BY DONNA WESTFALL CREDIT TO ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION Saturday, June 20th, the Chetco Activity Center in Brookings partnered up with Mark McCoy from Therapeutic Massage, in a free showing of the film, "GENETIC ROULETTE." This 85 minute documentary was made during the time California's Proposition 37 was on the horizon. The film made by Jeffrey M. Smith who is the author of the world’s bestselling book on GMOs, Seeds of Deception, is a leading consumer advocate promoting healthier non-GMO choices. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. What is it? Bacteria and/or virus genes that are forced into the DNA of crops like soy and corn. 80% are engineered to withstand normally deadly doses of herbicides, primarily Monsanto’s Roundup. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require independent safety studies of genetically engineered foods. No long-term safety studies exist on either the safety or benefits of GMO ingredients. Matter of fact, this is a case of the fox watching the henhouse. Who's the fox? Primarily Monsanto as they control 90% of the GMO seeds worldwide. In this film, NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN EVIDENCE points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn. The alarming rise of autism in our children should be a wake up call to all parents. Americans get sick more often then Europeans and people in other industrial countries and we're getting sicker. Since the mid 1990's when Genetically Modified Organisms (Genetically Engineered Foods) when our food supply was taken over, without our knowledge or our consent. The number of Americans suffering at least three chronic illnesses nearly doubled. Why is this taking place? Why is there no government agency overlooking this travesty? It seems so logical that if Monsanto were proud of their GMO products, they would want to label everything they have a hand in. In contrast, they throw millions of dollars into every campaign to stop labeling and stop the people from knowing what products contain GMO's. According to the 2013 GMO Media Fact Sheet 91% of Americans polled want GMOs labeled, a right already enjoyed by 40% of the world’s population in 49 countries. November 2012, Prop 37 was voted on by 12 1/2 million Californians. Prop 37 lost by 353,657 votes. Exposed in Genetic Roulette are Monsanto’s strong arm tactics, the FDA’s fraudulent policies, and how the USDA ignores a growing health emergency. Italy: The four regions Tuscany, Molise, Lazio and Marche and around 25 provinces, cities and communes banned GE crops, including Rome, Milan, Turin, Brescia and Genoa. These are all democratically-taken decisions in local or regional councils and in the case of Tuscany, the result has been ratified by the national government – the decision means that regional governments have been given the authority under Italian law to overturn decisions taken at EU level. Austria: Bans on three GE maize (Novartis, Monsanto and AgrEvo), the Federal Institute for Less-Favoured and Mountainous Areas is pressing for GM free legislation and published a study on GE-free zones, initiatives in the States of Vorarlberg and Salzburg to ban GE trials. France: ban of PGS and AgrEvo HR rapeseed Germany: Ban of Novartis Bt maize. The initiative "No GE on communal land" of BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany) launched activities in several German communities to discuss and vote on the GE-free resolutions. Application are launched in: Bad Vilbel, Blauenstein, Lahr, Konstanz, Hannover, Hamburg. Application are accepted in: M¸nchen, Reutlingen, Freidrichsdorf, Blomberg, Seligenstadt, Niddatal, Maintal, Riedstadt, Adendorf, Schwebheim, Pinneberg, Schwabach, Langenhagen, Wyhe, Burgdorf, Neetze, District Traunstein. Several protestant regional church organisations: banned GE crops from their land: Hannover, Hessen und Nassau, Sachsen, Protestantic Church of Westfalen, Protestantic Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, Church Province of Sachsen. Luxembourg: Ban of Novartis Bt maize. Portugal: Ban of Novartis Bt maize. Greece: Ban of AgrEvo HR rapeseed, moratorium of GE crop trials. Spain: The Basque Government went for a five year blanket moratorium for GMOs. The Basque Government claims full powers for agricultural policy and thus that they can provisionally ban GMOs if they so wish. The three provinces of Castilla-La Mancha and Baleares banned GE food, AndalucÌa declared a five year moratorium on GE crop trials and GE food. UK: The Church of England has refused permission for GE crop trials on 60,000 hectares of its land, dozens of local authorities supply GE free school lunches, the House of Commons banned GE foods for its catering. The vote of the Welsh Assembly to keep Wales GE free was counteracted by the ministry of Agriculture approving a GE maize variety. The Island of Jersey banned GE crops. OTHERS Switzerland: Although a center of GE science and industry, only two trials with GE potatoes in 1991/92 have been performed until now. Norway: Banned the import of several GE crops and products which contain antibiotic resistance genes. Australia: The State of Tasmania banned GE rapeseed as weed, Western Australia has banned commercial GE planting. Australian States are given the right to declare themselves GE free. Some communities (e.g. Bondi/Sydney, West Wimmera Shire) declared themselves GE free. New Zealand: Some local bodies in Auckland and Wellington have declared themselves GM free. Trials with GE salmon have been blocked by the government. Thailand: Banned imports of 40 GE crops for commercial planting, but not for research purposes. Philippines: The community of Valencia called for a five-year moratoria on GE food and GE crop trials and commercialization. The Philippine president announced a moratorium on GE crop research. Saudi Arabia: Banned food that are made from GMOs and declared not to import GE wheat. Egypt: Declared not to import GE wheat. Algeria: Banned the import, distribution, commercialisation and utilization of GE plants except for research purposes. Brazil: Planting GE seeds is prohibited by federal law in Brazil for the time being, the States of Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul have declared their intentions to remain GM-free, 18 States called upon the Central government to block commercial GE crop planting. Paraguay: The Ministry of Agriculture plans to ban GE crops from commercial planting. USA: Various bills calling for moratoria on GE food (Vermont currently being sued by Monsanto), bans of GE wheat (North Dakota, Montana) have been filed within the last year. Several municipalities declared moratoria on GE food (Burlington/Vermont), bans of GE crops (City of Boulder/Colorado), or urged the federal government to ban GE food (City and County of San Francisco/California). Jackson and Josephine Counties in Oregon vote to ban GMO crops. What you can do in Crescent City/Del Norte County: Non profits can sponsor a free screening of GENETIC ROULETTE. Sponsor an initiative to be put to the ballot to ban all GMO crops in our county.