13 LIES ABOUT GMO LABELING
Ronnie Cummins Organic Consumers Association
13 Lies GMO Labeling Opponents are Recycling in Washington State
It’s déjà vu all over again.
Last year a coalition of out-of-state, multinational biotech, pesticide and junk food corporations spent nearly $46 million to narrowly defeat Proposition 37, a GMO labeling initiative in California. Now, the same who’s who of the world’s most notorious global corporate bad actors has descended on Washington State. Why? To try to stop Washington State voters from passing I-522, a citizens’ initiative that, if passed, will require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in all food products sold in Washington State. Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies, designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests.
Here are the lies. And the facts. Please read, print, tweet, share on facebook, email, roll up and stuff into a bottle you launch into the sea . . . whatever it takes to spread the word that while $46 million may buy a lot of lies, it doesn’t change the facts.
ACTION ALERT
Health Guru? Or Undercover GMO Labeling Opponent?
It’s a medical mystery.
Healthy lifestyle guru Dr. Andrew Weil says genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cause “ranges of health problems” in animals. He favors GMO labeling laws, he says, because consumers should have the right to know if products contain GMOs.
Yet the good doctor’s company, Weil Lifestyle LLC, is a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) – the top donor so far to the campaign to defeat a GMO labeling initiative in Washington State, and a major contributor ($2 million) to the campaign that last year defeated Proposition 37, a similar GMO labeling initiative in California.
Not only that, but Weil Lifestyle knowingly sells supplements that contain GMOs. Unlabeled. If you think Dr. Weil should start practicing what he preaches, and if you’d like to see him make a “healthy” contribution to the GMO labeling campaign in Washington State, take action today!
SUPPORT THE OCA & OCF
Do It for the Apple
There’s nothing more natural than an apple, right? The symbol of good health and all that’s right with the world.
But did you know that the FDA is reviewing a genetically modified version of the perfect fruit? It’s true. A Canadian company called Okanagan Specialty Fruits wants to “improve” the apple with a genetic engineering process that would prevent an apple from turning brown after you slice it or bite into it. Why? Mostly so kids will eat more (genetically engineered) apples.
Our best bet for keeping the GMO apple from reaching school cafeterias and fast-food restaurants? Pass a GMO labeling law in Washington State, where 60 percent of this country’s apples are grown.
Because chances are, if the state where the most apples are grown mandates that GMO apples must be labeled, the U.S. Apple Association, which opposes the GMO apple, will have more clout when it comes to convincing the FDA that consumers don’t want biotech engineers messing with their favorite fruit.
Just one of the many reasons we all have a stake in I-522, Washington State’s initiative to require mandatory labeling of GMOs. Please help us win this critical battle in November. For the movement. For your health. For the apple. Thank you!
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ORGANIC RETAIL AND CONSUMER ALLIANCE
Top Grocer Spotlight: MOM's Organic Market
The mission statement on the MOM’s Organic Market says it all: “Our purpose: to protect and restore the environment.” And what better way to protect the environment, than to support organic agriculture?
“We are Environmentalists. We believe that the destruction of our environment and climate change are the biggest problems facing humankind today. We believe that through leading by example we can have the biggest impact to protect and restore the environment. By instituting best practices to reduce our impact on the environment, and by educating staff and customers, we are influencing customers, employees, and many other businesses.”
MOM’s, which operates 10 stores in Maryland and Virginia, was one of the most passionately endorsed nominees for our Top 10 Right to Know Grocer’s Contest. And no wonder. The company not only chooses organic products whenever possible, but its stores are 100-percent wind-powered, and they’ve eliminated plastic bags at check-out counters bringing the company’s recycling rate to 85 percent of total waste.
More about MOM's Organic Market
More about the Right to Know Grocers Contest
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Five GMO Myths. Busted.
Myths. Distortions. Lies. No matter what you call them, they’re just not true. Got some friends and family who are still on the fence about GMOs? Share this video.
ORGANIC TRANSITIONS
Sowing the Seeds: Hands-On Organic Farming Education
What’s the best way to teach kids about how their food choices affect the planet? Let them get their hands dirty, working on the farm that grows the food they eat every day in their school cafeteria.
It’s called a hands-on, experiential food and farming curriculum. And it works, according to the folks at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center (ELC), near OCA’s home office in Finland, Minn.
The farm-and-learning center took root four years ago as a joint study project coordinated by local farmer David Abazs and a group of Wolf Ridge student naturalists. Abazs, now the Wolf Ridge farm manager (and an OCA board member), hatched a plan for a seven-acre school/farm, where kids from nearby schools could come and work, as part of their school curriculum.
The group was able to take the project from vision to reality last year, thanks to grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the OCA. That and the muscle provided by volunteers and interns who cleared brush, poured concrete and planted the first seedlings.
Abazs says the farm’s long-term goal – besides connecting students with the biological systems that produce their food - is to provide all of the vegetables for the 300,000 meals consumed each year at the ELC. For now, they’re all just looking forward to their first September harvest.
ORGANIC INDEX 8.22.13
GMO Crops: Fueling the Health of Corporations
Numbers don’t lie. Over the past 20 years, America’s seeds, animal feed and biofuels have been infected like a virus by genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Today, Americans consume 193 pounds of GMOs annually.
Who’s getting healthy on GMOs? Not the American people, whose health has declined since GMOs were introduced into our food system. Not American farmers, whose numbers have dropped precipitously since agribusiness has taken over our farmland. And not the billions of animals being pumped full of antibiotics to stave off illnesses associated with confinement and GMO feed.
No, the only ones getting healthy are the four largest pesticide, agrochemical and biotech companies - Monsanto, Dupont, Dow Chemical, and Syngenta – whose sales have jumped from $60.1 billion in 2004 to $119.3 billion in 2012.
More facts on the growth of GMO crops
LITTLE BYTES
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ronniecummins@organicconsumers.org