In May 2014, fearing that GMO pollen blowing into their fields, leaving them unable to sell their products as GMO-free, farmers in Oregon’s Rogue River Valley joined the dialogue around healthy seed systems in a much deeper way. Voters in Josephine and Jackson counties considered ballot initiatives banning GMO crops.

On May 21st, despite being outspent 3 to 1 by multinational seed companies, the citizens of Jackson County, Oregon successfully campaigned to ban GMO crops.

This piece originally aired on Making Contact in June 2014.