Just because I haven’t posted on the USDA Decision to Fully Deregulate GMO alfalfa, doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion. Of course, at this point, all the good opinions have already been taken.

Here are a few that run the spectrum:

• Jill Richardson at La Vida Locavore
• Sima at Sky Dancing
• Tom Philpott at Grist
• Ronnie Cummins at Organic Consumers Association
• Gary Hirshberg(Stonyfield) at Huffington Post

On the outside chance that this is the first you’re hearing about it, here’s the deal:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced its decision to grant non-regulated status for alfalfa that has been genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide commercially known as Roundup.

“After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa through a multi-alternative environmental impact statement (EIS) and several public comment opportunities, APHIS has determined that Roundup Ready alfalfa is as safe as traditionally bred alfalfa,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “All of the alfalfa production stakeholders involved in this issue have stressed their willingness to work together to find solutions. We greatly appreciate and value the work they’ve done so far and will continue to provide support to the wide variety of sectors that make American agriculture successful.”

We’re crossing a threshold with alfalfa. All the previous GM crops are wind pollinated. Alfalfa pollen is far more mobile. The Atlantic sums it up most succinctly:

If you eat meat or dairy, you indirectly consume alfalfa. It is a leading source of hay for cattle. In terms of acreage, alfalfa is the United States’ fourth biggest crop behind corn, soybeans, and wheat. It is also notoriously promiscuous, and its pollen can be carried by bees and other insects for five miles, making it all but certain that the GMO crop, designed to survive applications of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, will contaminate much of the country’s conventional alfalfa. Because GMO products are not allowed in USDA-certified foods, it could become all but impossible to produce organic milk and meat in many areas unless organic farmers switch to less desirable sources of forage.

And it’s not like there’s a reason to do this. From OrganicAuthority.com:

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and featured expert in the Oscar nominated film Food Inc said, “It’s hard to understand why the Obama administration would put the organic industry at risk for the sake of an unnecessary and soon-to-be obsolete product like Round-up Ready alfalfa. This is a bad solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, since 93 percent of alfalfa hay is grown without any herbicide at all.”

As Joel Salatin said, “We’ve become remarkably adept at hitting the bullsey of the wrong target.”

The effects are devastating and far reaching. This is the proverbial toothpaste out of the tube. Think about it. How can you ever be assured of organic milk again?

So why? Who would do a boneheaded, unsustainable, likely irreversible thing like this and why?

According to Grist, the White House pressured Vilsack to approve GMO alfalfa.

The Obama administration Thursday abandoned a proposal to restrict planting of genetically engineered alfalfa, the latest rule-making proposal shelved as part of the administration’s review of “burdensome” regulation.

According to Civil Eats, In Stunning Reversal, USDA Chief Vilsack Greenlights Monsanto’s Alfalfa.

Obama is trying to establish himself as an eminently reasonable, pro-business sort of president — you know, not the sort of fellow who would let things like the Wall Street banking meltdown, the Upper Big Branch coal-mine disaster, the BP oil spill, or any other notorious lapse in government oversight stand in the way of the business of doing business.

Psst…alfalfa is not salmon.

For more information on this issue, check out the Non-GMO Project.