Four states faced with agribusiness- backed legislation aimed at removing local decision-making authority over seeds and plants rejected those measures in 2006.

Unlike 2005 legislative sessions, which saw fifteen (15) states adopt statewide preemption bills, 2006 saw the defeat of bills to strip local decision-making concerning our foods in four states, while only a single bill passed. A combination of champions from inside the legislatures as well as from external organizations worked effectively to defeat the bills in North Carolina , Missouri , Nebraska , and California . Their votes endorsed the value of local decision-making, validated the ecological and economic risks of genetically modified organisms, and confirmed the lack of current regulations and policies pertaining to them. A coalition of organizations including Southern Forests Network, ETC Group, RAFI USA , and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association actively fought H671 [in North Carolina ].

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes www.southernsustainableforests.org