GMO opponents show support for regulatory bills

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(Host) More than a hundred opponents of genetically modified foods were at the Statehouse this morning to show their support for several bills that would regulate GMO’s.

Peter Cooper drove from Brattleboro to ask lawmakers to approve a two-year moratorium on planting gene-altered seeds.

(Cooper) “What this movement has is people, built from the grassroots up. There’s 70 towns that have passed resolutions in opposition to GMOs in Vermont. No, we don’t have the money that the Monsantos, Duponts Dow and so forth have, and we don’t have the ear of this administration that those companies have, or of the secretary of agriculture. But, we have people. People who vote, and people who eat food, buy food and are concerned about the future of agriculture in Vermont.”

(Host) The activists gathered on the snow-covered lawn, and then tried to attend a hearing of the House Agriculture Committee. But the room was too small, and the Chair, Ruth Towne, refused to move to a larger room.

Three bills related to genetically engineered seeds are under consideration. One would impose a two-year moratorium on the use of GE seeds; another would require GE seeds to be labeled; and a third bill would protect farmers from lawsuits if their genetically engineered crops contaminate a neighbor’s fields.

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