Just saw this - beautifully stated, Thomas!
From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thomas Mathews
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 6:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: Genetically Engineered Food Foes Promote 'Bill Of Rights' For
Seeds
Beth Grossman gets it: The problems with GMOs are not only related to food
safety, the safety of chemcal pesticides, and the economics of farming. The
larger issue is ethical: whether humans have the right to permanently--in
the laboratory--alter the genetic structure of organisms which have taken
millions of years to evolve. Do we, in other words, have the right to shred
the web of life?--Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Mar 21, 2014 12:12 pm
Subject: Genetically Engineered Food Foes Promote 'Bill Of Rights' For Seeds
What a cool story ...
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.co m/2014/03/20/genetically-engineered-f
<http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/03/20/genetically-engineered-f>
ood-foes-promote-bill-of-rights-for-seeds/
Genetically Engineered Food Foes Promote 'Bill Of Rights' For Seeds
(edited)
A local artist joined city officials in Brisbane to introduce an art
exhibit and "Bill of Rights for Seeds" in an effort to bring attention to
the proliferation of genetically engineered food and people's rights to
define their own food systems.
Mayor Clarke Conway was set to present the seed bill of rights at a public
reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall as part of an unveiling of an
art exhibit by Brisbane artist Beth Grossman.
Grossman said she was inspired by the constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador
to create the "Bill of Rights for Seeds," which lays out measures that
cities and other governments can take to better protect the environment and
to be aware of the potential dangers of genetically engineered foods, also
known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
According to the Sierra Club, genetically engineered foods could create new
allergens and toxins and spread harmful traits to non-GMO crops, and the
overuse of genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant crops has prompted more
herbicide use and herbicide-resistant plants.
"The overriding problem is just that we don't know what's going to happen
when genetically engineered seeds start to germinate in the future,"
Grossman said.
She also cited the disproportionate level of control over the world's food
systems by only a handful of biotechnology corporations such as Monsanto.
The 'bill of rights' is written in ink on seed bags in quill ink.
"It's a literal bill of rights for seeds but it's also more metaphorical in
the sense that we as humans need to consider ourselves stewards of all of
the natural organisms in the world," Grossman said.
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