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GMOs
Say thank you to Senator Begich!
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Senator Begich’s amendment to label genetically engineered fish has passed in the Senate. |
Congratulations – your efforts paid off!
On Friday, an amendment offered by Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) to require labeling of genetically engineered fish was passed by a voice vote in the Senate.
In his speech, Seantor Begich noted that over 60 countries currently require labeling of GE foods, including Russia, China and the European Union. Additionally, he pointed out that over 2,000 grocery stores across the U.S., including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, have committed to not sell genetically engineered seafood.
While the Senate’s budget plan is non-binding, the passage of the Begich amendment will further increase the pressure on the FDA to label genetically engineered foods.
We encourage you to send a thank you letter to Senator Begich for protecting our right to know by introducing this amendment, and working to drum up support in the Senate.
Tell Senator Begich: Thank you for supporting our right to know!
As always, thank you for taking action.
Sincerely,
Katey Parker
Partnership and Media Manager
Just Label It
If It’s GMO, We Want To Know!
http://bit.ly/U8ig74
Seeds of Freedom
Seeds of Freedom seeks to challenge the mantra that large-scale, industrial agriculture is the only means by which we can feed the world, promoted by the pro-GM lobby. In tracking the story of seed it becomes clear how corporate agenda has driven the take over of seed in order to make vast profit and control of the food global system.
Through interviews with leading international experts such as Dr Vandana Shiva and Henk Hobbelink, and through the voices of a number of African farmers, the film highlights how the loss of indigenous seed goes hand in hand with loss of biodiversity and related knowledge; the loss of cultural traditions and practices; the loss of livelihoods; and the loss of food sovereignty. The pressure is growing to replace the diverse, nutritional, locally adapted and resilient seed crops which have been bred by small-scale farmers for millenia, by monocultures of GM seed.
The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It’s been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost. It’s time to change the story. http://seedsoffreedom.info/
“If we don’t radically transform the direction of the global food system we will never feed the billion who are hungry, nor will we be able to feed ourselves in the future.”
http://stephenleahy.net/2012/10/11/double-food-production-in-10-years-and-reduce-global-warming/
Four Questions Voters Should Ask About Prop 37
We have a fundamental right to know what’s in the food we eat and feed our families. Tomorrow’s the day to vote it into law!
Clear facts about proposition 37
No Cost to Consumers
Companies change their labeling all the time, and independent research shows Prop 37 will not affect food prices. Read more »
Nurses Support Prop 37
Genetically Modified Organisms are linked to allergies, organ toxicity, and other health problems. The Food and Drug Administration has said “providing more information to consumers about bioengineered foods would be useful.” Read more »
No New Bureaucracy
Prop 37 is self-enforced and requires no new bureaucracy. The state official analyst has said any costs for enforcement would range from 1 to 3 cents per year for each Californian. Read more »
No Loopholes
Prop 37 requires labeling for genetically engineered foods for the groceries you buy. The initiative contains exemptions from labeling requirements for practical purposes, such as food served in restaurants. Read more »
Backed by Consumers
Prop 37 is supported by consumers, farmers, nurses and many more. It is opposed by Monsanto, Dow, and foreign chemical companies spending millions to confuse us. Read more »
Just label the damn food!
Our friends at Food and Water Watch have sponsored an entertaining and powerful new Yes on 37 video, featuring Danny DeVito, Bill Maher, Dave Matthews, Jillian Michaels, Kristen Bauer van Straten, Emily Deschanel, Kaitlin Olson, Glenn Howerton, John Cho, Michelle Michaela and KaDee Strickland poking fun at the ludicrous arguments against our right to know what’s in our food.
We’re excited to have them join millions of Californians in demanding the right to know what’s in our food, even if our “puny little heads would explode.”
Please enjoy, share and DONATE to help us get the truth out to California voters. Remember, as goes California, so goes the nation!
Paid for by Yes on 37 For Your Right to Know if Your Food Has Been Genetically Engineered – Supported by Consumer Advocates Makers of Organic Products and California Farmers, Major funding by Mercola Health Resources LLC and Organic Consumers Fund. 5940 College Ave, Suite F , Oakland, CA 94618, United States
G.M.O.’s: Let’s Label ’Em
We have a fundamental right to know
what’s in the food we eat
NEW YORK TIMES, Sept. 15, By MARK BITTMAN
IT’S not an exaggeration to say that almost everyone wants to see the labeling of genetically engineered materials contained in their food products. And on Nov. 6, in what’s unquestionably among the most important non-national votes this year, Californians will have the opportunity to make that happen — at least in theory — by weighing in on Proposition 37.
