VERNON RALLY AT MP'S OFFICE - National Day of Action against Genetically Modified Alfalfa

MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WHAT: VERNON RALLY AT MP'S OFFICE - National Day of Action against Genetically Modified Alfalfa -

WHEN: Tuesday April 9, 2013 - Noon to 1 pm

WHERE: MP Colin Mayes' office - 3105 29Th Street Vernon

WHY: To tell Federal Government and CFIA not to release GM Alfalfa.

INFORMATION ON THE THREATS OF MONSANTO'S GM ALFALFA:

A group of Secondary School students in Vernon have organized a rally outside MP Colin Mayes' office tomorrow to bring awareness about Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) alfalfa that could be registered for use in Canada this April. GM Roundup Ready alfalfa varieties have just been cleared for the last step before they hit the market – all they need now is a final rubber-stamp by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa.

Alfalfa is commonly harvested as hay and used to produce a lot of the food we eat. It is high-protein feed for animals like dairy cows, beef cattle, lambs, poultry and pigs. It's also used to build nutrients in the soil and is important for organic farming. Because alfalfa is a perennial plant that is pollinated by bees, genetically modified alfalfa will inevitably cross-pollinate with non-GM and organic alfalfa, threatening the livelihoods of family farmers across Canada and the survival of bees and other pollinating insects everywhere.

GM contamination is inevitable because alfalfa is a perennial crop pollinated by insects. In Ontario, weeds are becoming resistant to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup): another glyphosate tolerant crop like Roundup Ready alfalfa would increase these weeds. Alfalfa is almost always grown in a mix with grasses and establishes readily without the use of herbicides. Farmers don’t want or need Roundup Ready alfalfa. If genetically modified (GM, also called genetically engineered or GE) alfalfa is released in Canada it will have negative impacts on a wide range of farmers and farming systems, both conventional and organic.
For more information see:

https://www.facebook.com/events/145734018928203/?ref=2

and www.BeeSaveMonashees.org and www.cban.ca/alfalfa

This call for a National Day of Action to Stop GM Alfalfa was issued by the National Farmers Union-Ontario.

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