Talking Trade & No Control Over GMO

Talking Trade & No Control Over GMO

Talking Trade & No Control Over GMO plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

A number of high-level officials are in China to hammer out a variety of trade issues between the two countries. US Trade Representative Michael Froman is one of those officials and says one of the issues will be reopening beef trade to China.

FROMAN: My understanding is there have been some very constructive interactions between agricultural officials from both the U.S. and China and they're continuing to work to address the issues necessary to open the beef market including having exchanges back and forth here in the United States and China over the last couple of months with that objective in mind.

The Oregon Department of Ag has sent a letter to Gov. Kitzhaber saying that state law allows it to create control areas to deal with pests and disease. But it can create such areas only for genetically engineered crops that are in the trial phase. The letter also says once a genetically engineered  crop has been "deregulated" by USDA, it's deemed not to be a pest or a disease carrier — hence the state loses authority over the genetically engineered  crop.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

Why is it that we as humans need to put a human "face" on everything we own or come in contact with; our cars, boats, pets, etcetera? I suppose it revolves around how fond we are of something that we feel the need to personalize it. This can be especially true of pet owners. Many pet owners will go to great lengths to humanize their animals, sometimes to the point that it is detrimental to the animal's natural order. Some animal rights activists would have us believe that animals should have the same moral and legal rights, with legal representation no less, as humans. There are those in positions of power within the government who are pushing an animal rights agenda under the guise of climate and environmental concern. When legislators strive to create laws in order to push their own personal agendas as animal rights activists it is a misuse of their position - a position they were given by U.S. voters who trusted them to make decisions based on the needs of the vast majority, not pet activist groups or personal preference.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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