In March 2006, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) held a workshop that examined how growers of conventional, genetically engineered (GE), and organic crops can “peacefully coexist” in our ever-evolving marketplace.

The workshop, which took place in Boulder, Colorado was the second of three sponsored by the Pew Initiative and NASDA. Participants included representatives from state and federal governments; GE, conventional, and organic farmers; the European Union, seed companies, food processing and marketing companies, academia and the biotech industry. All gathered to identify potential options for advancing peaceful coexistence in the marketplace and to understand the existing and future roles of the public and private sectors in achieving this goal.

Highlights include:

• “Peaceful coexistence” can be described as the ability of conventional, GE and organic growers to effectively meet the specifications of their targeted and consumer markets and ensure a strong, vibrant, diverse agricultural economy.

• Growers of conventional and organic crops have at times been denied market access when unable to meet the contract or other market specifications.

• The lack of standardized, internationally accepted marketing standards, testing methodologies, and protocols pose a significant challenge to the smooth and efficient operation of both domestic and international agricultural marketing chains.

• State agricultural agencies are sometimes pressed to “pick sides” among GE, conventional, and organic production methods, but they believe all three production systems are critical to the economic viability and sustainability of U.S. agriculture.

• Overcoming the challenges and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by fostering “peaceful coexistence” will require a combination of market, research, farmer-to-farmer communication and Federal, state and local government efforts.

An overview of the conference agenda and the full paper from the workshop, entitled Peaceful Coexistence Among Growers Of: Genetically Engineered, Conventional and Organic Crops, can be viewed at: http://pewagbiotech.org/events/0301.

Additionally, proceedings from the first workshop on sharing confidential business information between state and federal agencies involved in agriculture biotechnology oversight, can be found at: http://pewagbiotech.org/events/1214.

Proceedings from the third workshop on issues relating to the federal regulatory system governing agricultural biotechnology, and the appropriate role for state agriculture agencies in that system, will be available in the near future.