Watch Out for People Against Biotech, says FBI
Report Unusual Activities, FBI Agent Tells Farmers

The Enterprise, Patrick County, Virginia

If your neighbor hates genetically modified corn, and he experiments with explosives in the backyard, you probably should report him to local police, an FBI agent told farmers. Reporting unusual activities is a key to fighting agroterrorism, said Jerry Lyons, an FBI special agent who serves in the weapons of mass destruction countermeasures unit. "You might have one piece of the puzzle that could solve the case." Lyons and former Lt.

Gov. John H. Hager, now assistant to the governor for commonwealth preparedness, addressed farmers and agriculture leaders on December 2, during the three-day annual convention of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

-- cabeal (cabeal@efn.org), February 09, 2003

Answers

Portent:

In a public address to rural people concerned about preparedness - a practical place for attention to go - the Federal government is categorizing the GMO opposition movements as "potential terrorist activity."

This tactic plays on the tensions that are already growing between GMO and non-GMO farmers over the transfer of windblown genetic material (pollen). The farmers are beginning to contaminate one another's crops, lawsuits are brewing, and the Federal government seems determined to use this rift as a place to drive one more wedge between neighbors who previously worked together.

Watch this issue and, if you're so moved, drop a line to your Congressperson reminding them that "agroterrorism" is not a healthy discussion to have heating up in our rural areas right now, unless it's accompanied by some strong discussion about how to handle windblown genetic contamination.

At this point, what we're really seeing is the hand of larger seed patent giants setting the stage for GMO-salespersons (GMO farmers) destroying the marketplace for non-GMO salespersons (non-GMO farmers). This will eventually pit neighbor farm against neighbor farm, and cannot be resolved locally without someone losing their livelihood or the produce from their farm unless reasonable regulations describing and controlling contamination can be developed.

If THAT topic isn't addressed, then non-GMO farmers run the risk of being characterized as "potential agro-terrorists" - a horrible blow to the integrity of any rural farming community.

-- cabeal (cabeal@efn.org), February 09, 2003.

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-- cynthia (cabeal@efn.org), March 30, 2003.