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On May 20, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order concluding a long-standing lawsuit over the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) “Roundup Ready” sugar beets. As a result, previous court rulings in favor of farmers and conservation advocates will remain, including the order requiring the 
Andrew Kimbrell is one of five attorneys who form the Center for Food Safety. Kimbrell, a bioethicist and author, was named one of the 100 leading visionaries by Utne Reader and his work focuses on legal battles to keep our food safe. 
Tom Philpott at Grist clarifies a proposed decision by the USDA to allow Monsanto to fund the EIS studies on its own products. Even small companies separate the check signing function from the payment authorization function to insure no one is pocketing company funds. Allowing the industry to produce its own environmental assessments is tantamount to handing over the checkbook to someone who can make payments without any oversight. 
Lawyers are busy trying to deal with new challenges from manufacturers of genetically engineered seed crops. There are two in the works now: one against the USDA charging that they did not handle the approval of genetically modified alfalfa in a lawful manner. The second is is a preemptive move that challenges the right of Monsanto to charge farmers whose plants have become contaminated with Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds with intellectual piracy. The Cornucopia Institute is a plaintiff in both cases, and Mark Kastel speaks about these issues. Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The new position could have a huge impact on medicine and on the biotechnology industry. |
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