For related articles and more
information, please visit OCA's
Genetic Engineering page,
Millions Against Monsanto page, and our
Connecticut News page.
Diana Reeves was furious when her state legislators caved into
threats by Monsanto to sue the state of Connecticut if it passed
a GMO labeling law. Lawmakers effectively told Connecticut's
voters, who had clearly expressed overwhelming support for GMO
labeling, "oh well."
Unlike her gutless state legislators who rolled over, Reeves is
determined to keep the fight for transparency in GMO ingredients
alive - and she's taking her fight national. She's started a
group called GMO Free USA which plans to pressure food
manufacturers into revealing which of their products contain
GMOs. The ultimate goal is to organize national boycotts of
those companies that refuse to switch to non-GMO ingredients.
GMO Free USA is Reeves' first foray into activism. The mother of
three was on the fast track at a major accounting firm when her
son was diagnosed with cancer. She walked away from her job to
take care of him.
"I never looked back," she said. Her son died before he turned
five.
"This is one of those things that act as a catalyst, that bring
people together," Reeves said. "You learn to live with it, to
try to make some good come of it, to find better ways to channel
the grief."
Having lost one child to disease, and with two daughters who
were also suffering from health problems, Reeves became
increasingly interested in the relationship between food and
health, About 4 or 5 years ago, she began reading about the
potential hazards of GMO. "I started sending emails to my
friends, telling them to 'say no to GMOs," she said. "I was
probably driving them all crazy."
Then a few months ago, a friend introduced her to NonGMO
Hartford, which eventually led to her involvement with the
Connecticut Right to Know group which was pushing for a state
labeling law. She began distributing information, and
campaigning for HB 5117, which included a provision for
mandatory GMO labeling.
With overwhelming public support for the Connecticut GMO
labeling law, Reeves and others were sure it would pass. But at
the last minute, under threat of a lawsuit by Monsanto, the bill
was eviscerated behind closed doors, and the labeling provision
removed before it was voted on by the House.
"I was so angry that our legislators didn't do their job,
that they didn't stand up to the corporations - especially
because the majority of voters wanted this law," Reeves said.
Just as she had channeled her grief, Reeves now channeled her
anger. She decided that if the government wasn't going to do its
job, she would go directly after the food manufacturers.
She started GMO Free USA. The group's first task is to attract a
significant number of like-minded members (5,000+). Once they
reach that critical mass, they'll identify one company per week,
and members will bombard that company with emails. The emailers
will express concern about the health risks of GMOs, ask the
company if they are sourcing GMO ingredients, and express their
intent to boycott their products unless the GMOs are removed.
"We're going to hit them from every angle," Reeves said.
"It's going to be thousands of people speaking directly to food
manufacturers."
In order to make their voices heard by companies with very high
sales volume, Reeves said they will need to mobilize thousands
of people to act independently. So they're trying to find a
minimum of 5000 people who will commit to the campaign, before
they begin emailing food manufacturers.
"The more people who join this consumer email initiative,
the more powerful the campaign will be," she said.
Anyone who wants to get involved in this national campaign can
sign up on
facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/378850855494732/ or
yahoo
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GMOFreeUSA/.
Organic Consumers Association · 6771 South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603 http://www.organicconsumers.org