APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238

Please state at the top of your written or electronic comments that they refer to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044.

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

As an American citizen who cares about how our nation’s food is grown and produced, I was shocked to read about the USDA’s recent draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that would allow genetically modified alfalfa to enter the U.S. market, despite the USDA’s acknowledged risk of genetic contamination to conventional and organic alfalfa.

I am writing in regard to draft EIS (APHIS-2007-0044) to ask that you reject Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa and to reconsider several of the misleading statements found in the USDA's draft EIS. Since freedom from genetically modified materials is a central tenet to complying with the Organic Standards, failure to reject GMO alfalfa will make the Obama / Vilsack USDA a willing accomplice in the destruction of the organic sector.

As the USDA EIS readily admits, such contamination will cause significant economic harm to small conventional and organic family farmers, not only forcing many of them out of business, but further increasing farm size and consolidating agriculture into the hands of fewer individuals. Hopefully, this is neither a goal of the USDA nor of this current administration or an unintended consequence of any of its policies.

In addition, the implication that U.S. consumers do not care about genetic contamination of organic food shows that the Obama administration is not only out of touch with the American people, but demonstrates how little they understand the fastest growing and most profitable sectors of agriculture today.

As a consumer of organic foods, I care deeply about the integrity of the products that I buy. Not only does organic food production offer better protection for the environment and produce foods that are higher in nutritional density, but it also offers a better economic return for family farmers who have set the highest standard for agricultural production.

It is my hope, that as a Secretary of Agriculture that promised he would represent “eaters” as well as farmers, that you would reject GMO alfalfa so that you can do both.

Sincerely

[Your Name]