I'm a firm believer that a small dose of friendly peer pressure goes a long way date: Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 5:06 PM from: Justinefreebird Espiritu <[email protected]> 95% of my email was the template Asia shared. I'll add Walter Ritte's in here as well and maybe some of his originality and eloquence will come through to me for the next one. Why Roz Baker? Grocery chain Whole Foods Market said Friday that it would require all foods sold in its stores that contain genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as such within five years. The company is the first retailer in the country to require the labeling, and its executives received a standing ovation when they made the announcement during the Natural Products Expo West, a trade conference, in Anaheim. A.C. Gallo, president of Whole Foods, said the move came in response to consumer demand. Labels now used on Whole Foods products disclose when a product has been verified as free of genetically engineered ingredients by the Non-GMO Project, a nonprofit certification organization. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Whole-Foods-to-require-GMO-labels-4340799.php#ixzz2N4K0O0zj Organic Consumers Association Responds to Whole Foods Plan to Label GMOs by 2018 Food Retailer's Plan to Label GMOs a Victory for Grassroots Food Activists and Consumers, but Five-Year Timetable not Comprehensive or Aggressive Enough March 11, 2013 CONTACT: Organic Consumers Association, Katherine Paul, 207.653.3090 FINLAND, Minn. - The million-strong Organic Consumers Association (OCA), North America's leading watchdog over organic and fair trade standards, said today that it is encouraged by Whole Foods Markets' plan, announced last week, to support consumers' right to know by requiring labeling of all foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its U.S. and Canadian stores by 2018. However, the OCA called on Whole Foods, the nation's largest national organic foods retailer, to move up its labeling deadline to July 2015, and to take the lead in the organic industry to end deceptive labeling practices by requiring all the stores' products that include the word "natural" in their labeling or packaging to be GMO-free. "We are pleased that Whole Foods has finally recognized consumers' right to know about GMOs," said Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the OCA. "This is a major victory for U.S. consumers who have for far too long been denied basic information which would enable them to make safe, healthy food choices. This also represents a major defeat for Monsanto and the rest of the biotech industry who have been deceiving consumers since they first conspired more than 20 years ago with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to falsely convince consumers that genetically modified foods are no different than foods that don't contain organisms created by manipulating DNA in laboratories or by injecting seeds with bacteria and pesticides." But the Whole Foods plan does not go far enough, Cummins said. "We ask that Whole Foods step up its timetable for GMO labeling, to coincide with the July 2015 deadline prescribed by I-522, the citizens' initiative for GMO labeling in Washington State. We also call on Whole Foods to stop selling products that contain GMOs under the misleading "natural" label, and to require any product in its store called "natural" be GMO-free." Washington's I-522 is expected to pass in November 2013, becoming the first statewide mandatory GMO labeling law. The law establishes July 2015 as the deadline for compliance. Whole Foods Markets already complies with the U.K.'s mandatory GMO labeling law in its seven stores in that country. Whole Foods came under fire last year when the company dragged its feet in supporting Proposition 37, California's Right to Know GMO Labeling citizens' initiative. In October, CEO John Mackey confirmed in a blog post that Whole Foods stores knowingly sell Monsanto's genetically modified corn, without labeling it. Last week, the OCA launched a new nationwide campaign: Organic Retail and Consumer Alliance (ORCA). The new alliance will aggressively promote organic food and products, and expose and eliminate the rampant "natural" labeling and marketing fraud that has slowed the growth of America's $30-billion dollar organic sector. "Routine mislabeling and marketing fraud has confused millions of U.S. consumers, and enabled the so-called "natural" foods and products sector to grow into a $60-billion- a-year powerhouse, garnering twice as many sales in 2012 as certified organic products," said Cummins. "It's time we stopped allowing food companies to market unhealthy food products, containing GMOs, pesticides, and synthetic and chemical compounds, as "natural," and we call on Whole Foods Market to take the first step." The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The Organic Consumers Fund is a 501(c)4 allied organization of the Organic Consumers Association, focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action. HB174 is the last of about 8 labeling bills that is still alive. It is now going to the Senate, but Nishihara may not even give it a hearing to allow the community to discuss it and express their support or reservations. He questions the constitutionality of disallowing those that do not label their produce from selling in Hawaii This essentially sides with opponents of the bill. Bad democracy! Anti-GMO advocates win battle, likely will lose war A House committee clears a bill to require GMO food labels, but the Senate isn't very receptive By Sarah Zoellick / [email protected] Juanita Brown Kawamoto has been advocating for state regulation of genetically modified food for years, and she said supporters got their first big break last week when the House Finance Committee passed a bill that would require imported genetically modified produce to carry labels. "We've been waiting for years for the House to actually allow this to move forward," said Brown Kawamoto, vice chairwoman of the Food and Farm Sustainability Committee of the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. "This is something that's been long-awaited, and we got something really key to happen. To me it's momentous." A battle has waged at the state Capitol for years between corporations, some farmers and businesses that stand behind the Food and Drug Administration's determination that genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, do not need cautionary labeling, and environmental groups, organic farmers and community members who strongly believe biologically engineered food is harmful for people and the environment. "I think that the public is really demanding that we do more, and so I think it's our obligation to figure out what it is we can do," said Rep. Jessica Wooley (D, Kaneohe-Kahaluu-Haiku), chairwoman of the House Agriculture Committee. House Bill 174 as drafted prohibits imported produce containing or produced with genetically engineered material from being sold in the state without a "genetically engineered" label and requires importers of genetically modified produce to label shipping containers as well as each piece of produce. Eleven of the 17 House Finance Committee members expressed reservations regarding the bill, but no members voted no. "We have tried to work out some kind of new language, but at this point in time certain portions are beyond us trying to fix it," Rep. Sylvia Luke (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuuanu), chairwoman of the Finance Committee, said at a hearing last week. "There are concerns in the bill, but I think it is worthwhile for both the proponents and the opponents to continue the discussion." If approved by the full House this week, the bill would move to the Senate, where it will likely stall. Senate lawmakers killed seven GMO-related bills this session by not scheduling them for hearings, while the House also killed seven — except HB 174. Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D, Waipahu-Crestview-Pearl City), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he is not planning on hearing the labeling bill because he believes it would violate federal interstate commerce laws. "By saying any kind of product coming from outside of the state — requiring them to label it when there is no federal law that requires it — I think it would come in conflict with the commerce law because we're saying, ‘OK, you don't label it; you can't sell it here,'" Nishihara said. Rep. James Tokioka (D, Wailua-Hanamaulu-Lihue) said during the hearing that he questions the bill's constitutionality and feasibility of implementation, but "to not deal with it would be irresponsible on our part." He added, "What we've also been doing is meeting with the major grocery stores in the state, and we're looking at them to be the leaders in this." He noted that Whole Foods inspects and labels GMO and non-GMO products on its own. "At what point does government get involved?" he said. "I'm not sure yet, but I think if the market and the industry moves in that direction, then it's good for all of us." GMO opponents insist that genetically engineered food is harmful to consumers. Many supporters of the bill have questioned the motive of big-name companies, such as Monsanto, that oppose labeling their GMO products. Three students from University of Hawaii at Manoa's William S. Richardson School of Law supported the bill during the hearing. "I'm not a scientist," said Christiaan Mitchell, a second-year law student, after the hearing. "Neither am I in a position to evaluate the evidence. But that's not what this is about. This is about whether or not we, as citizens of the state of Hawaii, have a right to know whether or not our food is genetically modified. It bothers me that they want to keep this information from us. … If it's safe, show us that it's safe." On its website the FDA says "the agency is still not aware of any data or other information that would form a basis for concluding that the fact that a food or its ingredients was produced using bioengineering is a material fact that must be disclosed," and the American Medical Association announced during its annual meeting in June that it does not believe there is enough scientific evidence to warrant labeling genetically engineered food. Alicia Maluafiti, executive director of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, has strongly opposed the labeling bill because she said labeling GMOs should be handled at the federal level. "Our opposition on principle is that the states don't have the expertise or knowledge or resources to mandate the labeling of genetically engineered food," Maluafiti said. "From the FDA to the American Medical Association to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, you name it, all of these entities have said the food is safe, so the question remains, Why do you have to put a label on it if the food has already been deemed safe?" Rep. Mele Carroll (D, Lanai-Molokai), who sponsored the bill, said consumers have a right to know what they're eating. "We should always be concerned because this is our home, and we want to know what we're eating and what we're getting because, especially in Hawaii, we import most of our food," she said. Carroll emphasized that the bill simply arms consumers with more information. Maluafiti said the industry isn't trying to hide anything. "We're facing an incredible fiscal crisis right now, not just at the state and county level, but at the federal level, and really we don't need to be burdened with programs that don't make economic sense," she said. Despite the failure of California's Proposition 37 GMO-labeling ballot initiative in November, the labeling movement has momentum across the country. According to the Center for Food Safety (gefoodlabels.org), lawmakers in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington have also introduced bills this year related to genetically engineered food. The group states on its website that its main focus is encouraging the FDA to label genetically engineered food. Alicia Maluafiti lists organizations that aren't swayed by the research and evidence presented against GMOs, but what are their motivations and history that are completely unknown to us that determine their position on the issue? Isn't democracy about letting the people decide? And despite prop 37's failure and the uphill battle here in Hawaii for labeling and eviction of the seed industry, the efforts of people are not swayed.
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...Democracy!"Democracy" is a concept I took for granted for a long time. It's what our political system is, it always has been, always will be, it's the best way, the only right way... it was one of those societal/world views I took as a given. When I learned more about the diverse options of political systems and U.S. committment to spreading/forcing democracy everywhere my first instinct was to take the counter position to that, to be Very Cool-ly anti-American. I still have a place in my heart that holds the dream and faith of a radical totalitarian dictator with all the right principles, motives, and strategies but until that imaginary person comes to fruition, I'm trying to really comprehend and appreciate democratic principles like free speech and expression and political participation. Now more than ever i'm paying attention to people rioting in the streets of their countries and putting their whole life on hold it seems to demand democracy. I started to think, "what do they know that I don't??" because I've been passivly living in societal conditions people are literally dying to secure for themselves. So I am trying to recognize activies I do that reflect democracy where I didn't realize before, and I'm trying to find avenues of participation I can take advantage of AND GET AMPED ON DEMOCRACY Archives
March 2013
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