Genetic Engineering, Farmers & You: Newsletter

From: Farm Aid
Date: Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 9:04 AM

The recent approval by the USDA of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, sugar beets and a corn seed for ethanol production has rocked the farm world. A recent post on our Facebook page about this news got dozens of comments, showing there's a lot of concern from all of us eaters and from farmers too.

This month, we're exploring the issues by looking at how these new GE crops will affect both family farmers and those of us buying their foods. We also talk with a rancher who's so concerned about GE alfalfa, he's part of a lawsuit to stop planting, saying, "corporate bullies have always drawn me out of the pastures." And our staffmember pays a visit to the grocery store to try and find out just how many GE ingredients are already in the food we eat.

Meet Pat Trask, a fourth generation South Dakota rancher who's working hard to keep genetically engineered alfalfa from threatening the livelihoods of both conventional and organic farmers.

Learn more about Pat >>

I know the U.S. government just allowed a few new GE crops on the market — should I be worried? Thanks for any info you can provide!

With a new mission to squash "burdensome" regulation and play nice with U.S. businesses, the Obama Administration has been in a frenzy green-lighting genetically engineered (GE) crops.

Just weeks into the new year, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the full deregulation of Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa—a genetically engineered crop variety designed to withstand Monsanto's Roundup herbicide...

Read the rest of this month's Ask Farm Aid to find out how GE crops affect farmers and eaters >>

This month, our Farm Aid staffmember Matt goes to the grocery store to see if his favorite foods contain GE ingredients. He also shares tips on how you can find out what's in your food.

Read the story here >>

It's wintertime and summer concert season seems far away (although Farm Aid co-founders John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson are both on tour now), so we've been reliving moments from past Farm Aid concerts. Visit our YouTube channel to watch your favorites or click on each of our artist boardmembers to see their performances: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews.

P.S. What we've been up to since our last newsletter...

On our blog, Hilde wrote about the recent House budget bill, which disproportionately cuts programs that serve family farmers, while not touching the programs that benefit the largest and most industrial farms...and Joel wrote about what Farm Advocates are and how they can help, like when one recently called to secure an emergency grant to help a farm family keep warm this winter.

Visit our blog to read more of the latest updates>>

In 2010 two artists created artwork for posters celebrating 25 years of Farm Aid. Now they're both on sale in our store — click here to look at them and more in our store.