Opponents of genetically-modified alfalfa took their message to the streets of North Battleford Tuesday at noon.
They converged outside the constituency office of Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Gerry Ritz on 100th Street. There, the group marched and held signs expressing their opposition.
The group was there to protest the release of genetically-modified alfalfa. The North Battleford protest was one of 38 happening that day nationwide during the noon hour, according to protest spokesperson Glenn Tait of the National Farmers' Union.
Tait did not mince words in denouncing GM alfalfa, calling it "a dumb idea. There is almost no upside and potentially, guaranteed, negative consequences."
What the protesters hoped to achieve, according to Tait, was more public awareness of the issue so they could stop the variety registration of genetically-modified alfalfa under the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency. That's a step organizers say could be completed this spring.
"There's only one step left in the registration of genetically-modified alfalfa. If we get enough public backlash, if we can advertise this position to enough Tory MPs, we might be able to stop it," said Tait.
Ritz's office was targeted due to his role as federal agriculture minister. Most of the national protests, however, took place in Ontario, which is the area where the GM alfalfa is expected to be released first.
Though Tait acknowledged there are some health and environmental concerns with GM alfalfa, the main reason for the protest is economic.
He said people simply don't want the genetically-modified organisms in their food and won't buy it, and allowing GM alfalfa to be released will seriously affect their market.
"Alfalfa is open-pollenated. The pollen is transferred by insects. If it's released in Canada, there's no way to stop that GM pollen from infecting every other alfalfa plant in the country," said Tait.
The concern from Tait and other protesters is that the livelihoods of family farmers will be threatened.
"It's going to destroy the organic beef market, it's going to affect the honey market, if you're getting honey. You can transfer that into milk and cheese as well. A lot of people don't want genetically modified material, for whatever reason. If it's in our produce, they just won't buy it."
He said if the GM alfalfa is out, it will be impossible to isolate the non-GM alfalfa. "So we cannot grow what we call organic beef because it's been eating GM material. We can't even grow natural beef. So those markets are going to be gone. And the potential upside for why people would want it is still theoretical. I haven't talked to anybody whose talked to anybody who's heard of anybody who wants this stuff."
The protest at Ritz's office was largely a symbolic gesture as the office was closed during the noon hour. Tait said he asked Ritz for his position a few days before on genetically-modified alfalfa, and had gotten a letter back "clearly and precisely answering questions I didn't ask," he said.
Ritz's response, according to Tait, was that GM alfalfa was "environmentally safe and safe for human health." But that didn't address the economic concerns, Tait said.
While the protest attracted people worried about the economic impact, others at the protest, including Marcella Pedersen of Cut Knife, felt the issue was a food-safety one as well.
Pedersen noted that she has suffered from eczema for years, but on a trip to Cuba where there was organic, sustainable farming, "my eczema cleared up," she said.
"That tells me that genetically modified food is not safe."
Pedersen expressed her opposition to the introduction of GM alfalfa and worried about the impact it would have on foods.
"With GM alfalfa we're going to pollute our milk, and our honey. And you eat sprouts -who wants to eat them if they are genetically modified?"
