program and foods stamped with the USDA Organic label. Is it any wonder why there is NO THRESHOLD for GMOs in USDA Organics as well as NO RESTRICTIONS on nanotechnology in USDA Organics either? The USDA is not there to help us. THE USDA IS THE PROBLEM. The USDA’s job is to push GMOs worldwide, starting with US.

Here’s how it went down

The threat:

BIO warned Vilsack that the American biotech agriculture industry could be crippled if the legal precedents required the USDA to prepare an EIS for every GE crop up for deregulation. (Truth-out)

In other words:

If you insist on us going through the charade of letting you file phony environmental impact statements on our genetically engineered plants, then we will make you suffer. It’s way too time consuming, and we couldn’t be bothered with your findings anyway.

The USDA’s capitulation:

Vilsack wrote a steady-handed reply to each trade group, reassuring them that the NEPA policy would not change and the USDA would continue preparing an EA for new GE seeds and an EIS only when necessary. Vilsack also wrote that he was “pleased” to recently meet with biotech industry representatives and “discuss improving the efficiency of the biotechnology regulatory process.” Such improvements, he wrote, are “directly related” to the USDA’s “objective of ensuring the United State leads the world in sustainable crop production and biotech crop exports.” He took the opportunity to announce that the USDA would reorganize the Biotechnology Regulatory Services agency and create a new NEPA team “dedicated to creating high quality and defensible documents to better inform our regulatory decisions.” This new NEPA team would go on to develop the NEPA Pilot Project and begin streamlining the approval process. (Truth-out)

In other words:

Okay guys, we’ll let you do your own reports. That is, until we get to the point of complete deregulation, then you won’t have any more pesky paperwork to worry about. Is that okay with you?

Not a big leap, considering that “The USDA regards its own regulatory system as a rubber stamp.At least at the upper levels, there’s always been this presumption that [GE crops] must be approved.” (Truth-out)

Yup, that’s exactly where this is headed, and quickly. Complete deregulation for all genetically engineered crops, courtesy of your good friends at the USDA and their co-conspirators, Monsanto, et. al.. Paperwork? We don’t need no stinkin’ paperwork! And don’t you dare even hint at GMOs being any different than their non-GMO counterparts, or the agricultural industry just might not be alive in the morning. You have been warned.

The ball’s in our court, America. Save your good, clean, heirloom seeds now. Don’t wait until the tipping point occurs and the opportunity we have for finding normal seeds is going…. going…. gone. We need to act independently and create our own private seed vaults to use and share with friends and neighbors. These can be expanded to create seed sharing networks that are not centralized or easily infiltrated. We need to do this while we can. One seed at a time, one day at a time….. starting NOW. The USDA and Monsanto are not waiting one second to make sure that you have no choice. Don’t let them succeed.

© 2011 Barbara H. Peterson

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4 Responses to “USDA Conspires with Biotech Industry for Complete Deregulation of GMOs”

  1. irene says:

    Ron Paul does have a few good answers and we are deffinitely in an endgame. the governmen collusion with industry and war mongering was fortold by lbj, taft, roosevelt, one of those damb sellouts! What about the flicking bank bailout collusion. Is congress just a bunch of hookers? I’ve seen girls in miniskirts f*king for money being more transparent and truthful than these whores in our legislatures. Death is too pretty for ruining our republic an why is it that bankers are usually ugly with bad comb overs and awful dented noses? Hmmm, dented brownnoser mid level bankers, just like timmothy Guitner. creepy fellow.. he has a mean streak, like using emergencies as an excuse to steal our liberty. Ahh.. but I digress,..or do I.

  2. windy says:

    ” The USDA is a rogue agency and should be abolished and re-built ”

    Yes – one more reason to vote for Ron Paul.

  3. Barbara Talbert says:

    The USDA is a rogue agency and should be abolished and re-built with independent scientists from the ground up. It is obvious that sentiment against GMO’s is building and they have to do things quick. Dr. Huber is a soil and agronomics research scientist and has warned Secretary Vilsack of a new soil organism caused by glyphosate and GMO foods but Secretary Vilsack is ignoring his warnings. Dr. Huber states that this organism could be responsible for much new human, animal and plant disease. I think that our financial position with exports of agricultural products is more threatened by not doing something about GMO’s as many countries have refused to take them and Europe labels them. By kowtowing to the bio-tech and chemical industries we are knowingly doing great harm. What a sad, sad United States of America.

  4. amicus curiae says:

    when I found out that USDA was partners in terminator genes that was the last straw for any trust or acceptance of them being at all concerned about people OR safe food in any way shape or form.
    this is just more of the same scam.
    theyre the monmens pets.
    vilsack is an industry shill.
    the only good for me is I now buy NO imported food or with imported ingredients. guess my diets better and my food bills lower. small blessing when keeping contaminants out of Aus foods ie the new rush for GM Wheat here is looming large, as well as GM Corn and soy up for the usual FSANZ no test no research rubber stamp.