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ESCONDIDO, CA - Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, family-owned maker of
the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America,
announced today that they have donated another $250,000 to
Proposition 37, The California Right to Know Genetically
Engineered Food Act.
Prop. 37 is a common-sense November ballot measure that will
help consumers make informed choices about the food they eat.
Written with broad input from food groups, science, and health
experts Prop. 37 will require clear labels letting consumers
know if the foods they are eating are genetically engineered.
However, Prop. 37 has been losing support in voter polls due to
the impact of relentless and deceptive TV attack ads funded by
pesticide and junk food manufacturers. At the rate of at least a
$1 million dollars a day the ads mislead voters into thinking
that a simple labeling law is somehow a plot by trial lawyers to
get rich while food prices sky rocket. These same arguments
against consumers' right to know have been made against every
previous labeling regulation such as calorie and allergen
disclosure. Despite being vastly outspent, the Yes on 37
campaign has demonstrated through internal polling that their
simple ad reminding voters of their fundamental right to know
what's in their food cuts through the flak.
"Chemical corporations are outspending consumer groups 10 to 1
in California, so we felt we had to step up with another major
donation to 'Yes on 37'," said David Bronner, President of Dr.
Bronner's Magic Soaps. "It's wrong that American democracy is
hijacked by pesticide manufacturers who spend vast sums of money
to keep consumers in the dark. The opposition's lies on TV will
be answered this final crucial week before Election Day, while a
huge grassroots surge reaches voters directly. If enough voters
are reminded of their own rights and power, Prop. 37 can win."
"Genetically engineered foods should have been labeled from the
get-go in the 1990's," says Bronner. "Pesticide companies
genetically engineer DNA from bacteria into food crops to either
produce or tolerate the pesticides they sell. Their business
model is rapidly failing in the face of superweeds and superbugs
resistant to their poisons. Pesticide companies like Monsanto
and Dow are now doubling down and engineering resistance in food
crops to much more toxic weed killers such as Dicamba and 2,4 D,
the main ingredient in Agent Orange."
"These pesticide companies have demonstrated they will spend any
amount needed to keep the public in the dark about the secret
changes they have made to our food. We have a right to know if
our food has been genetically engineered, just as citizens in
over 61 other countries do, including Europe, Japan, even China.
Prop 37 is just the beginning. The writing is on the wall, win
or lose we have sparked a movement. We will have the right to
know in this country sooner versus later."
More information on Prop 37 and the TV ad Dr. Bronner's is
helping to sponsor can be found at
http://CaRighttoKnow.org.
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