Great news for everyone involved in the anti-genetically engineered food movement: Nelson, BC has passed a resolution at council declaring the city to be a GE-Free Zone. Nelson now joins Saltspring Island and Powell River as a place where genetically engineered crops cannot be grown. I am very proud to have worked on this campaign, and that my company, GE-Free Solutions, played a small part in sponsoring Percy Schmeiser to speak in Castlegar, a neighbouring city. As the Kootenay region liaison for Society for a GE-Free BC, I had the opportunity to meet many of the principle individuals who made this happen. I believe that this would not have happened without the two-year long efforts of Jon Steinman, the host of the radio show Deconstructing Dinner on Kootenay Co-op Radio, among so many others who dedicated their time to this cause.

Congratulation to everyone who was involved in this effort, and let this be a shining example of the power of the grass-roots to bring about positive change.

Photo credit: Erin Collins

Alfalfa. Tasty sprouts. Hay. Straw. So much goodness. Thankfully, the US court of appeals upheld the ban on GE alfalfa, requiring more studies to be done on the environmental impacts. To celebrate, I’m going to go make myself a sandwich.

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According to Greenpeace, consumer rejection has driven biotech giant Monsanto to stop selling its genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST, makes cows produce 25% more milk, but it was banned in Canada in 1998 for animal welfare reasons, as well as in Europe. Consumers in the US have been consuming milk produced using rBGH for a decade.

The actions of consumers and businesses are what finally brought this product down. Some large businesses such as Starbucks and Ben and Jerry’s refused to use milk produced using rBGH, and beat Monsanto’s lawsuits claiming that they don’t have the right to label their products as “rBGH-Free”. More recently, Monsanto tried to fight to bring about laws in some US states that would prevent dairies from labeling “rBGH-Free”, but they lost. This is a great victory for our movement.

If we now draw a parallel with genetically engineered (GE) foods, it is easy to see that there is still hope. If more food was labeled, either through mandatory labeling, or through certification efforts like those of GE-Free Solutions, consumers could show that they do not want to eat GE products.

Activists, keep up the good work!

While the majority of the coverage on this blog focuses on the dangers of GE foods, I want to try to avoid being all doom and gloom. Starting now, I will try to find a good news story and post it every Monday to start the week off on a good note. Here is the first installment.

The Nature Conservency of Canada has just acquired the largest single amount of private land for conservation in Canadian history (read the press release here). The stretch of land is of great significance, as it is home to 29 species-at-risk, and connects a network of conserved land which now totals 250,000 acres. The plot is situated in the West Kootenay region of BC between the towns of Nelson, Salmo and Creston.