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Showing posts with label gmo food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gmo food. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Why California Will Rescue Us All From GMOs

California Is Our Ticket Out of The GMO Mess
The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act needs 830,ooo signatures of registered voters by April 22nd to get on their the ballot in November. If they can pass this it will get rid of GMOs for all of us. California's economy is huge. (The 8th largest in the world.) If food companies have to change their labeling to include data that the packages they are selling contains GMOs it will end their ability to sell those brands in California. They know Californians will no longer buy them. This is why theses companies fight these bills and initiatives so hard.  It will be the beginning of the end of GMOs in the United States.

The Federal Government Can Not Be Depended On
 California is our best hope. The federal government has been bought and sold to Monsanto, Dow and the other big Ag companies.

Last week the USDA announced plans to speed up the approval process for more genetically modified crops - cutting in half the time it will take for Monsanto, Dow, and others to get their genetically modified crops to market. -This was despite the growing public outcry against GMOs -

Last year the public sent more than 250,000 comments asking the government to stop the commercialization of genetically modified alfalfa. The agency approved it anyway.

More recently, 850,000 US citizens had written to the FDA demanding the right to know if GMOs are in their food. Don't hold your breath for the FDA to listen to the overwhelming majority of Americans who want to know whether the food they are eating contains GMOs. They receive too much money from the big Ag companies to listen to us.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, in 2010 alone, Monsanto spent $8 million lobbying and more than $400,000 in political contributions. It also spent $120 million in advertising in the mass media, including National Public Radio, to convince consumers that GMO-tainted foods are safe – despite the overwhelming scientific evidence otherwise.

Now Monsanto and Big Food Inc. are cranking up their PR campaign again in California. Same old arguments, same old lies – this time, backed by even bigger bank accounts.

We will never be able to outspend monopolistic corporations with billions in profits at stake. (However, we can out-educate them. Send this blog post to everyone you know. Tell them to send it to everyone they know also.  Let's get this going viral!  I have attached additional GMO educational blog data below for them to learn more.)

The Good News
The good news is that we have Organic Consumers Association on our side. We will be able to raise enough money to collect 830,000 signatures, to get this Initiative on the ballot, and to run a strong counter-campaign. They (we) can win in California. Here's why OCA says they can get this passed.

● This time, we have far more scientific information and greater public awareness on our side. GE (genetically engineered) contamination is now a mainstream media issue. Monsanto has become the most hated corporation in the world.

● This time, we have overwhelming public support. Polls show that more than 8 out of 10 voters in California want mandatory GMO labeling.

● This time, we have built the strongest coalition of alternative food and health consumers in history, for the exclusive purpose of passing this law.

OCA has been campaigning on this issue for years. They are closer than ever to a win. But OCA needs all the help they can get to pull this off for all of us.  OCA needs to raise $150,000 more, as soon as possible. This money will be used to pay the signature gatherers, media consultants, attorneys and others whose expertise is necessary in order to win. 

Please go to this LINK to help win the fight against GMOs by making any size donation you can! 

Get your friends and family in California to help with the petition.

Educational Data on GMOs - Please take a look at the educational material below and make sure all your friends, family, co-workers, etc see these. Send these to everyone on your email list. Genetically engineered food is one of the most pressing problems of our generation.




Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Gentically Modified Food Bills in Congress

Dennis Kucinich has introduced three bills regarding genetically engineered food . They all have sponsors and  they are listed below. I have listed the sponsors as links as well as the committees currently discussing the bills so you can contact these folks to let them know how you feel about each bill. At the bottom of the page I have listed a link that allow you to easily see who your representative is and contact them about these bills. Let your representative know you want them to be a co-sponsor of this bill. Every persons input counts.

1) H.R. 3553: Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to require that food that contains a genetically engineered material, or that is produced with a genetically engineered material, be labeled accordingly.
sponsored by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

sponsored by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

Cosponsors:


This act has currently been referred to the following committees:

House Agriculture
House Energy and Commerce
House Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health


2) H.R.3554 - Genetically Engineered Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crop Safety Act 
 
To prohibit the open-air cultivation of genetically engineered pharmaceutical and industrial crops, to prohibit the use of common human food or animal feed as the host plant for a genetically engineered pharmaceutical or industrial chemical, to establish a tracking system to regulate the growing, handling, transportation, and disposal of pharmaceutical and industrial crops and their byproducts to prevent human, animal, and general environmental exposure to genetically engineered pharmaceutical and industrial crops and their byproducts, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of genetically engineered foods, and for other purposes.

sponsored by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

Cosponsors:

This act has currently been referred to the following committees:
House Agriculture
House Energy and Commerce 

3) H.R. 3555: Genetically Engineered Technology Farmer Protection Act 

To provide additional protections for farmers and ranchers that may be harmed economically by genetically engineered seeds, plants, or animals, to ensure fairness for farmers and ranchers in their dealings with biotech companies that sell genetically engineered seeds, plants, or animals, to assign liability for injury caused by genetically engineered organisms, and for other purposes.

sponsored by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

Cosponsors:
Hansen Clarke [D-MI13]
Peter DeFazio [D-OR4]
Raul Grijalva [D-AZ7]
Fortney Stark [D-CA13]

The bill has been referred to the following committees:
House Agriculture
House Energy and Commerce
House Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health
House Judiciary
House Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law

Please contact your representatives and ask them to co-sponsor these bills. I am including a link here that will allow you to easily look up your federal representatives names (gives you both state and federal- this is a federal issue) and contact address/email/phone numbers. http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
 

 





Saturday, January 28, 2012

2,4-D Resistant GMO Corn

Since  Glyphosate (Round Up) is no longer working so well as a weed killer, Dow decided to add a more aggressive, more  toxic chemical to the food chain and to our environment.  That chemical is 2,4-D.  2,4-d is a constituent of "Agent Orange" owned by Dow Chemicals.  Agent Orange (half 2,4-D by composition) was extensively used in Vietnam by the military to destroy forests and crops. Dow has come up with the frightening idea to make a gentically modified version of corn that is resistant to their 2,4-D.  (They want to rake in the bucks like Monsanto has been doing.) Dow is seeking USDA approval for genetically engineered corn that will withstand 2,4-D.

Glyphosate (Round Up) has been used in the same way on genetically modified food for almost 15 years now. Creating crops that could withstand heavy use of Glyphosate, led to so much use of the chemical on  farm lands that glyphosate resistant weeds have adapted to it and are now super weeds that are not effected by the chemical any more. Glyphosate has been used so much that samples of ground water, river water, rain and air in the areas that heavily use this chemical were found to contain glyphosate in them all. Now Dow wants to add 2,4-D to the water, soil and air also.

The public has 30 more days to comment on Dow’s petition for USDA approval, and can do so online at:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001

For past posts on GMO's check these links out:

 Recent Update on What is Happening With GMO's
http://dreamingabeautifulworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/gmo-update-for-11912.html

Washington State Bill to Label GM Food
Washington State Senator Maralyn Chase has sponsored a new bill that would require both raw GMOs and processed foods containing GMOs to be properly labeled beginning July 2014. Any food product containing GMOs will have to bear a list outlining which ingredients are natural and which ingredients are GMO. Learn more:  

California using Initiative Process to pass GM labeling Law

California is poised to be the first state with mandatory GMO labeling laws through the 2012 California Ballot Initiative process. Learn more:  http://organicconsumersfund.org/label/


14 states introduced GMO bills in 2011. Learn more here:  

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/14-states-have-gmo-label-bills-call-your-state-reps/