Willamette Week is in the middle of our most important annual fundraiser. As a local independent news outlet, we need your help.

Give today. Hold power to account.

Support

If You're Worried About Genetically Modified Food, Read This

By NATHAN GILLES

We don't know if the corn in this photo was genetically modified. We do know that Saturday, March 26, Oregon will be among a dozen spots taking part in a nationwide protest against Monsanto by people who want labeling of GMOs and factory-farmed animal products as well as independent, long-term studies done on the safety of GMOs.

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed producer. In 2009, Monsanto sold more than $7.3 billion in gene licensing. In the United States alone, 90 percent of soybeans and 80 percent of corn crops are grown with Monsanto seeds. This virtual monopoly on seed production as well as the company’s heavy investment in genetically modified crops has attracted the ire of farmers and activists.
Monsanto was recently in a court fight with Frank Morton, a
Willamette Valley-based organic seed producer
. Morton and other plainiffs from around the country argued their organic sugar beets could become contaminated by pollen from genetically modified Monsanto Roundup Ready Sugar Beets. A federal judge ruled in their favor, banning farmers from planting Monsanto’s GMO sugar beets, but that decision was later overturned by a federal appeals court.
 

WWeek 2015