Voting for Crops
Saying the courts should "tread lightly," a Mendocino County, California, judge let stand ballot language that argues for a local initiative to ban genetically modified crops, known as Measure H. Superior Court Judge Leonard LaCasse was cited as saying on December 31 that he would not block election officials from printing the March 2 primary ballot, which contains language critics had claimed was false and misleading, adding that while the specific statements may not "constitute the whole truth, they are not so completely wrong to constitute a falsehood to voters."
The judge also recognized the deeply divergent viewpoints in the debate over genetic engineering, reflected in the local ballot measure that has attracted national attention, stating, "It is instructive that the argument against this ballot proposal contains language that is at least equally provocative to the language in favor of the measure." The measure would make Mendocino County the first in the U.S. to ban cultivation of genetically modified organisms. Supporters, who include 150 organic farmers and wine-grape growers, contend the ban is needed to protect Mendocino County's growing stature as a producer of certified organic agricultural products. They fear genetically modified organisms could contaminate local organically grown crops.
The measure has run into opposition from other agricultural interests, including the local Farm Bureau and the California Plant Health Association, a statewide lobbying group. Monsanto, which is a member of the association, last year spent about $1.5 million to help defeat an Oregon ballot measure that would have forced labeling of genetically modified foods. The Mendocino measure does not attempt to impose a labeling requirement. The Sacramento law firm of Olson, Hagel & Fishburn filed a lawsuit on behalf of the association, seeking to have three specific statements in the ballot argument in support of Measure H stricken from the March ballot. One statement contends that "organic farms and wineries will lose organic certification" if their crops become contaminated by modified organisms. The other two statements claim that "GMO polluted wine" would be unmarketable in Europe and Japan and that "GMOs will irreversibly contaminate native plants and trees." (The Press Democrat, 12/31/03).
