Presentation to Coldstream

Coldstream
Municipal Hall - 9901 Kalamalka Rd

Hoping to convince at least one nearby government council to restrict or ban GMO within its jurisdiction, BeeSAFE makes one more presentation, this time a 10-minute summary to Coldstream Municipal Council. Download the attached file "Talking points for a presentation" for the text used in this presentation.

 

Information to Present to your council or director regarding becoming

Genetically Engineered (GE) or Genetically Modified (GM) Crop FREE

 

GM Crops are designed to use chemicals that damage the environment, exterminates biodiversity, and threatens public health.

  1. Most GM crops are designed to have 2 traits: 1 – to resist the herbicide Roundup – called Roundup Ready Crops, and 2 – to produce an insecticide throughout the whole plant – called Bt crops.

  2. Roundup's active ingredient is Glyphosate. Contrary to claims from corporations, glyphosate does not disappear but remain in the soil, enters underground and above ground waterways, killing beneficial organisms and negatively affecting aquatic and soil life.

  3. Glyphosate is linked to spontaneous abortions in livestock, cancers and birth defects in humans.

  4. The new book called “A World in one Cubic Foot” shows that the more than 150 different soil plants and animals that aerate the soil, pollinate, nourish and suppress disease in plants, completely absent in GM corn fields.

GM Crops grown in our area.

  1. GM corn grown is already widely grown and GM canola test plots have been grown all over the riding.

  2. GM corn grown here is “roundup ready” meaning fields can be drenched with Roundup, killing every plant except the corn. Bt corn is not yet grown here because we are not yet fighting the corn borer but it will likely come due to warming seasons.

  3. At the moment, GM Roundup Ready crops are also sprayed with various insecticides proven to be toxic particularly to fetuses and banned in Europe, such as Lorsban (Chlorpyrifos) .

GM Contamination and New GM Crops:

  1. GM crops contaminate wild and cultivated plants of the same species. I would guess it would be impossible already to find non GM corn in our area. Tests from CBAN have shown that 33% of all sweet corn sold in farmers' markets and stores in BC and Ontario are contaminated.

  2. NON-GM canola and NON GM soy are almost impossible to find anywhere in the world.

  3. Mexico has now banned all GM Corn in order to try and protect corn genetics and the in the US. Oregon's Governor John Kitzhabe signed into law a bill banning commercial production of canola (rapeseed) until 2019 inside the three million acre Willamette Valley Protected District, one of the world’s pre-eminent vegetable seed producing regions.

  4. GM Alfalfa, the GM arctic apple, and GM pharmacrops, plants genetically altered to generate pharmaceuticals such as vaccines, blood thinners, insulin, right inside the plant are next to be approved in Canada. Pharmaceuticals could be grown inside existing or new GM crops.

Our Community's future:

  1. Farmers who welcomed GM crops were not immoral because they didn't realize the negative impacts those crops would have. Now that they know about the contamination and the fact that by using those crops they remove everyone else's right to grow organic or non GM crops, it is immoral to continue.

  2. At least 5 companies in Canada sell non GM corn seeds and it has been proven that non GM crops are less costly to grow.

  3. Conventional corn crops can also be very damaging to the environment and public health if they continue with the whole pesticide regime so shifting to ecological farming should be strongly encouraged.

  4. Ontario Farmers and BC orchardists have already taken position against GM alfalfa and GM apple.

  5. People are looking for rural areas where they can be safe from GM contamination which is why now more than 60 BC areas have declared their intention to be GE Free, making sure they can attract farming that is positive for the region, reducing water pollution and increasing soil fertility.

What YOU can do:

  1. You can declare our community's intention to be GE Free and make it illegal to bring in any new GM Crop while giving existing GM crop farmers 3 years to transition to non GM Crops.

  2. This will tell chemical corporations such as ....and GM crop farmers to stay away and will attract organic growers and families looking for healthy environments.

  3. It will also protect our community from inevitable legal challenges such as organic farmers who are prevented or restricted from growing due to GM contamination, as well as the legal rights of citizens whose air, groundwater and soil is being contaminated by poisonous substances such as Roundup and Lorsban (Chlorpyrifos) used on Canola test plots near schools,

  4. How are Roundup Ready crops and the pesticides they use this affecting our water supply? Water treatment plants do not removes pesticides, herbicides, and most agricultural chemicals.

  5. The contamination issues, the harm to the environment and the risks to public health are the reasons that 60% of BC politicians want to make BC completely GE Free.

Therefore we are asking council to take a stand against the planting of New GM crops and declare its intention to protect organic and conventional growers by shifting its agriculture to Non GM crops.