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Two Los Angeles city councilmen are attempting to make history in Southern California by banning the growth, sale and distribution of genetically modified (GM) seeds and plants anywhere in the city of Los Angeles. Congressman Mitch O’Farrell’s 13th District website explains that both O’Farrell and his colleague, Paul Koretz, are leading the charge with the new motion, which thousands of local supporters are already pushing to have passed with a new petition.

The motion would make all 502 square miles of Los Angeles an official “GMO-Free Zone,” protecting homes, schools, community gardens and public spaces from being contaminated with GMOs. If passed, Los Angeles would become the largest GMO-free zone in the country, a move that both O’Farrell and Koretz say would serve the best interests of Angelinos by preserving the integrity of their local food supply.

Introduced on October 18, the motion takes particular aim at the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, a phenomenon in which large numbers of bees get lost and never return to the hive, or simply drop dead. Some of the latest research on CCD points to plant pesticides, and especially those applied to GM crops, as a major culprit in CCD, which continues to threaten the perpetuity of agriculture all around the world.