Prop 37’s language is clear on two points: it would require “labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways.” And it would prohibit marketing “such food, or other processed food, as ‘natural.’ ” (For now, let’s ignore the vast implications of the phrase “or other processed food,” lest we become overexcited, except to say that the literal interpretation of that sentence has the processed food manufacturers’ collective hair on fire.)
Polls show Prop 37 to be overwhelmingly popular: roughly 65 percent for to 20 percent against, with 15 percent undecided. Nationally, on the broader issue of labeling, in answer to the question of whether the Food and Drug Administration should require that “foods which have been genetically engineered or containing genetically engineered ingredients be labeled to indicate that,” a whopping 91 percent of voters say yes and 5 percent say no. This is as nonpartisan as an issue gets, and the polls haven’t changed much in the last couple of years.
Unsurprisingly, Big Food in general — and particularly companies like Monsanto that produce genetically engineered seeds and the ultraprofitable herbicides, pesticides and other materials that in theory make those seeds especially productive — have already thrown tens of millions of dollars into defeating Prop 37. On the other side is a relatively underfunded coalition led by California Right to Know, which collected the necessary million-plus (yes!) signatures to get the proposition on the ballot. Although television advertising has just begun and its advocates would never say so, at the moment the bill seems assured of passage. Excellent.
Occupy Genetically Engineered Foods!
An action alert from the Center For Food Safety
Sen. Boxer and Rep. De Fazio wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter which went public February 8th, urging U.S. legislators to support the labeling of GE foods. This is the first initiative of its kind in Congress and is a great opportunity to urge your Congressional representatives to sign on to the letter and support mandatory labeling!
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Please call or email your legislators over the next 2 weeks (close date is Wednesday February 29th) and ask them to support the labeling of GE salmon and foods. Please especially target the key individuals listed below if you are in their State or District..
| Charlie Bass (R-NH) 603-226-0064 | Scott Brown (R-MA) 617-565-3170 |
| Mary Bono Mack (R-45th CA) 760-320-1076 | Sen. Begich (D – AK) 907-271-5915 |
| Keith Ellison (D-5th MN) 612-522-1212 | Sen. Collins (R – ME) 207-780-3575 |
| Chris Gibson (R-20th NY) 518-306-5450 | Sen. Leahy ( I- VT) 802-863-2525 |
| Raul Grijalva (D-7th AZ) 520-622-6788 | Sen. Murkowski (R – AK) 907-456-0233 |
| Richard Hanna (R-24th NY) 315-724-9740 | Sen. Murray (D – WA) 206-553-5545 |
| Doc Hastings (R-4th WA) 509-452-3243 | Sen. Sanders (I – VT) 802-862-0697 |
| Walter Jones (R-NC) 800-351-1697 | Sen. Snowe (R – ME) 207-874-0883 |
| Ron Kind, (D-3rd WI) 715-831-9214 | |
| Tom Latham, (R-4th IA) 515-232-2885 | |
| Chellie Pingree, (D-1st ME) 207-774-5019 | |
| Reid Ribble, (R-8th WI) 920-380-0061 | |
| Kurt Schrader, (D-5th OR) 503-588-9100 | |
| Heath Shuler (D – 11th NC) 828-252-1651 | |
| Fred Upton, (R-6th MI) 269-385-0039 | |
| Peter Welch, (D-At Large VT) 888-605-7270 | |
| Don Young (R – AK) 907-271-5978 |
For more information, please visit the Center for Food Safety
Related articles
- California Ballot Initiative Filed to Require Labeling of GE Foods (truefoodnow.org)
- GM Salmon Under Attack By Concerned Experts (haroonhaider.com)
- The right to know what you are eating (sfgate.com)
- Occupy Austin Asks City to Require Labeling of GMOs (occupyaustin.org) <<<<<
Take Back Our Food; The Scourge of Industrial Farming
“Cutting the Curd” gets political with Heather Squire, the coordinator for Occupy Wall Street‘s (#OWS ) food preparation and delivery. From washing dishes to feeding over 3,000 people in a single weekend, Heather explains how she and the food team in Zucotti Park have devised a large-scale food distribution system: The Peoples Kitchen.
Delving into another facet of the food justice movement in tandem with Occupy Wall Street is dairy farmer and activist Lorraine Lewandrowsky and fromager Tia Keenan. The group discusses cheese economics and the plight for more transparency (sic) which comes from more small dairies and less industrial farming and processing. Learn how you can help this movement, from volunteering to sending food supplies or attending the Occupy Big Food movement.
Related Articles:
- From Slow Food USA
- From Civil Eats
- From the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
- From Mother Jones