Fwd: The Campaign Reporter - July 2003

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25 Jul 2003 09:49:04 -0000

The Campaign Reporter

The Campaign Reporter - July 2003 - Text Version

 

 

 

 

The Campaign Reporter Online From

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

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Dear Subscribers to The Campaign Reporter,

 

This is the July 2003 text edition of our newsletter -- The Campaign

Reporter Online.

 

INSTEAD OF READING THE TEXT VERSION BELOW, WE RECOMMEND YOU GO TO THE

FOLLOWING WEB PAGE TO READ THE CAMPAIGN REPORTER IN FULL COLOR:

http://www.thecampaign.org/reporter.php

 

We hope you enjoy the July edition of The Campaign Reporter!

 

Sincerely,

 

Craig Winters

Executive Director

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

 

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

Tel: 425-771-4049

Fax: 603-825-5841

E-mail: label

Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

 

Mission Statement: " To create a national grassroots consumer campaign

for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass

legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered

foods in the United States. "

 

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The Campaign Reporter

http://www.thecampaign.org/reporter.php

July 2003

 

The Campaign Reporter is Now Available in a 2-page printable PDF format

 

Each month we will now be issuing The Campaign Reporter in three

formats:

 

1) As a HTML e-mail (or text for those who do not receive HTML e-mail)

that is sent out to people who sign up to receive The Campaign Reporter.

 

2) As a online HTML web page readable at:

http://www.thecampaign.org/reporter.php

 

3) As an 2-page Adobe Acrobat PDF that can be printed out and

photocopied to share with friends at:

http://www.thecampaign.org/reporter.pdf

 

We will often need to edit the PDF version to fill the 2-page format. So

the e-mail and online versions are best for getting the most

comprehensive coverage of the news.

 

The new PDF format is ideal for retail stores to use to keep their

customers informed on the latest news about genetically engineered foods

and the efforts to get them labeled. The PDF version is in color, but

can be printed out and photocopied in black and white to keep the cost

down.

 

Click here the following link to go to the PDF version:

http://www.thecampaign.org/reporter.pdf

 

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Check out these great educational videos!

 

Fed Up!

 

Fed Up! takes an enjoyable and informative look at genetic engineering,

industrial agriculture and sustainable alternatives. Fed Up! features

interviews with leading experts who help us look at our food production

system from the Green Revolution to the Biotech Revolution.

 

Because of the humorous and thought-provoking archive film sprinkled

throughout this 57-minute video, Fed Up! will appeal to adults,

teenagers and even inquisitive children.

 

Fed Up! Video

 

$23.95

Active Member Price

$29.95

Non-member Price

 

Deconstructing Supper

 

Deconstructing Supper is an excellent 48-minute video that follows

renowned Canadian chef John Bishop as he learns about genetically

engineered foods. The film follows John as he travels from Canada to the

United States to India and back. His journey takes viewers on an

eye-opening and engaging adventure into the billion-dollar battle to

control global food production, unraveling fact from fiction, and

information from disinformation.

 

Deconstructing Supper Video

 

$23.95

Active Member Price

$29.95

Non-member Price

 

 

Videos, Books, Buttons, Bumper Stickers, Take Action Packets & more are

available at The Campaign's Online Store at:

http://www.thecampaign.org/store.php

 

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New labeling bills to be introduced

 

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) plans to re-introduce

legislation to label genetically engineered foods within the next few

weeks. His office is encouraging as many people as possible to urge

their U.S. House Representative to co-sponsor this crucial consumers'

right-to-know legislation.

 

You can take this easy step by visiting our Action Alert page set up for

the occasion:

http://www.thecampaign.org/alert-house.php

 

We have two easy ways for you to contact your House Representative: via

e-mail, or by printing out a form letter and mailing it via postal

service to your Representative.

 

In the past, the legislation has had as many as 50 co-sponsors in the

House. We're hoping to win even more co-sponsors this year.

 

Public opinion polls show that more than 90 percent of Americans want

genetically engineered foods to be labeled.

