For related articles and more
information, please visit OCA's
All About Organics page,
Genetic Engineering page and our
Millions Against Monsanto page.
From a turncoat lawmaker in Arizona, to a convicted felon in
Maryland, the cast of pro-GMO, anti-labeling characters is
anything but dull.
But are they a match for determined anti-GMO, pro-Right-to-Know
activists?
Three states—Arizona, Hawaii and Maryland—continue to move the
GMO labeling ball forward. If you live in one of these states
and want to get involved, we’ve provided contacts. If you live
outside these states, you’ll be encouraged—and maybe inspired—by
how activists are refusing to back down from industry bullies.
Arizona
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and its
Coalition for Affordable Safe Food, have yet to find a
sponsor in Congress for their
Bill to Kill GMO Labeling Laws.
But they have found a friend in the Arizona legislature.
Senator
Ed Ableser (D-Dist. 26), has introduced a GMA-drafted bill,
SB 1275, for the voluntary labeling of non-genetically
engineered food. In defiance of the Non-GMO Project, the
preeminent third-party verification program for non-genetically
engineered food, the GMA’s bill would allow food from animals
that have been fed genetically engineered food or injected with
drugs produced with genetic engineering to be labeled as
“non-genetically engineered.”
What’s happened to Sen. Ableser? Last year he sponsored
SB 1180, a good bill for mandatory labels on genetically
engineered food.
Arizona’s need-to-know
activists aren’t hanging around the capital trying to figure
that out. They’ve launched an initiative drive to label all
foods sold in the state which contain “genetically modified food
or ingredients consisting of or made form genetically modified
foods.” The measure, if approved by voters, would include labels
on meat and meat products from animals given genetically
engineered feed or hormones.
Backers have until July 3 to get 172,809 valid signatures to put
the issue on the November ballot.
Get Involved:
Right to
Know Arizona
Hawaii
This week, a new
poll shows that
76 percent of Hawaiians believe that the legislature should
pass a law requiring all GMO foods sold in Hawai’i to be labeled
as GMO.
On January 28,
SB 2736, a bill for mandatory labels on genetically
engineered foods passed the Senate Committee on Health.
According to
fox19.com, “In recent months, thousands have rallied on
Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island, where county lawmakers have passed
respective GMO bans. Hawai'i Island County Council passed a bill
forbidding biotech companies from operating on the island and
prohibiting all new genetically modified organisms, with the
exception of the papaya industry. The Kaua'i County Council's
ban requires the disclosure of pesticides and GMOs and
implements buffer zones near schools, homes, medical facilities,
and waterways.”
Monsanto and other proponents of genetic engineering are pushing
the state legislature to act to preempt these local laws with a
bill, SB 2454, that would create a task force to “determine
whether a state-established regulatory regime should be
established to address agricultural use of genetically modified
organisms.” SB 2454 has been
passed by two out of three Senate committees so far this
session.
Resources
Babes Against Biotech
GMO
Free Hawaii Island
GMO Free Kaua’i
GMO Free Maui
Earth Justice Mid-Pacific
Hawaii GMO Justice Coalition
Maryland
Wow, if you think Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers
Association’s band of GMO profiteers are a scary bunch, wait
until you meet their hired guns!
In Maryland, Safeway, a grocery store that has
battled consumers’ right to know in many states, is carrying
the water for the anti-right-to-know crowd. Their lobbyist is
the infamous “super-lobbyist,” Bruce Bereano.
According to Baltimore-based City Paper, Bereano is a convicted
felon,
found guilty of “stealing clients’” money by billing them
falsely for “legislative services” and using the proceeds to
make veiled donations to politicians from his political action
committee. In 1998, he received a five-month sentence, five
months in home detention, and a $30,000 fine, and he lost his
license to practice law.
Today, Bereano remains a high-profile lobbyist in Annapolis,
fighting GMO labeling laws for Safeway.
Want to see the pro-GMO freak show in action? Come to the
Maryland General Assembly on March 11 for the 1pm hearings on
legislation,
HB 1191 and
SB0778, that would require food manufacturers to label foods
produced with genetic engineering.
Get involved:
NeedToKnowMARYLAND.org
GMOfreeMARYLAND.org
meetup.com/NeedtoKnowMARYLAND
Alexis Baden-Mayer is
political director for the
Organic Consumers Association.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29338.cfm