As they promised, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday on the
Farmer Protection Act. Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr testified, delivering a
45-minutes speech, with the essential message that the administration does NOT
support assigning liability to the multi-national biotechnology corporations, and
they think it's fine to keep this liability on the farmers because the GE crops "are
not dangerous." Luckily, the Judiciary Committee (with the exception of Senator
Wendy Wilton from Rutland County) did not agree with Secretary Steve Kerr, and
grilled him pretty hard on his position. Rural Vermont also testified, highlighting
the economic justice issues that are associated with the consolidation of the seed
industry, the patenting of seed, and the ability of multi-national corporations to
push their risk onto farmers. We also specifically addressed questions about the
Farmer Protection Act and made our case as to why the senators should support it.
(we hope to post both of these on our website soon...we are transcribing them).

After the testimony, Senator Wendy Wilton made a motion to remove the liability
section of the bill (this is essentially the "meat" of the bill), which was the
Agency of Agriculture's proposal for a "compromise." This would have meant that the
patent infringement language would stay and the language saying that Vermont GMO
farmers can only be sued in Vermont under Vermont law for breach of contract issues.
It would NOT include the provision that would put the liability onto the
manufacturers and take it off of the farmers. That motion FAILED with a 1-5 vote,
with Senator Wilton the only senator voting yes.

The committee then discussed the bill for approximately 30 minutes, and in the end,
ran out of time and did not vote to pass it out of committee. At the very end of the
hearing, Senator Sears raised a question about the patent infringement section of
the bill, and so now, there will be another hearing next week with a representative
from the Vermont Law School to talk about this section of the bill (this hearing is
not yet scheduled). The senate leadership has committed to getting the bill out of
committee by April 1st. We will keep you posted.

One thing that is very important is that YOUR CALLS WORKED. All of the Senators on
the committee, with the exception of Senator Wendy Wilton spoke in strong support of
our bill! Great Job and THANK YOU to all who made those calls to our key senators.

Meanwhile, we would like the HOUSE Judiciary Committee to begin holding hearings on
the Farmer Protection Act, so that if the Senate bill takes a little while to work
it's way over to the house, the committee does not run out of time in the session to
work on the bill. So, HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP MOVE OUR BILL ALONG:

ACTION #1: WRITE A LETTER to House Judiciary Chairman Bill Lippert, and ask him TO
TAKE UP H.309 as soon as possible. Chairman Lippert is sympathetic to the bill and
is committed to taking it up, we just need to ask him (nicely) to do it sooner
rather than later. Tell him why the issue is important to you, and why the bill must
be passed this year (before Alfalfa and Grass are on the market!).

WRITE THE LETTER THIS WEEKEND AND MAIL IT BY MONDAY OR TUESDAY. It is fine to have a
hand-written letter, as long as it is legible. Also, make sure you include your
name, town, and phone number in the letter, and put your RETURN ADDRESS on the
envelope.

Address your letter to:
House Judiciary Chairman Bill Lippert
Vermont Statehouse
Montpelier, VT 05633

ACTION #2: While you're at it, WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of your local paper! We
need to get the public discussion moving on this bill, and let our legislators know
that it's not just something being discussed in the statehouse! To find sample
letters to the editor and contact info for the newspapers, visit:
http://www.ruralvermont.org/getinvolved.html and scroll about halfway down the page.

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!
Food For Thought
A Community Gathering
Thursday, March 31
6 ? 8 pm
Harwood Union High School Lobby
And Common Ground Cafe

FILM
Watch a thought provoking film montage addressing food issues
facing our society and local community.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS
Getting together as a community to talk about food issues and
formulate actions plans to make positive changes in our schools and community.

TIME OUT ON GMO'S ACTION NIGHT
Tuesday April 5
6-8 pm
Kellogg-Hubbard Library Main St., Montpelier, Vt

Help protect Vermont Family Farmers from GMO liability! From 6-7 pm, attendees will
receive a legislative update on the Farmer Protection Act and then an opportunity
write letters to representatives and the editor
in support of the bill. From 7-8 pm we will discuss/brainstorm additional
opportunities for Washington County residents to support the bill.

SOWING SEEDS FOR OUR FUTURE
Rural Vermont?s Celebration of Our Victories Against Big Biotech

April 17, 2005
Middlesex Town Hall, 5 Church Street Middlesex, VT
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Live Music by Skunk Hollow!
Flatbread and Ice Cream!

Speaker: Britt Bailey, co-author of Against the Grain: Biotechnology and the
Corporate Takeover of Your Food and Senior Editor of Engineering the Farm, the
Social and Ethical Aspects of Agricultural Biotechnology. She is also the producer
of Against the Grain: the Video.

CONFERENCE: YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN AGRICULTURE AND LOCAL FOODS

Time: Saturday April 23rd, Registration 8:30am - 9:00am, Events 9:00am-4:45pm
Location: UVM Campus, Burlington, VT
The "Young Entrepreneurs in Agriculture and Local Foods" symposium is an opportunity
to recognize, and learn from, unique work being done by young people in agricultural
businesses across Vermont. The keynote address will be by Jan Albers, author of
"Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape". Sessions during the event
cover topics ranging from practical advice for new business ventures to how
educators can foster innovation that reaches beyond the classroom. This event is
free, but pre-registration is
requested. To register or to view a schedule, visit
http://crs.uvm.edu/yealf/register.htm
Contact: Helen Jordan (hjordan@uvm.edu)
Phone: 802 656-0254