 

Rep. Kucinich plans to introduce six bills:

 

1. The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, which would

require labeling of genetically engineered foods;

 

2. The Genetically Engineered Crop and Animal Protection Act, which

would set up a " Farmer Bill of Rights " ;

 

3. The Genetically Engineered Organism Liability Act, which would ensure

that the creators of genetic engineering technology would assume the

liabilities from the new technology;

 

4. The Genetically Engineered Food Safety Act, which would require all

genetically engineered foods to undergo a strenuous food safety review

process;

 

5. Real Solutions to World Hunger Act, which offers several new

initiatives to help developing nations, including an international fund

for sustainable agriculture research; and

 

6. The Genetically Engineered Pharmaceutical and Industrial Crop Safety

Act, which would place a permanent moratorium on pharmaceutical and

industrial crops grown in an open-air environment, or grown in commonly

used food sources such as corn.

 

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Europe passes tough new labeling legislation

 

On July 2nd, the European Union Parliament approved tough new labeling

legislation on genetically engineered foods. If approved by the European

Council of Ministers, as expected, the law will go into effect in

September, and compliance will be required within six months.

 

Under the law, any food that is genetically engineered, or that contains

genetically engineered ingredients, must be labeled. The label will

read: " This product is produced from GMOs. "

 

If the legislation is approved, it will put an end to Europe's five-year

moratorium on new genetically engineered crops. Europe has been waiting

to remove the moratorium until tough new labeling and traceability laws

are in place to protect European consumers.

 

" This is a huge step forward in giving choice to citizens, " EU Health

Commissioner David Byrne said . " We will now have the most rigorous

premarketing assessment of GM food in the world. "

 

" This vote is a slap in the face of the U.S. administration, which

thought that it could bully Europe, and eventually others, to swallow

its GMO policy, " Eric Gall, a Greenpeace activist, told the Christian

Science Monitor.

 

You can read a 27-page report on the new EU regulations here.

http://www.thecampaign.org/euregs070103.pdf

 

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Canadian study: Modified wheat an environmental hazard

 

The planting of genetically modified wheat poses an " unacceptable risk "

to the environment, according to a new University of Manitoba study

completed in early July.

 

The study on Monsanto's proposed Roundup Ready wheat was commissioned by

the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), Canada's largest group of wheat farmers.

The CWB has said it will do all that it can to prevent Monsanto from

growing modified wheat in Canada, including possible legal action.

 

Monsanto has said it plans to introduce its modified Roundup Ready wheat

by 2005.

 

The University of Manitoba report, conducted by three scientists, calls

modified wheat unsafe and says that is the wheat was " grown under

unconfined conditions...the trait would move from wheat crop to wheat

crop. "

 

" The study shows that this product, if granted unconfined release, will

cause environmental problems for farmers (and) not just for those who

grow it, " CWB chair Ken Ritter told the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation.

 

The CWB opposes the introduction of modified wheat because Canadian

wheat farmers fear that they will be unable to export Canadian wheat to

foreign markets. Some countries have said they would not import any

Canadian or American wheat if genetically modified wheat is grown in

those countries, because the risk of genetic contamination is too great.

 

" We will do everything in our power to ensure that GM wheat is not

introduced in Canada until customers and farmers want it, " the President

of Canada's Wheat Board (CWB), Adrian Measner, told a meeting of the

International Grains Council (IGC).

 

" We know that customers that represent over 80 percent of our market are

unwilling or unable to accept GM wheat at this time. They want

assurances that Canadian wheat will not be in danger of contamination

from GM varieties, " he told the annual IGC meeting in London.

 

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Sign the Save Organic Wheat petition

 

The Campaign has launched the Save Organic Wheat coalition

http://www.saveorganicwheat.org and has created a petition calling for a

moratorium on genetically mutated wheat. Please consider signing the

petition http://www.saveorganicwheat.org/petition.php, and joining the

coalition. Joining is free, and helps send a powerful message that U.S.

and Canadian citizens do not want genetically mutated wheat.

