Maine Feeds Maine
A Statewide Community Discussion Series
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4-Apr-08
MONTVILLE: FIRST U.S. TOWN OUTSIDE OF OF CALIFORNIA TO BAN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS
Town Meeting Voters Call on Senator Carol Weston (R - Montville) to Protect All Maine Farmers from Genetic Contamination
MONTVILLE, MAINE. Voters at Montville's annual town meeting on Saturday passed a binding ordinance banning the cultivation of genetically engineered crops in their community. This makes Montville the first town outside of California to pass a binding measure restricting genetically modified crops. The ordinance was developed after residents directed the town to include such a ban in the town's comprehensive plan at town meeting in Spring of 2006. The ordinance passed overwhelmingly in a voice vote and requires town residents growing genetically modified crops to phase them out within two years. For the past two years residents have been working with farmers growing genetically engineered crops on phasing in new non genetically modified varieties.
According to Jen King, owner and operator of Skyview Family Farm and a proponent of the ordinance, "Genetic engineering is a new kind of pollution
that spreads and reproduces when it is released into the environment. Once a GE crop exists in the environment, its pollen can be passed on, contaminating
other plants from the same species. And these newly contaminated plants can then reproduce the pollution, thereby threatening the diversity of our crops
crops and heirloom seeds. Through our farmers' coop, we've have been working with the few farmers in the town who are growing genetically modified crops,
to switch to crops that will benefit our local food economy, such as as providing local non GMO grain for sale to area farmers."
Food for Maine's Future, the group that has been encouraging communities around the state to take action to protect area farmers from genetically
engineered crops, was pleased with the results. "This is an historic and unprecedented example of a community coming together to declare food
independence and take action to protect its farming community. We hope this sends a clear message to Senator Weston to support LD1650 - a bill that's a
first step toward protecting farmers from genetic trespass." said Rob Fish, an organizer with Food for Maine's Future. "We encourage other towns
to educate themselves and then take action on this important issue whether by passing a town meeting resolution or hosting community discussions on the
issue."
After a year of negotiations, compromises and hard work, the Agriculture Committee has finally voted An Act to Amend the Laws Concerning Genetically
Engineered Plant and Seeds out of Committee and to the floor of the House of Representatives. The bill establishes the right of Maine farmers to be heard
in a court located in Maine if they are sued by a seed manufacturer for A GMO patent violation as long as they don't have a current contract with that
company. It also prevents farmers from being sued for A patent violation if they have only a minimal presence of engineered genetic material in their
corps, or if they didn't intend for it to be there, and directs the Maine Department of Agriculture to establish Best Management Practices for the use of
Genetically Engineered Crops.
According to Logan Perkins, organizer of the Food for Maine's Future Protect Maine Farmers Campaign, "The final amended version of the LD1650 does
some important things to protect Maine farmers, but still doesn't go far enough to provide our policymakers with all the information they need to make good
decisions that effect the future of agriculture in Maine. The bill should also require manufacturers of genetically engineered seed to submit an annual
report to the Maine Department of Agriculture giving the total number of potential acres that could be planted in each type of genetically engineered crop.
This would allow the Department of Agriculture to track the use of genetically engineered crops, see trends in their use, and be alerted to new crops
coming into the state."
Kai George summed up the feelings of many at the meeting in her testimony before the vote "I'm concerned not only about the potential effect genetic
engineering has on our health and our environment, but also on the effect the growing of GE crops has on farmers and gardeners who want to grow crops
conventionally or organically without the threat of contamination from GE crops. We need to have a choice about what we grow in our fields and gardens,
without threat of contamination from GMOs. We need to have a choice about the food we eat. We need to preserve our environment. We are doing this today, by
imposing a moratorium on the growing of genetically modified crops in Montville and demanding that our legislators pass laws to protect our rights as
consumers and farmers."
