Tell Congress: Don’t Sell Food Labeling Rights to THOSE GUYS

The illustrious US Congress is (again) being used as a blunt instrument against their constituents, wielded (again) by Big (fill-in-the-blank) In this case, Big Ag.

I’m not perhaps as alarmed by the health risks of foods whose genes were modified “from the outside” rather than by selective breeding as has been done for millennia. But I am opposed to corporate control over even the knowledge of consumers of the ingredients of the things they put into our children (if we let them.)

And I am very much opposed to proprietary tyranny over seeds and fertilizers used to grow GMOs and to the ownership this gives over the world’s most important food crops. That of all resources should be fully democratic and not trade-marked by Monsanto, Dow and the other chemical dictators that currently call the shots. Except maybe NOT this time if we make enough noise. Hence please read and sign the petition if you are lead to do so…

_______________________________

“Recently introduced legislation (H.R.1599) would prohibit any state efforts to require labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs), overruling legislation already passed in Maine, Vermont and Connecticut as well as bills moving in many other states”…

“The Grocery Manufacturers Association, an industry group that represents Monsanto, Nestle, Dow, and Pepsi, is pushing this bill because it would let its members continue to keep quiet about their production and use of GMOs. 2

We need to make sure our members of Congress hear from their actual constituents, since they’re already hearing from the industry lobbyists. Over 90% of voters support required labels for GMOs.3 Industry should not use Congress to undermine the public’s right to know or the decisions of state legislatures that are responding to what their citizens want.

It’s our right to know what’s in our food, and corporations should not be allowed to keep us in the dark.”

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

But wait! There’s more…

The header image here is something we saw commonly on our trip last week to Missouri (though I did not take this picture.) Fields were yellow with what looked like common field cress. But no. This is a GMO crop you need to know about. You probably think it’s a better choice for your family. Think again.

So check back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion. Or just because you’re bored and have nowhere else to go. You’ll always be welcome here, where I reliably have an over-abundance of vacuous words (some of which I make up on the spot) to go around to serve the wandering web-browsing hobo.

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. Con, you have no interest in ANY labeling for any possible ingredients you might consider more serious threats to your family’s health? This power to control label information is not one to take lightly, even if you are not particularly concerned about GMO impact on human health. I’m far more concerned about GMO (and related biocides) impact on soils, pollen, and wild genetic integrity. All that gets a boost if GMO food constituents are invisible to the consuming public.

  2. Mandatory GMO labeling is just a way to push an extreme agenda by leveraging government’s power. I have no problem with GMO nor with big ag. Take both away and we all starve; at least some of the least of us starve. Even if that conjecture is not true, neither GMO nor big ag bothers me. Actually I am in awe of what they accomplish.

    And what’s with your lead paragraph slamming congress followed by an appeal to send a form letter to the same people? Who is really being shallow here? Write your own letter with your own thoughts.

    Still, routinely reading Fragments…

    😉

  3. I don’t understand why it seems dissonant to disapprove of Congress and yet encourage those who object to say so to those in that body who have the power to amend their voting record. Who SHOULD we petition then? Yes I think we can be amazed at the volume of production by Big Ag–if that is as far as we care to look. The low price of food has come at great cost. It’s not hard to become aware of those costs. e.g….

    Sustainable Table | Impacts of Industrial Agriculture
    http://www.sustainabletable.org/869/impacts-of-industrial-agriculture

    PSEP :: Fact sheets :: Modern Ag: Its Effects on the Environment
    http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-grw85.aspx