Efforts in Oregon to protect small farmers and organic growers are coming from the ground up at the county and state level these days. An initiative to ban genetically modified (GM) crops in Lane County has been resubmitted to the county clerk, and small farmers came out ahead in the Oregon Legislature this session.
“By and large [the Oregon Legislature] did a very good job standing up for family farm values this legislative session,” says Ivan Maluski, the policy director of advocacy group Friends of Family Farmers (FFF). Among the changes was the creation of Aggie Bonds (small farmer and rancher loans) under the Oregon Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program established in HB 2700 and a ban on commercial canola production inside the Willamette Valley protected district established in HB 2427.
Read the full, original story here: “Small Farms Vs. Gmos And Canola”
Additional Resources:
- “Anti-GMO group challenges county clerk’s ruling,” Capital Press
