Hooray for Trinity and Mendocino!

Taken from the Organic Consumers Association web site:

Another Biodemocracy Victory
in Northern California

Trinity County California Votes to Ban Genetically Engineered Crops

It was another bad day for Monsanto and the Biotech Bullies and another victory for the grassroots. Today, August 3, 2004, Trinity County, California became the second county in the nation to ban the production of genetically engineered (GE) crops and animals. By a vote of three to one, Trinity County Supervisors moved to ban GE crops and animals in order to protect Trinity's local economy, including its growing organic sector, and the environment. Today's decision comes in the wake of a March 2 ballot victory by voters in another Northern California county, Mendocino, banning GE crops.

In November four more of California's 59 counties (Marin, Butte, Humboldt, and San Luis Obispo) will be voting on ballot measures to ban genetically engineered organisms (GMOs). Monsanto, the Farm Bureau, and the Bayer corporation have vowed to crush this growing "Biodemocracy" movement, but public opposition to gene-altered crops has put the industry on the defensive. On May 10, Monsanto was forced to cancel plans to commercialize GE wheat, while other GMOs in the pipeline--including trees, fish, and biopharmaceutical crops, are facing increasing opposition, not only in the U.S., but across the world.