Rather than start laying down the law about the habits of baboons on the subject of farm bill strategy, I thought I'd just toy with a part of the bill and see where it gets me.

Yesterday, Sally Jo Sorensen scribed a piece on one section of the bill, §123, which preempts state or local law restricting the commercial use of anything that USDA has said is fine and dandy. Like GMOs.

Her particular MN angle is that, last month, the gov signed into law a bill banning (or otherwise restricting the use of) genetically modified wild rice. Apparently, MN Indian tribes lobbied for the provision: some of them have gaming interests, which may make backing their demands with moolah that little bit easier.

MN is not alone in legislating to restrict GMOs: according to the FDL piece she links, there is such legislation (state or local) in force in (parts of) 16 states.

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Sally Jo Sorensen is a writer and researcher who lives in rural Minnesota. She blogs as Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie.

On May 23, the Detroit Lakes Journal Online published "Minnesota's wild rice now has protection," a guest column by White Earth Land Recovery Project founding director and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) activist Winona LaDuke.

LaDuke's column explained the complicated political process through which Anishinaabe people had worked to protect wild rice from genetic modification. They had met with some success:

On May 8, 2007, Governor Pawlenty approved the Omnibus Environment and Natural Finance Bill (H 2410/S 2096): Included in this bill was protection for wild rice. Andrea Hanks, the Wild Rice Campaign coordinator for the White Earth Land Recovery Project expressed great relief that the bill had passed, thanking all of those who supported it, "Protection for Wild Rice has been a long time coming for Anishinaabeg communities, many people on all levels contributed to moving this legislation, the tribes of Minnesota, tribal leaders, allied organizations, citizens and legislators, I'm thankful for the help and support that was given."

Spurred initially by the work at the University of Minnesota to map the DNA sequence of wild rice, the Anishinaabeg became concerned about possible genetic modification of wild rice in 2002. Anishinaabeg concerns were heightened when scientists revealed that ancient varieties of corn, deep in Mexico, had been contaminated by genetically engineered seed varieties hundreds of miles away.

The possibility to expand on that success may be threatened by language in the new Farm Bill, and this language could spell trouble for Minnesota Democrats in 2008. Minnesota is home to Ag chair Collin Peterson, whose district includes White Earth.

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