In what is being called “a victory for local communities,” citizens in Marin County, Calif., voted on Tuesday to join Mendocino and Trinity counties in blocking the growing of genetically engineered plants and animals. As a hedge against the government’s failure to protect the local agriculture and environment from contamination by genetically engineered crops and animals, a growing list of California counties are passing their own initiatives to do just that. In Butte and San Luis Obispo counties, 4 out of 10 voters supported similar restrictions, though the measures did not pass.

“In the absence of strong state and federal regulations on engineered crops, residents have the right to make their own decisions about what is grown in their county,” said Andrew Kimbrell, attorney and executive director of the Center for Food Safety. “They have the right to protect themselves against the unknown environmental and health hazards of these experimental crops and to protect their farmers against the loss of export markets.”

California has a well-earned reputation for pioneering environmental and human health regulation that soon becomes the law of the land. Leaders of the campaigns to establish moratoria on genetically engineered plants and animals are convinced that the rest of the country will be watching, taking notes and following the examples set here on Tuesday.

“This is a victory for local communities,” said Rebecca Spector, West Coast director of the Center for Food Safety, “The Marin success is a model for how future battles will be fought across the country as localities battle corporate giants and inadequate regulation to preserve their agriculture and environment. Granted, we have a long way to go to preserve all the farmers and environments across this state, but one big step forward is an undeniable victory for this campaign given who and what we are up against.”

Given the strong support even in counties where initiatives did not pass, organizers said they will continue the fight and will try again with future measures.

Issue Summary:  On November 2nd, residents in four California Counties went to the polls to vote on initiatives that restrict the countywide planting of genetically engineered crops. The losses in Butte, San Luis Obispo and Humboldt counties was no surprise to organizers given the large sums of money poured into defeating the measures by the opposition. The organizers maintain that the public was fed misconceptions about the measures, including the myth that it would ban the production of medicines and vaccines, and that public concern was overwhelmed by a well-oiled and well-funded corporate spin machine.