Stop Monsanto & GM alfalfa

The Big Carrot Natural Food Market and others sponsor this rally at St. Lawrence Market to save family farms in Canada Tuesday April 9 from noon to 1 p.m. The Day of Action to Stop GM Alfalfa was called by the National Farmers Union-Ontario.

By Lucy Sharratt –

alfalfaDay of Action to Stop GM Alfalfa –Toronto Protest Rally outside the St. Lawrence Market, 95 Front St. E. Tuesday April 9, 2013 Noon to 1pm—A public protest rally with farmers and consumers. Similar actions are happening in at least 12 communities in Ontario and 8 in other provinces.

Hosted by The Big Carrot Natural Food Market, Millions Against Monsanto Toronto, No More GMOs Toronto, Kids Right to Know March, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Canadian Organic Growers Toronto. The Day of Action to Stop GM Alfalfa was called by the National Farmers Union-Ontario.

Toronto consumers join farmers to stop genetically modified (GM, also called genetically engineered) alfalfa on the Day of Action called by the National Farmers Union-Ontario. The company Forage Genetics International has applied Monsanto’s GM herbicide tolerant Roundup Ready technology to alfalfa. Canada approved GM alfalfa for health and environmental release in 2005 but there is one more step before GM alfalfa can be commercially released in Canada: variety registration from the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency. This step could be completed as early as this spring.

alfalfa1Alfalfa is used to help produce many of the foods we eat! Alfalfa (commonly harvested as hay) is a high-protein fed to animals like dairy cows, beef cattle, lambs, poultry and pigs. It‘s also used to build nutrients and organic matter in the soil, making it particularly important for organic farming.

Alfalfa is a perennial plant that is insect pollinated, therefore, if GM alfalfa is commercially released, GM alfalfa will inevitably cross-pollinate with non-GM and organic alfalfa and threaten the livelihoods of family farmers in Ontario and across Canada. As prairie alfalfa seed growers and farmers have already rejected GM alfalfa, the seed industry now says they only want to introduce GM alfalfa into Eastern Canada.

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More Information:
Facebook event page
For information on the Day of Action
For more information on GM Alfalfa
Local inquiries
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