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Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (NW RAGE) is a non-violent, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the responsible, sustainable and just use of agriculture and science. We are working towards a ban on genetic engineering and patents on life. Our efforts focus on education, community building, advocacy and action.
NW RAGE works with neighbors, teachers, farmers and
friends to stop the reckless splicing and dicing of our genetic material.
We are not anti-science, we are pro-precautionary principle. We believe in a future that strives to do no harm to humans and to the ecosystems we all depend on. We believe in proceeding with new technologies only if a well informed civil society decides to do so after proper testing has been conducted.
Our activities range from postcard and letter writing, to education presentations,
to debates and public forums, to protests and direct action. We strongly believe that, in spite of the dangers of genetic engineering, people working together for change can and are making a difference in preventing this unnecessary and unsustainable technology from causing any further harm.
We warmly invite you to bring your voice and join in the struggle!
NW RAGE promotes active resistance to the intrusion of genetic engineering into our
lives, food and ecosystems. We are against corporate ownership of life. We believe so-called
"life science" corporations, like Monsanto and Dow, are attempting to privatize, patent
and own life to create huge profits and monopolies while ignoring the sanctity of creation.
We work to ban the release of genetically engineered organisms through education,
advocacy and action. We also work to promote sustainable agriculture through
activities like partnerships with organic associations and seed swaps. We see this
as a vibrant and viable future for life on the planet.
We work towards:
- A ban on genetic engineering
- A ban on patents on any life forms including animals, plants, cells, viruses, bacteria, genes, and proteins
- A ban on biopiracy - the theft of indigenous people's genes and knowledge
- A ban on cloning of humans and animals
- A rescinding of all current FDA approvals for genetically engineered products on the market
- An increase in the scale and scope of organic agriculture
- An increase in funding for research into organic agriculture and chemical-free growing techniques
- The cessation of factory farming Some steps you can take to get involved and to make a positive difference in your community:
- Sign up for our monthly newsletter so you can get more information and stay connected (see "Subscribe..." on the top left). Click here to see our privacy policy.
- Join us for our public meeting & screening of movies relating to Genetic Engineering and discussion on how you can help to promote a safe and sustainable food supply. Details here.
- Call us (503-239-6841) or email us (info@nwrage.org) if you have questions or comments.
- Send a tax-free donation.
Get involved now!! NW RAGE is one of the few groups in the Northwest working on the issue of genetic engineering, and we need your help!
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The cultivation of genetically modified maize has caused a drastic reduction in organic cultivation of this grain and is making their coexistence practically impossible. This is the main conclusion reached in one of the first field studies in Europe carried out by a researcher of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, who has analysed the situation in Catalonia and Aragon, Europe’s main producers of transgenic foods.
The study was carried out by researcher Rosa Binimelis of the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. Binimelis is working on the European project ALARM (Assessing Large Scale Risks for Biodiversity with Tested Methods) and analyses the application of the concept of coexistence between Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and conventional organic agriculture in the European Union. The results of the research have been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (April 2008).
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Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Riceland Foods Inc. in Stuttgart subjected the state’s rice farmers to an ”ultrahazardous risk” when it experimented with genetically modified rice that contaminated the commercial supply, a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.
Arkansas’ more than 4,000 rice farmers were adversely affected when the European Union began refusing Arkansas rice in 2006 after the genetically modified strain, Liberty Link, contaminated the state’s exports, according to the lawsuit filed in Lonoke County Circuit Court.
Lonoke County residents and farmers Roger Webb, Harold West and JoAnn West are listed as class representatives in the lawsuit against the farmer-owned cooperative and world’s largest rice miller and marketer.
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Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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We're merely protecting an investment that exceeds $2 million a day -- Monsanto
When you buy a loaf of bread, it's yours. You're done. It should be the same way with seeds. -- Gary Rinehart, wrongly sued convenience store owner
Soybean farmer David Brumback calls himself a loyal customer of Monsanto Co. His product of choice: genetically engineered seeds resistant to pesticides and weed killers.
So when the biotech giant named Brumback and more than 100 other local farmers in a subpoena seeking five years of sales records, his first reaction was befuddlement. Then anger.
"With Monsanto, you're guilty until you're proven innocent," he said.
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Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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The European Patent Office in Munich is today granting an extensive patent (EP 1651777) on a method of breeding pigs despite international criticism and lack of clarity on the patent's legality. According to Greenpeace's analyses the genetic conditions described in it occur in all European pig breeds. The claims have been formulated in such a way that not only do they include the breeding method; the patent owner can in a dispute also make claims on pigs themselves and all their progeny.
