GMO Labeling: Help Make It Legal in the United States
I’ve been doing a lot of reading over the years about genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and its use in most foods that are produced in America (86% of the corn, 93% of the soybeans, 93% of the cotton, and 93% of the canola grown in the United States is done with GE seed). And yet, no law exists to label GE (geneticaly-engineered) foods despite the research that has and is showing that GE foods are the cause of many auto-immune problems, infertility issues, and other diseases which are plaguing America in record numbers.
A ballot initiative is happening in California right now to try and make GMO labeling of foods a legal right. California needs to collect over 800,000 signatures by the April deadline in order to get the initiative on the November ballot. For those of my friends in California, I really, really, suggest you take a moment to stop and sign a petition or even get involved in this campaign. (And I’d love to hear if you’re already aware of this and have done something about it). For those of you elsewhere, think about donating a small amount to this campaign. California can lead the way for the United States in fighting Monsanto and the other bio-tech conglomerates and change the way food is labeled and thought about by the average American. You need to know what is in your food and what it’s doing to your bodies.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and a consortium of other non-profit organizations are working together on this initiative. The OCA has an awesome website and a weekly e-letter: why don’t you subscribe?
Here’s a piece from the latest OCA e-letter:
GMO Labeling.
Dear Friend,
Big Biotech is using you as a lab rat.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, doctors at the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, and many others continue to warn us: Genetically engineered (GE) foods are making us sick. Auto-immune disorders. Liver and kidney damage. Nutritional deficiencies. Allergies and autism. Accelerated aging. Infertility. Birth defects.
Between 75% – 80% of all processed foods on our grocery store shelves now contain GMOs. They’re in almost all non-organic foods containing soy or canola oil, corn, sweeteners, artificial and natural flavorings, and in common ingredients like aspartame.
Yet believe it or not, there’s no law requiring food manufacturers or food retailers to tell you if the food you buy contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
We can – and we must – change this. You can help.
Please help the Organic Consumers Fund raise $150,000 in the next two weeks so we can pass California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act in November, and require mandatory GMO labeling. You can make your secure online donation, or donate by mail or by phone.
We will use your money to pay signature gatherers to collect 830,000 signatures by the April 22 deadline in order to get this initiative on the ballot, and to run an effective PR campaign against Monsanto, Dow, Cargill and the rest of the Biotech Bullies.
GMOs have NOT been proven safe
The FDA has allowed biotech companies to introduce GMOs into our food supply – and into the food supply of the animals we eat – without requiring scientific proof that these organisms are safe.
And increasingly, the facts point to anything but.
After reviewing more than 600 scientific journals, world renowned biologist Pushpa M. Bhargava concluded that GMOs are a major contributor to the sharply deteriorating health of Americans.
Last year, the scientific journal Reproductive Toxicology published results of a study showing that pesticides associated with GE foods – Bt toxin, glyphosate and gluphosinate – were found in pregnant women and their fetuses. According to the study, the women’s diets included GMO corn.
Other studies of people who have eaten GE soybeans have found that the pesticide gene used to modify the soy had actually transferred into the DNA of bacteria in the humans’ intestines, where it continued to thrive.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Who’s most at risk? Biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute has warned that children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems related to GM foods. He says without adequate studies, the children become “the experimental animals.”
In other words, lab rats.
California is ground zero in GMO labeling
You and every other person in this country – regardless of your zipcode or political affiliation – have a stake in this fight in California.
Why? Because once food manufacturers and food retailers in California – the 8th largest economy in the world – are forced to admit that the foods they sell contain GMO-tainted ingredients, it’s only a matter of time before people stop buying GE food – and food manufacturers stop making it.
We’ve already seen this happen in the European Union – the largest agricultural market in the world – where there are almost no genetically engineered crops under cultivation. Not because the GE crops are outlawed. But because GE-foods must be labeled.
More than 50 countries, including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea – even China, have either passed mandatory labeling laws or outlawed GMOs altogether. Why hasn’t the US? Because Washington’s indentured politicians are more concerned about protecting the profits of Big Food and Big Biotech, than they are about keeping your food safe.
That’s why we have to win in California. A win in California will effectively guarantee that the rest of us, no matter where we live, will finally have the right to know what’s in our food.
I believe we can win in California. Polls there show overwhelming public support for GMO labeling. And after years of lessons learned, and strategies honed, we have built the strongest, most powerful, most impassioned GMO-labeling coalition in history to get this done.
But we need your help, and we need it now.
The Biotech Bullies are going to spend millions to defeat this initiative in California. We can’t outspend them. But we have enough science, enough people – and more than enough passion – that if we pool our resources in California, we’ll have the best chance we’ve ever had to take back control of our food. And our health.
The Organic Consumers Association, Organic Consumers Fund, along with other coalition partners, have already raised over one million dollars to get this initiative on the ballot. We need to raise $150,000 more, as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund