“Mother of All Monsanto Protection Acts.”

Tweet | Pinterest   TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK Ramping Up Thanks to the 6,000 or so of you who contributed to our latest fundraising campaign, we met our goal. Thank you! We’re grateful. We’re also very busy. And about to get busier. Thanks to your generosity, we are ramping up our fight against H.R. 1599, a bill we once called the DARK Act, but now refer to as the “Mother of All Monsanto Protection Acts.” A bill intended to preempt all GMO labeling and GMO crop bans, at the federal, state or local level, guarantee no pre-market safety testing of GMO foods and make it unlawful for a food maker to tell you that a product is GMO-free. How do we stop this outrageous piece of legislation? By letting every member of Congress, beginning with those who serve on key committees, know we oppose it. So far, with help from volunteers, we’ve met in person with 17 members (or their staff) of Congress who serve on committees that will be the first to vote on the bill. We’ve been traveling up and down the east coast (so far) to meet in Congress members’ home district offices. But we need to do more. Lots more. All over the country. That's where you come in. We’ve created a list of committee members we've either already met with or still need to meet with. We’ve also identified which committee members will vote YES, which will vote NO, and which are UNDECIDED. If you’re a constituent in one of these key districts, can you attend a meeting or rally? Or make a phone call? So far, H.R. 1599 has 54 Republican and 14 Democrat co-sponsors (find them here). Monsanto’s lobbyists are stepping up their game. Thanks to you, so are we. URGENT: Help us stop the DARK Act BLOG POST OF THE WEEK Inquiring Minds Does Hillary Clinton’s support for Monsanto and the biotech industry mean she opposes labeling? Or will she come out as pro-biotech but also pro-consumers’ right to know? On July 3, Gary Hirshberg, chairman of the board of JustLabelIt.org, former CEO of Stonyfield Farms and a public supporter of GMO labeling, hosted a $2700-per-person fundraiser for Hillary at his home in New Hampshire. According to the Boston Globe, Hirshberg said the fundraiser didn’t necessarily mean he was supporting Hillary for president. We were curious as to why someone so outspoken in the GMO labeling movement would host a fundraiser for a candidate so obviously pro-GMO, much less for a candidate he wouldn’t, at least yet, publicly support. So we reached out to Hirshberg through Scott Faber, executive director of JustLabelIt.org. Faber responded that he had passed our email inquiry on to Hirshberg. We haven’t yet heard back from Hirshberg. Did he force Hillary to disclose her position on labeling? Before, during or after the fundraiser? Will she take a stand on this issue before the primaries? Inquiring minds want to know. Meanwhile, let’s continue to post on Hillary’s facebook page and sign the petitionasking her to clarify her position on labeling, until we get an answer. Read the blog post ACTION ALERT Still Fishy OCA, along with Friends of the Earth and six other groups recently delivered nearly 300,000 petition signatures to Costco corporate headquarters, asking the discount chain to refuse to sell GMO salmon. Costco’s response? A weak “we have ‘no plans’ to sell it,” but we “trust the FDA, so we’re leaving the door open.” The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t yet approved AquaBounty Technologies’ AquAdvantage salmon. But given the FDA’s track record of signing off on all things GMO, it’s only a matter of time. And when the FDA greenlights GMO salmon, scientists predict trouble. Consumers will be in trouble, too. Without mandatory labeling laws, you won't have a clue if you're buying GMO salmon. (Unless you live in Alaska, which passed a law in 2014 requiring mandatory labeling of GMO salmon. Then again, if Congress passes H.R. 1599, that law will be dead). Other major grocery retailers, including Safeway and Kroger, have pledged to reject Frankenfish, regardless of what the FDA rules. Can consumers change Costco executives’ minds? It’s still worth a try. Please call Costco TODAY and tell the retailer to “just say no” to GMO salmon. TAKE ACTION: Call Costco customer service 1-800-774-2678 (Press “0” to speak with a representative) TAKE ACTION: Tell Costco: Please Don’t Sell GMO Salmon, Ever! ACTION ALERT Slim Pickins' Farmworkers who pick the berries at Sakuma Brothers farm in Burlington, Wash., are making progress. But it’s slow. Sakuma Brothers supplies berries to Driscoll’s, a label that’s familiar to many consumers. The farm has a history of bad treatment of farmworkers, including low pay, wage theft, racist and sexist abuse from supervisors, substandard housing, and continuous retaliation for their efforts to improve conditions. Conditions on the farm have improved following a meeting between Driscoll’s and the workers. The meeting was prompted by two years of protests and a consumer petition threatening to boycott Driscoll’s unless the company intervened. But there’s more work to do—and it’s the farm owners, not the farmers, who need to do it. Sakuma management has yet to recognize the independent union Familias Unidas por la Justicia or negotiate a written contract with them. Since the start of the growing season, workers at Sakuma Brothers successfully renegotiated payment for strawberries after showing that the initial expectation of picking 35 pounds-per-hour in order to make $10/hour was not possible. Just last week, workers went on a two-day strike protesting staggered work times and hour-per-pound expectations at the start of the blueberry harvest. Issues like these, involving uncertainty around pay as the season progresses, could easily be cleared up by a mutually negotiated contract. It’s time to negotiate. TAKE ACTION: Tell Sakuma Brothers CEO Danny Weeden to recognize and sit down with the union! Learn more NEW REPORT Spinning Food While the food industry’s use of public relations to shape public opinion and policy making is not new, the level of spending, the increase in the use of front groups and the deployment of covert social media tactics is unprecedented. – Friend of the Earth According to a new report, “Spinning Food," the industrial food and agricultural sector spent hundreds of millions of dollars from 2009 to 2013 to spin the media, drive consumer behavior and advance its policy agenda. Here’s a partial breakdown: • $126 million spent by 14 food industry front groups that often appear in the media as independent sources but are funded by and serve the interests of the industrial food sector. Six of these front groups have launched just since 2011. • More than $600 million spent by four major trade associations—CropLife America, BIO, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and American Meat Institute—that promote and defend the agendas of pesticide, biotech and conventional food corporations (including but not limited to PR activities). • Tens of millions of dollars a year on communications campaigns by the federal check-off programs for beef, corn, soybeans and dairy; as well as hundreds of millions more spent to market companies and products in this sector. For example, in 2013 Monsanto alone spent $95 million on marketing. Is all that spin working? According to a recent article in Fortune Magazine, not so much. Read the report Learn more VIDEO OF THE WEEK Oh, Did You Want Facts with That? “When consumers know things, they tend to make informed choices, and that could affect corporate profits. I’m sorry, but your right to know is always going to be outweighed by their right to hide it from you.” – Bill Maher In the U.S.-of-You-Don’t-Want-to-Know, corporations rule. Raunchy language aside, Bill Maher gets it right on your right to know—and how the latest news on COOL (Country of Origin) labeling is just one more attack on consumers. Watch the video More on Country of Origin (COOL) labeling LITTLE BYTES Essential Reading for the Week Toxic Chemicals May Cause Cancer When Combined Is Your Grass-Fed Beef for Real? Here's How to Tell and Why It Matters Bacon Is about to Get More Expensive The Real Reason General Mills Will Cut Fake Flavors from Cereals Like Trix and Lucky Charms Secrecy over Fracking Chemicals Clouds Environmental Risks, Advocates Say 16 Successful Projects Highlighting Permaculture Use

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