Colorado Organic Farmers Organize Protest Hearings Against Monsanto Products & GMO Use in Boulder!

***UPDATE (August 26, 2009). A decision on GMO use in Boulder has been delayed indefinitely pending further research.

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I hope the Boulder, Colorado organic farmers win this battle against the local usage of GMO sugar beets. Six farmers who lease local land want to plant Roundup Ready sugar beets, a type of genetically modified beet that is resistant to glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup. Boulder is known for natural foods, so people are protesting.

A public hearing on the matter is set for next week (July 23, 2009 at 7:10 pm) and I imagine it will be heated. Will this hearing be taped? Please put it up on YouTube.

Genetically modified crops could contaminate their conventional counterparts, critics say. Their effects on humans haven’t been adequately studied, and their cultivation could lead to herbicide-resistant “super weeds,” among other concerns...

And allowing Roundup Ready sugar beets — which are genetically tinkered with to create a resistance to the active chemical in Roundup herbicide — to be grown on open space land, as is now being proposed, besmirches Boulder’s good, organic name, he said. In the land of organic products, in fact, Boulder is something of its own brand; one that’s become associated with natural foods.

In case, you are unsure of what "GMO" means, it is a genetically modified organism and its effects are heavily debated, but I tend to believe GMOs have a negative effect. Why do we need to use GMO seeds to grow our food when regular seeds have provided for us for thousands of years? If I have a choice, I choose not to use GMO foods in my diet, and if I had a garden, I would not use GMO seeds.

Source: Daily Camera; Boulder County, Colorado