Coalition for Responsible Agriculture

Genetic Engineering:
a Committee Approach

News Flash! On February 2 the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to accept ("in concept") the recommendations of the GE Advisory Committee, and to direct county counsel to prepare an ordinance based upon them. The ordinance will include the de minimus standard recommended by the majority, and eliminate the final clause recommending review within five years as superfluous. Details regarding costs will be addressed when the ordinance comes before the Board.

The GE Crops Advisory Committee originally appointed in December 2008 and reduced to a seven-member, two-alternate body in December 2009 has held six meetings since members Michelle Scully, Lars Crail, Victoria Brandon, Broc Zoller, JoAnn Saccato, Melissa Fulton, and Andre Ross, with alternates Marc Hooper and Lorrie Gray were named. Operating under a strict consensus rule allowing no more than one dissent to any policy decision, he Committee, which is , agreed to a revised proposal at its January 18 meeting. With the exception of a portion of one sentence in paragraph 4, all portions of the proposal have been agreed by consensus, and all but one of those unanimously.

The final proposal as it will be presented to the Board of Supervisors at 1:30PM on February 2 is available for download: the single sentence on which the committee could not reach consensus is presented in two alternative versions, one of which passed by a 5-2 vote, and the other of which failed by the same margin. Both versions are marked in blue.

Detailed information about the committee's deliberations throughout the year is available on the county website, as is the White Paper on genetic engineering in Lake County presented to the Supervisors in August.