Roundup Ready Alfalfa is next up on the genetically modified crops debate. The USDA has released it's draft Environmental Impact Statement and is open for comment.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released the draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roundup Ready Alfalfa last week. A 60-day public comment period opened on December 18. Comments received during this period will be used to modify the proposal before the final EIS is released.

Go here to read the draft and leave a comment.

Here are some links to articles questioning the wisdom of roundup ready crops:

1. They dramatically increases the use of herbicides and pesticides.

2. Disadvantages outweigh advantages.

3. They may not be so healthy:

For the first time in the world, we've proven that GMO are neither sufficiently healthy nor proper to be commercialized. [...] Each time, for all three GMOs, the kidneys and liver, which are the main organs that react to a chemical food poisoning, had problems," indicated Gilles-Eric Séralini, an expert member of the Commission for Biotechnology Reevaluation, created by the EU in 2008.

I'm no expert on any of this, and I do think genetic modification can potentially be our friend, but it seems to me like much more thorough scientific analysis is needed to assess the development of these crops. It's not the intended consequences I'm worried about. It's all the unintended consequences.

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