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As Sonoma County voters consider making theirs the fourth California county
to ban genetically modified crops, backers of agricultural biotechnology
have released a poll showing 54 percent of likely state voters believe
farmers should be able to grow biotech crops, August 2005 by Jim Wasserman.

Thirty percent believe biotech crops should be banned from California's
fields, the poll says, and 16 percent of those surveyed said they didn't
know. Asked if they would consider buying foods containing biotech
ingredients, 53 percent of respondents said they would, while 37 percent
said they would not.

The findings come as national, state and local opponents of genetically
modified crops aim to pass a voter-approved ban on the crops in Sonoma
County on Nov. 8.

Renata Brillinger and other supporters of the measure questioned the survey
results, saying answers depend on how questions are phrased. Brillinger,
director of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, explained that more people
are opposed when they hear biotech crops described as genetically modified.

Similarly, Ryan Zinn of Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Association said
people often don't realize biotech foods aren't labeled.

If they heard this and also learned that neither the U.S. Department of
Agriculture nor the Environmental Protection Agency tests these crops, said
Zinn, the organization's San Francisco campaign coordinator, "I doubt any
right-minded person would give the green light to plant these foods or
crops."

If passed, a Sonoma County ban would join those already in effect in
Mendocino, Marin and Trinity counties. Next year biotech opponents are
considering still more county ballot measures, with Sacramento, Yolo, Nevada
and Placer counties among potential targets.

The telephone survey of 900 likely voters showed support for genetically
engineered crops is highest in the state's agricultural Central Valley and
among those who claim to know "a lot about biotech crops."

In the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, 68 percent of those surveyed said
farmers should be able to grow them, while 72 percent of those who said they
know a lot about biotech crops agreed.

Agricultural biotechnology is the science of transferring genes - the small
biological units that shape life - between species. So far, biotech farming
largely makes crop plants resistant to weedkillers and gives plants an
ability to kill insects.

California has an estimated 600,000 acres of biotech crops, mostly cotton
and corn largely grown in the Central Valley. Globally, farmers planted 200
million acres last year, according to the Council for Biotechnology
Information in Washington, D.C.

With three months until the Sonoma County vote, elections officials reported
Monday the anti-biotech GE-Free Sonoma County Committee has so far raised
$155,605 for its campaign to ban biotech crops in the wine-growing and dairy
county. The pro-biotech Family Farmers Alliance has raised $136,827,
elections officials said.

The survey, which was in the field from May 3-5, was commissioned by a
pro-biotech coalition that includes the California Chamber of Commerce; St.
Louis-based biotechnology giant Monsanto Co.; and BIOCOM San Diego, a trade
association of Southern California biotech firms.

Statewide, 54 percent of those surveyed said they knew biotech crops are
already grown in California and 51 percent knew California grocery stores
sell foods made from biotech crops.

"There's a tremendous benefit for use of biotech crops not only in
California but across the country," said Jesús Arredondo, a Monsanto
spokesman in California. "What we see is that people in California are
noticing, and are comfortable with biotech crops."

[www.sacbee.com]

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