Public Discourse Statement: New Mexico - GMO Chiles Theres a movement in New Mexico called Occupy Red/Green Chiles

- Im not making this up, its true, I swear Another group of everyday Americans standing up for what they feel is fair The issue here is Genetically Modified Organisms - for short GMOs Corporations and scientists altering the ecosystem - long-term impact of which nobody seems to know Plants and people have always adapted, blueprints in genes & seeds changing over time Plants and people learn to protect themselves, reproduce, and live sustainably or they die Farmers have experimented with plant genetics for centuries, mixing and matching dominant & recessive genes GMO replaces 100 years in the field with 100 hours in a lab Each day we live in a world where more and more often - nothing is as it really seems Over the past five years New Mexican farmers increased chile production 2 tons per-acre, yet GMO building taller plants easier to harvest and more resistant to disease Altering an ecosystem to fit an economic model Human self-importance one more toxic pesticide blowing in the breeze A corporation such as Monsanto builds a seed and plants it in the ground Wind picks up, bees get busy - their new plants cross-pollinate the entire town Traditional farming crops contaminated, years of family-breeding-practices down the drain Dragged into court for stealing Monsantos patented seeds guilty verdicts proof of a system gone insane Its happened with corn, soybeans, and cotton all of which are bred to survive pesticide showers You buy the seed, you buy the pesticide, you buy Monsanto another floor in some office tower Law says you cant save the seed, each year you need to buy the current model GMO Corporations spent 67 billion lobbying thus far this century paying for control & the right to be coddled Faith that technology will save us fuels support for the GMO point of view Lawmakers fighting for chile industrys economic survival - pressures on to try something new Because its family-owned companies struggling, thousands of jobs are part of the bottom line New Mexico has lost 75% of its chile producing acres in the last 20 years China & Mexico charging full-steam ahead theres a feeling New Mexico is running out of time With traditional breeding practices families and farmers adapt by saving seeds from the strongest plants Blaming lack of production on lack of technology is like Americans saying we cant do it when explaining why the U.S. no longer manufactures pants New Mexican Chile Industry in decline due to cheap foreign labor its the same guys who are making our pants Intention of science and GMO may be honorable, but Monsanto and Corporate GMO hard to give the benefit of the doubt GMO often seems the only future lobbyists and lawmakers see Traditional farmers in their fields while Monsantos in Washington will all the clout 2012 New Mexicans supporting Occupy the Food System, 300,000 organic farmers joining Willie Nelson in taking Monsanto to court Traditional New Mexican farmers taking on GMO in their quest to keep New Mexican Chiles short C PDS-MCM 2012