Victory for organic seed breeders

A seed grower from the Willamette Valley, along with other plaintiffs, has successfully sued the USDA and APHIS for failure to require an environmental impact statement prior to deregulation of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beet plants.

Deregulation opened the door for transgenic sugar beet production in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world. The judge ordered that an environmental impact statement be conducted because USDA/APHIS failed to adequately consider the impact on the environment from stated cross contamination concerns, and the socio-economic impacts on consumers (eaters), farmers, and other market participants over the question of the continued availability of non-transgenic sugar beet crops.

Check out the ‘Cooking Up a Story’ video interview with Frank Morton, conducted earlier this year before the ruling.