Genetic Engineering & Cloning

CCOF is engaged in a range of activities to protect ourselves and the environment from the dangers of modifying the genes of plants and animals.
Skip to info on: Genetic Engineering | Cloning

Farmers get toll-free number to learn proximity to GE alfalfa
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering alfalfa farmers a toll-free number for inquiries about the proximity of their farms or fields to genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The number is 866-724-6408 and is operational only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. This action is in response to a court order prohibiting the planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa after March 30, 2007.

Genetic Engineering

You Are What You Eat

Are you curious about how your food is produced? You can refer to The True Food Shopping Guide which will provide you with all kinds of information about foods that have been genetically modified. CCOF has not verified any information on this site nor can CCOF guarantee the accuracy of the list. If you'd like to purchase your food from producers that you KNOW are not using anything that's been genetically engineered, use the CCOF Organic Directory. You can search by region, product, name of operation, location, etc.

California State GE Legislation for 2007-2008 - AB 541

AB 541 is one step closer to becoming California's first state law protecting farmers from the hazards of genetically engineered crops. Having already passed the Assembly, it passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on June 5th, 2008. It has the support of California Certified Organic Farmers, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the California Farmers Union, the California Farm Bureau, the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, and many food safety and environmental organizations.

Introduced by Assembly Member Jared Huffman (6th AD) early in 2007, the bill was held over in the Agriculture Committee in April. Since then, AB 541 has been scaled back to address two provisions related to farmer protections.

AB 541 will enact protections for California farmers against frivolous lawsuits that intimidate and harass those who have not been able to prevent the inevitable – the drift of genetically engineered pollen or seed. It will level the playing field for farmers accused by agricultural biotechnology companies and other patent holders of contract violations, and discourage the practice of biotech companies sampling crops without explicit permission from farmers and prosecuting based on unverifiable testing results.

Specifically, the newly amended bill would provide for:

Protection from patent infringement lawsuits for farmers unknowingly contaminated by GE crops. Currently, farmers with crops that become contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the target of such lawsuits without clear recourse or defense.
The establishment of a mandatory crop sampling protocol to be used by patent holders when investigating farmers they believe may have violated patents or seed contracts. This protocol would require the farmer’s written permission for sampling, and provide for a state agriculture official to accompany the patent holder during the sampling and collectduplicate samples for independent verification if requested by either party.

The original bill included several other elements, including the establishment of the country’s first system of notification for the locations of GE crops; the confinement of experimental pharmaceutical-producing crops to greenhouses to protect the food system from contamination; and, legislative clarity that the GE crop manufacturer is liable in the event of contamination, and not farmers.

GE Pre-Emption in 2006 - SB 1056
Victory! SB 1056 Fails to Pass California Senate

SB 1056 was introduced in 2006 in response to the passage of county and city bans on genetically engineered (GE) crops. These local governments felt the need to step in due to the absence of statewide regulations to protect consumers, farmers, and the environment from the serious risks of GE crops. SB 1056's main goal was to strip the rights of local governments who chose to impose these bans, and thus turn all authority on GE crops over to the state. Although SB 1056 did get painfully close to passage, in the end it failed to make it out of committee in the California Senate and died with the close of the legislative year on August 31, 2006. CCOF Executive Director Peggy Miars spent numerous hours strategizing with allies, writing opposition letters, recruiting farmers to speak to elected officials, and pounding the halls of the Capitol to discuss the bill with (sometimes uninformed) Senators and their staff. CCOF also sent an email Action Alert to over 5,000 subscribers in hopes of generating attention, advocacy, andopposition to this bill. We want to thank every organization and each individual who made efforts on behalf of the opposition of SB 1056.
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Santa Cruz County Passes GE Moratorium
Victory! CCOF Advocates to Keep Santa Cruz County GE-Free!

On June 20, 2006, Santa Cruz County Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a precautionary moratorium on growing genetically engineered crops in the county. The supervisors' action supports the recommendation of the GE Subcommittee ofthe Santa Cruz Public Health Commission, which spent more than 10 months researching and analyzing the health, environmental, economic and social risks associated with the growing of GE crops in the county. The Board received over 100 letters, e-mails, and phone calls in support of the GE Moratorium which makes it unlawful for any person to propagate, cultivate, raise, or grow any genetically engineered crop. "You can't have read the report and not think that we're playing with fire in a way that is potentially incredibly harmful," said Supervisor Ellen Pirie (Second District) at the public hearing.
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The Dangers of Genetically Engineered Crops
What is Genetic Engineering?

Genetic engineering (GE) is a new technology that involves the manipulation of genes. Unlike traditional hybridization techniques that have been used for centuries, genetic engineering allows researchers to break down the species boundaries set up by millions of years of evolution. Never before was it possible to transfer genes from animals to plants or from bacteria to humans. By combining the genes of unrelated species, permanently altering their genetic codes, novel organisms are created that will pass the genetic changes onto their offspring through heredity. There are many unanswered questions about the effects that genetic engineering could have on the health and ecology of our world once released into the environment.
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Cloning

CCOF Advocates to Keep Clones and Their Progeny out of Organics

On March 29, 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted 12-1 to prohibit progeny of clones throughout organic production. It was said that the outcry from the organic industry was "deafening," so thank you to all those who responded to CCOF's Action Alert. Major industry players like CCOF certified Humboldt Creamery, Dean Foods, Straus Organic Creamery, CCOF Supporting Member Whole Foods, CCOF Supporting Member Organic Valley, Aurora Organic Dairy, and Horizon Organic were among those carrying major weight in this food fight. It is now officially recognized that cloning as a production method and animal clones are incompatible with the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) and are prohibited under the National Organic Program (NOP) regulations, although the NOP still needs to enact this recommendation.