1. Voters reject Sonoma ban on genetically modified crops
2..Americans split over buying cloned meat: poll

Campaigners in Sonoma County put up a great fight given the industry's shrewd strategy of getting the local farm bureau and its leading lights to front its case.
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EXCERPT: "Regardless of the outcome, we think it's a tremendous victory because of the grassroots support in the community," said Daniel Solnit, campaign coordinator for GE-Free Sonoma County. "This fight's going to continue, and I believe this country will be GMO-free within a decade." (item 1)
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Part of the problem seems to be the poor understanding of corporate capture in the US. If the biotech industry hides behind the farm bureau or the FDA, it seems they can get their message accepted.
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EXCERPT: "Two-thirds of U.S. consumers said they would either buy or consider buying meat and milk made from cloned animals if the U.S. government declared cloning safe... About one-third of Americans surveyed said they would definitely buy food products from cloned offspring if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared the process safe. Another third said they would consider buying such products."
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The FDA's record of protecting the financial interests of influential corporations should be apparent to everyone given its role in covering up for 4 years the truth about the drug Vioxx, which has been linked to thousands of deaths.

In congressional hearings, David Graham, an FDA drug safety reviewer, testified that the agency not only downplayed mounting negative data on Vioxx, but that it "seriously undervalues, disregards and disrespects drug safety" in general. He also listed a number of other potentially dangerous medications currently on the market.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1202-04.htm

This adds a whole new meaning to the comment of Monsanto's head of corporate communications, "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."

For more on the Farm Bureau: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=267
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1.Voters reject Sonoma ban on genetically modified crops
Associated Press
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/13117309.htm

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A proposed ban on planting or cultivating genetically altered crops was rejected by Sonoma County voters Tuesday night.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Measure M lost 56 to 44 percent in one of the county's most expensive ballot fights ever.

Supporters and opponents of the proposed 10-year ban spent a combined $850,000. Only three counties in the nation - all in California - currently ban genetically altered crops.

Lex McCorvey, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which opposed the measure, said the margin of victory was a "strong show of support for local agriculture."

Opponents of the ban argued that most packaged foods in the United States have some genetically modified component, and a ban could hurt the local economy.

"To place our local farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage to their peers in our state would have been devastating," McCorvey said.

Sonoma County joined Humboldt, Butte and San Luis Obispo counties, which also voted down similar biotechnology bans in November 2004.

"Regardless of the outcome, we think it's a tremendous victory because of the grassroots support in the community," said Daniel Solnit, campaign coordinator for GE-Free Sonoma County. "This fight's going to continue, and I believe this country will be GMO-free within a decade."

Mendocino County voters in March 2004 were the first in the nation to enact such a ban, overwhelmingly approving the measure despite a well-funded counter campaign from the biotechnology industry.

Voters in Marin County, a mostly suburban region just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, followed suit later that year, enacting their own ban on genetically modified crops. The Board of Supervisors in tiny Trinity County also passed a similar ban.

Anti-biotechnology crusaders, who point to the health risks of eating genetically altered foods, have lobbied for outright bans in Hawaii and Vermont, but California remains the only state in the nation where voters have enacted such bans.

McCorvey said he hoped Tuesday's victory would "send a strong message" to other counties that similar bans should be blocked elsewhere in the state.

The bans are largely symbolic because few - if any - genetically engineered crops were grown in those counties. The same is true for Sonoma County, where the winemaking grape is king. No genetically engineered grapes are commercially available.
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2.Voters reject Sonoma ban on genetically modified crops
Associated Press

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A proposed ban on planting or cultivating genetically altered crops was rejected by Sonoma County voters Tuesday night.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Measure M lost 56 to 44 percent in one of the county's most expensive ballot fights ever.

Supporters and opponents of the proposed 10-year ban spent a combined $850,000. Only three counties in the nation - all in California - currently ban genetically altered crops.

Lex McCorvey, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which opposed the measure, said the margin of victory was a "strong show of support for local agriculture."

Opponents of the ban argued that most packaged foods in the United States have some genetically modified component, and a ban could hurt the local economy.

"To place our local farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage to their peers in our state would have been devastating," McCorvey said.

Sonoma County joined Humboldt, Butte and San Luis Obispo counties, which also voted down similar biotechnology bans in November 2004.

"Regardless of the outcome, we think it's a tremendous victory because of the grassroots support in the community," said Daniel Solnit, campaign coordinator for GE-Free Sonoma County. "This fight's going to continue, and I believe this country will