Greenpeace will lay an objection to the patent because it is in violation of the ban on patenting "mainly biological processes" for breeding. The European Patent Office is at present examining the extent to which patents on the breeding of normal plants and animals may in principle be granted at all. A decision on this is expected in 2009.
"Corporations can use patents like this to go a long way towards monopolising animal breeding in Europe," says the patents expert Christoph Then on Greenpeace's behalf. "It is incredible that the European Patent Office is issuing a patent which is based on normal breeding and does not include any inventive steps whatsoever. This takeover of food production through patents must be halted."
The US corporation Monsanto had originally applied for the patent in 2005. Making it known that it was collaborating closely with Monsanto, the US corporation Lengsham Choice Genetics bought the patent while the application was being examined.
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Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Rising food prices are a hardship here at home, but they're truly disastrous for many beyond our borders. The staggering 83 percent rise in food prices reported by the World Bank over the past three years hits developing nations hardest. It's a complex situation with many causes, but the crisis is teaching us important and urgent lessons.
First among these is what we've learned about biofuels. Once considered the "green" solution to foreign oil dependence, corn ethanol has morphed into a humanitarian and environmental disaster. Diverting one-quarter of America's massive corn harvest from food to fuel has nearly crippled the globalized food system. A bushel of corn fetches about three times the price it did two years ago, one big reason for quadrupling tortilla
prices in Mexico. Wheat and soybean farmers, lured by higher profits, switched over to corn. As a result, supplies of those crops are limited and wheat prices have risen an astronomical 130 percent since 2007, exacerbated by poor Australian harvests.
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Posted on Friday, July 04, 2008
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Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally- respected economist at global financial body.
The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.
Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.
"It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House," said one yesterday.
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Posted on Friday, July 04, 2008
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Non-GM crops bred using traditional plant breeding methods still provide most of the food and animal feed in the world, covering more than 97% of agricultural land [1] compared with only 2.4% growing GM crops.
The new analysis [2] was carried out by GM Freeze after media reports claimed 25% of global arable land was under GM crops – a figure obtained from the National Environmental Research Council’s website [3].
The GM Freeze analysis shows that in fact over 90% of global arable land [4] is used to cultivate non-GM crops. Even in the USA, where GM crops have been widely adopted, over 85% of agricultural land is growing non-GM crops and two thirds of arable land grew non-GM crops in 2007.
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Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008
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A new rice-growing system developed for the wetlands of West Africa could significantly increase the region’s yield capacity, bridging the gap between production and consumption and offering a long-term solution to the food crisis in Africa.
West Africa has moved closer to attaining domestic self-sufficiency in rice, its fastest-growing and most costly food import. IITA, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, has developed a rice growing system, termed ’Sawah’ (Indonesian for ”wet rice-field”), which makes it possible to grow the crop in the region’s wetlands and with more than twice the yield of traditional dryland rice farms. IITA estimates that some 10 million rice farmers stand to benefit from the adoption of the system. As Africa imports about 40% of its rice and accounts for more than one-third of the rice traded globally, the ’Sawah’ system could save rice-consuming countries in the region some US$2 billion in annual import payments. But more importantly, it could help ease the food crisis in Africa where riots have erupted in recent months in several countries due to acute food shortage.
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Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008
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“All beers were organic 100 years ago,” says Christopher Mark O’Brien, Silver Spring, Md.-based author of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World.
Today, organic beers are a niche within a niche, constituting probably less than 1 percent of the craft beer segment (which itself produces less than 4 percent of the beer consumed in this country). But the sub-niche is growing rapidly: In 2006, sales totaled $25 million, up 32 percent over the previous year, according to the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass.
To be advertised as organic, beer has to pass muster, just as other foods do. Ingredients must have been grown without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. No irradiation, no GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Certifying organizations may make surprise inspections to make sure brewers aren’t commingling organic and non-organic supplies.
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Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008
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While it seemed like a good idea to use agrofuels in the beginning- it has now become a menace to the quality of life for people globally and without reducing greenhouse gas emissions says the author.
In the beginning it seemed like a good idea to power our cars using plant based "biofuels", like switching from a diet of greasy hamburgers to pure sweet green tea. Most environmentalists agreed, and governments around the globe adopted policies mandating biofuels use and supporting the burgeoning new industry with subsidies. Multinational agribusiness giants, Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Bunge, Monsanto.... all rolled up their sleeves and prepared the coffers for major cash influx. So did the biotechnology industries, anticipating new opportunities to market genetically engineered crops for fuel, even where their food crops remained unpopular. Auto manufacturers breathed a sigh of relief: with an alternative fuel available, people would not bother to drive less. Big Oil with an eye on the future, ramped up investment and a major green-wash campaign.
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Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008
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