How would farmers in Mendocino county be affected if GMO’s were allowed?
If GMOs were grown in Mendocino county, farmers would have their crops contaminated with DNA from genetically engineered sources. They would then suffer losses in sales and in the well-earned trust of the purity of crops grown in this county, and would no longer have the economic advantage in international and national markets of guaranteed GE-free produce. Mendocino residents would also lose the right to buy locally grown produce that was free of contamination by DNA from genetically engineered crops. The industry often suggests that this kind of thing doesn’t happen. One industry executive testifying in a lawsuit said that she thought “you would be more likely to get pregnant from a toilet seat than for a genetically engineered crop to contaminate a neighbouring farm.” Obviously she chose to ignore basic biological facts, as well as the experience of contamination over the past 7 years across North America, where weeds have now taken on DNA from up to 3 different types of genetically
