Genetically modified alfalfa confirmed in Washington test sample

[Divernan]

3. Monsanto still hasn't managed to bribe the European Union; can't say the same for Congress/USDA

Monsanto has bought off the feds!. Riddle me this, Congress & the USDA, why are you protecting wheat farmers from Monsanto, but not alfalfa farmers?
(More from OP link)

Genetically modified alfalfa is legal to grow and sell in the U.S. That makes this incident different from May's discovery of genetically modified wheat in an Oregon field. Modified wheat is illegal in the U.S. outside of licensed test fields.

Monsanto spokesman Thomas Helscher said Thursday that major importers of U.S. alfalfa, including the United Arab Emirates, Japan and South Korea, have no restrictions on genetically modified crops, and negotiations with China over imports of modified alfalfa are ongoing.

State Sen. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, said the incident shows the dangers of genetically modified crops.

"Our state's farmers are becoming collateral damage to the reckless practices of the agriculture industry in this country," Chase said. "More than 60 of our trade partners throughout the world have bans on the import of unlabeled GMO foods."

What many markets fear, particularly Europe and parts of Asia, is the impact of recombinant DNA on the human body in ways we haven't yet understood. That includes the potential for desirable traits in one species to transfer to another species, where the trait would be harmful. This is true of herbicide-resistant wheat and alfalfa. If such herbicide resistance were accidentally to slip into the DNA of a weed, for instance, it could form a superweed, impossible to kill with modern methods.