The Towns of Liberty and Brooklin passed non binding resolutions declaring themselves "GE Free Zones" in 2005 and 2007. Montville passed a
resolution directing the town to develop an ordinance imposing a moratorium on GM crops in 2006. Several counties in California have imposed binding
moratoriums on genetically modified crops.
In reacting to the vote Jen King added, "Our farms and our farmers are precious resource. As a town, we are urging the state legislators to provide
all farmers with the protections they deserve to grow the crops that they choose for years to come without the threat of lawsuits or genetic
contamination."
For more information:
Kai George, Montville resident 207-589-4381;
Jen King, Skyview Family Farm, 207-557-0547;
Maia, After the Fall Farm 589-3733.
Rob Fish, Food for Maine's Future, 207-692-2571, 568-3019, 244-0908, rob@foodformainesfuture.org
Logan Perkins, Protect Maine Farmers, 207-615-5158, logan@protectmainefarmers.org
10-Feb-08
Buying Club How To Page
A "Buying Club How To" web page is currently under development for inclusion at the CrownOfMaineCoop.com website. It will consist of three parts, how to organize a buying club
from scratch, a list of buying clubs looking for new members, and way to register your buying club with Crown O' Maine so your club can receive their
bi-weekly price lists.
If your buying club is looking for new members and wants to be listed (even if your club doesn't currently order through Crown O'
Maine), email Tom Roberts with your buying club name, location, contact info, and any
restrictions you have on membership.
- Download this release as a Word file
For immediate release: December 26,
2007-
- Contact: Jane Livingston,
project coordinator
- Tel.: (207) 947-4117
-
Email: jane_livingston@verizon.net
- "We have
everything we need
- to make it work,
right here in Maine."
-
- Can Maine Feed Maine?
-
BANGOR, DEC. 21 Certainly
it's a cause for concern that last year Good Shepherd Food-Bank
moved ten million pounds of food around the state to food
pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. We'd all like to see those
numbers drop, but that isn't likely in this economic climate. In
fact, the projection for 2008 is more like twelve million
pounds.
- And while senior staff of
Good Shepherd have stated emphatically that they wish every bit
of that food was grown and processed in Maine, the question
remains: "Is it possible for Maine's family-owned farming
and fishing operations and its local, value-added food producers
to thrive by feeding the people of Maine, first and foremost?"
-
"The short answer to
that question is emphatically, 'Yes!'," says Jane
Livingston, who coordinated a recent project called Maine Feeds
Maine.
- "We brought more
than one hundred fifty people to the table in November and
December to talk about what it would look like and how we can
move forward better. The local food groundswell is already
happening, we just want to pick up the pace and minimize
redundancy. We never set out to start another non-profit. We're
into a more cooperative and entrepreneurial mind-set. How can we
pull together to get this food revolution on the road?"
more...
20-Dec-07
WANT TO START A FOOD CO-OP?
This just in from the Coop. Dev. Services folks in Wisconsin. Since many of their co-op consultation services are quite pricey, offering
this free course—financed by the National Co-op Bank among others—is a great way to (a) share their extensive know-how with less affluent groups
and (b) drum up business for themselves. (We also have food co-op dev. specialists closer to home in the network of consultants who work with New
England-based Cooperative Dev. Insititute. See me for details: jane_livingston@verizon.net)
"Here is a link to information about the series of six free, web-based training sessions sponsored by Cooperative Development Services and Food Co-op 500.
http://cdsfood.centraldesktop.com/fc500registration/
"Visit our website at www.foodcoop500.coop "
MAINE FEEDS MAINE NEWS
(12/17/07)
Jane Livingston, MFM project director, jane_livingston@verizon.net.
- DIRECTORY -
The comprehensive Directory of MFM participants will be available January 1, 2008. Anyone who needs a draft copy to review should request it
from: jane_livingston@verizon.net or 207-947-4117.
- WEB PAGE -
Look for the Directory on New Year's Day, on the Maine Feeds Maine web site www.mainefeedsmaine.org which
Snakeroot Oorganic Farm's Tom Roberts has offered to maintain through the Winter. Yay Tom! Che |