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From: Jim Diamond <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The roundup saturated golf course?

       Tom Abate has an interesting article in today's SF Chronicle about
RoundUp Ready golf course grass.  The whole idea, of course, is that if they
sell the seed, they will sell the RoundUp.  That will be good business for
Monsanto.  People who live around and downstream from golf courses are
already subjected to more chemicals than are good for them.  Monsanto will,
of course, argue that RoundUp is safer than many alternatives.  Whether it
is sufficiently safe when used for overspraying rather than spot treatment
is one issue.  Another issue will arise because grass pollen blows in the
wind and the RR trait will be able to spread to many different grasses such
as weedy rye grass, etc.  RoundUp resistance can be expected to be
widespread among weedy grasses before long, which means that we can also be
sure of higher exposure to other herbicides in the future, not to mention
varieties engineered to resist those other herbicides.  The article centers
on an ICTA (International Center for Technology Assessment) petition
opposing approval of the grass, but Sierra Club, needless to say, also is
opposed to genetically engineered golf courses.  (If this stuff ever does
get approved, there may be opportunities for local activism to keep it out
of communities, out of parks, etc.)
             Jim Diamond

Direct to the source:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/08/02
/BU118198.DTL 

Golf courses contain seeds of biotech fight
Group wants to block sales of herbicide- resistant grass
Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, August 2, 2002

The battle over biotech plants could be moving from the cornfield to the
golf course. 

An environmental group based in Washington, D.C., filed a legal complaint
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday, demanding that the
agency deny Scotts Co.'s request to sell a grass seed that has been
genetically engineered to resist Monsanto Corp.'s Roundup herbicide.

Monsanto, based in St. Louis, has bioengineered corn and other plants to
withstand Roundup, a trait many farmers find appealing because they can
spray a field to kill the weeds without hurting the crop.
Scotts, whose lawn-care products are well known to consumers, sought USDA
approval in May to sell its herbicide-resistant grass to an estimated 17,000
golf courses in the United States.

"This would allow golf course managers to control their weed problems with a
single herbicide," said Jim King, spokesman for Scotts, which is based in
Marysville, Ohio. . ..
[Scotts seems to be Monsanto's partner in this.]
. . . 
"The expectation is that there will be outcrossing of the (herbicide-
resistance) gene" into related wild grasses of the Agrostis genus, said Dan
Hilburn, director of Oregon's Plant Sciences department.
Hilburn said Oregon approved Scotts' farming request [to grow the seed]
because the company will be growing the bioengineered grass in a dry, remote
region where any genetic drift would have a minimal ecological impact. He
said scientists at Oregon State University would monitor the issue.
. . . 
"Monsanto and Scotts are asking for government approval to massively
increase the chemical contamination of our neighborhoods," said Andrew
Kimbrell, ICTA executive director.
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.
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Posted by:
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Ericka Dana
Catnip Farm Organic, Iowa County
Geodesic dome season extension project:
http://us.geocities.com/catnipfarmdome/index.html
http://www.catnipfarm.com (one page, rebuilding site)
http://www.localharvest.org/listing.jsp?id=87&hit=1
2702 B Ave., Guernsey, IA 52221
(319) 685-4270 <[log in to unmask]>
Wildgirl Accessories (Iowa Artisans' Gallery, Iowa City)
Mail Order: Box 72, Victor, IA 52347
IAGP Treasurer, Agriculture Committee
Organic Consumers Association Regional Coordinator
http://www.purefood.org
Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Executive Committee,
Genetic Engineering Chair
http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ia/
Copy Editor, The BUZZ -
Iowa Honey Producers Assoc. Newsletter
Director, Midwest Anti-Drift Coalition
http://www.IowaFarmer.com/000617/drift2.htm
http://www.StopDrift.org (under construction)
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