California's family farmers are among the most progressive farmers in the United States, and we play a vital role in providing safe and healthy food.
We understand that some people are unsure about biotechnology, and concerns have been addressed to the farming community that have produced a sound dialogue and increased understanding. Others, however, utilize scare tactics in an effort to ban biotech crops and deny everyone the benefits of the best science and the most extensive research in the world today.
Often, proponents of banning biotech crops are not farming or medical experts and, as a result, their ballot measures include flaws that threaten local family farmers and their communities.
Biotech Bans:
- Threaten Family Farmers and Jobs
Bans on biotech crops prohibit access to a science that holds great promise to protect crops from diseases that destroy family farms and cripple rural economies. They limit consumer choice and farmers' ability to grow crops that ensure the safest and most affordable products.
- Deny Environmental Progress
Crop bans deny family farmers access to tools that reduce soil erosion, save irrigation water and improve air quality by reducing the number of times tractors plow fields. By saving on use of crop protection materials and fuel, farmers can continue to offer what Californians tell us they value: safe food, open space, jobs and wildlife habitat.
- Limit Access to Health Care
Biotech bans often prohibit local biotech companies from producing medicines for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses.
- Strain Local Government Services
Anti-biotechnology initiatives could require tax increases or redirecting millions of dollars from police and fire services to confiscate crops from local family farmers.
Learn the facts about how campaign contributors from as far away as Minnesota and Washington, D.C., use fear and misinformation to promote bans on biotech crops.
Join our coalition and share with your neighbors and friends what California farmers are doing to ensure that you can continue to serve the safest and best-quality foods at your family table.
