As you may recall, we stopped producing honey as soon as we learned that a somewhat local farmer had planted GMO alfalfa in the Sams Valley area. The subsequent legal battle and court settlement between that farm, and the county has been in the works for quite some time. Now that the settlement is reached, and GMO alfalfa is here to stay for 5 to 8 years, Little Sprouts is forced out of the honey business.
Why? The GMO alfalfa is within feeding distance of any hives located on our land. Offering honey produced that is likely to contain GMO pollen from that alfalfa field is not something we are willing to do. WE will not compromise on quality or health in our products.
GMO testing? not practical... since each hive feeds independently, we would have to test each and every hive when harvested. At the cost of about $300 per test, the cost removes any potential profit from a natural type hive as we use. To raise the quality of honey we were raising, it requires lots of smaller hives... but that would mean lots of testing, so not practical.
So, as much as we would like to offer the unique honey we were producing, we simply cant. Our honey business is shut down until the other farm decides to remove the gmo alfalfa crop, which could be 5 to max of 8 years from now. This is why the popular phrase"co-existence" is totally bogus. organic and gmo can not co-exist. Not unless the GMO farm is required to pay for testing of potential contamination of their crop ot surrounding farms. But legally they are not. not even in Jackson county. The responsibility of protecting the public from GMO toxins is solely on the organic farmer.
Fair? no. Just? No. Legal? yes.
There seems little we can do but pause our own business until they decide to follow the county ordinance. If anything changes... we will certainly let you know.. but as of now.. GMO wins for the next half a decade.
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