1) Thank you for acknowledging that there would be serious re-organization needed. That was my point – this re-organization will cost money – it is not just the cost of changing a mass-produced label.

2) when you say “(why would they, BTW, if GMO are as harmless as they’re claimed to be?)” I think you know that perception is not the same thing as reality. There is no doubt that a lot of consumers are afraid that food from GMOs is somehow dangerous. That does not mean it actually is. But fear is a big driver of choices people make. Retailers are very attuned to how people choose. And retailers themselves are driven by fear that consumers will turn away or that activists will cause problems for them, if they stock food with GM labels. Again, this does not mean that the food is actually dangerous. You can get from fear to change of behavior without touching the truth about the feared thing. Happens every day.

3) Wow I am surprised that you say “the whole point” is to “isolate and exclude GMO crops from the food chain altogether–even encouraging farmers to stay clear of GE seeds and, as the case may be, go back to conventional non-GE seeds.” Pro-labelling folks usually just talk about giving consumers a choice. Good to know your real goal! It does make the stakes more clear, you are right.

http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-issue-an-executive-order-requiring-labeling-of-all-gmo-foods

Please send response to: bioenergetics@earthlink.net

Let’s see what’s wrong with this comment.
“Sadly, conservation easements are targeting the small family farmer because often times the small family farmer does not have the full understanding of the implications of conservation easements on the future of the farm.”
1. Conservation Easements have been placed on property spanning from 5 acres to 10,000 acres – everything ranging from small organic farms to vast swaths of timber land or critical wildlife habitat. All land trusts, by law, require willing landowners who want to work with them to seek independent legal and tax advice. By the time the easement is signed, and long before that, there is little misunderstanding as to what it stands for.

“Conservation easements are a death sentence to the family farmer and are driving them in to extinction.”
2. Farming is booming again in places like Vermont, all over New England, the pacific northwest and other states in large part because of conservation easements. Every conservation easement is tailored to the needs and desires of the landowner. A conservation easement that is placed on a farm will almost always include language that allows the farmer and future farmers to do anything they want as it relates to farming without having to ask permission from the land trust. And if it doesn’t, it’s probably because the landowner wanted it! The land remains in private hands and on the tax roll. All that the land trust holds is an easement on future development rights, and in the case of the arid midwest, the water rights if they are important to the conservation values. Building a chicken coop on your farm that was conserved for agricultural purposes is perfectly OK under most easements, by the way.

“As numerous legal scholars and policy experts have argued, conservation easements that bind landowners and their descendants”
3. Yes, they bind them from subdividing their properties. That is the point of conserving their land. If you want your family farm to be subdivided upon your death because your kids can’t pay the estate tax, that is your right. But it’s also the right of other people to want to conserve their property they spent a lifetime protecting and nourishing.

“PLUS, try selling your farm once it is burdened with an easement. It is becoming nearly impossible for a buyer to get loan with an easement, title insurance or any kind of insurance on these farms that ultimely [sic] are worthless. ”
4. Jessica, all someone has to do is take 5 minutes to search some databases and you will see MANY conserved properties that are selling like hotcakes, farms included especially when an OPAV is included. Many people don’t want to live in subdivisions. They want to see wildlife on their property, they want to hunt on their property, they want to live a traditional life. Buying a property with a conservation easement on it allows you to do that – all for a bargain price! And as it relates to this article, many young farmers can’t afford land unless there is an easement on it due to the skyrocketing prices and the initial cost of starting a farm operation.

Land Trusts are non-profit, locally owned organizations that are run and managed by your friends and neighbors and often have deep ties to your community. Call them rabid environmentalists if you want, but really they are true conservatives. They are people that want to see land as it was intended to be and always has been – open, nourishing, and productive.

So if the use of these crops continues to grow we are one year away from famine. If something happens to the new seed supply the next year is worldwide famine because the seeds from the old crop will not grow. No new Monsteranto seeds each year no crops.