 

Save Organic Wheat mission & principles

 

Mission Statement:

" To build a coalition of organizations, businesses, farmers and

consumers in support of a moratorium on the introduction of genetically

engineered wheat in the United States and Canada. "

 

Unifying Principles:

1. We support a moratorium because genetically engineered wheat will

contaminate organic and conventional wheat and jeopardize the consumers'

right to choose.

 

2. We support a moratorium because genetically engineered wheat may

create an economic hardship on wheat growers due to contamination and

loss of export markets.

 

3. We support a moratorium because genetically engineered wheat is

likely to create superweeds and be toxic to insects, birds, bees, soil

bacteria and have other negative environmental impacts.

 

4. We support a moratorium because genetically engineered wheat has not

been safety tested on humans and should be subject to the same type of

review process required for new drugs and food additives.

 

If you agree with the Mission Statement and Unifying Principles, we

invite you to join the Save Organic Wheat coalition:

http://www.saveorganicwheat.org/coalition.php

 

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GM crops threaten superweed catastrophe

 

English Nature, the British government's chief conservation agency,

reports that genetically modified farming will lead to a new generation

of herbicide-resistant crops that could devastate the British

countryside. Strict controls on GM crops are necessary to prevent

superweeds from overtaking hedgerows and other crucial aspects of the

landscape, the agency says.

 

If superweeds do emerge, farmers will be forced to use ever stronger

weed killers to address the problem.

 

The report says it is " inevitable " that superweeds will emerge because

weedkiller-tolerant genes will escape from modified plants via wind or

insects carrying pollen from field to field.

 

Also at risk are insects and birds that live off of weeds, wild flowers

and grasses that would be killed off because farmers would need to use

the weedkillers at the wrong time of the year, the British newspaper

Independent reports.

 

Dr Brian Johnson, a co-author of the English Nature report, told the

Independent: " If you hit them with most of the conventional herbicides

they just smile at you. They certainly don't die. "

 

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Making a difference:

Bob Gerner, General Manager of Berkeley Natural Foods and El Cerrito

Natural Foods

 

Berkeley Natural Foods and El Cerrito Foods in California each feature

educational stations about genetically engineered foods.

 

Bob Gerner is general manager of Berkeley Natural Foods and El Cerrito

Natural Foods http://www.naturalgrocery.com. The produce departments of

these two popular natural food stores in northern California are

all-organic, and Bob is a key supporter of The Campaign. Here is an

interview we conducted with him recently.

 

Q: On how he became involved in the natural foods industry:

A: I was founding partner and first president of Westbrae Natural Foods,

which opened for business Feb. 2, 1971. In 1981, I opened Berkeley

Natural Grocery Co. in 1981, and El Cerrito Natural Grocery Co. in 1988.

 

Q: On how he became interested in the genetically engineered foods

issue:

A: I've been a supporter of organic agriculture since I've been in

business. The government is not regulating genetically modified foods

properly, and organic agriculture is being threatened by contamination

from genetically engineered crops. Something needs to be done.

 

Q: On the activities he has been involved in to educate people about

labeling genetically engineered foods:

A: I'm not particularly optimistic at this point. I don't see enough

people getting upset in this country about genetically engineered foods.

We're trying to be more proactive, and at our stores we put it in

people's faces a little more. We have tables about genetically

engineered foods in both of our stores. We have a petition for people to

sign; we have The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods' Take

Action Packets; we have three folders with updates on the issue that we

fill with info from various sources across the country.

 

We're also trying to be pro-active with other natural food stores. We've

sent out letters to other stores about the issue. We've set up a pretty

active GMO team in our stores with five people on it. They're working on

a survey to determine which foods in our stores may contain GMOs, they

educate shoppers, and they put out a newsletter on the issue every two

weeks.

 

We will be contacting the manufacturers of the foods on our " may contain

GMO " list to verify what their company policy is and what they intend to

do about GMOs. Then we will decide whether to discontinue their products

or not. We have discontinued two cereals because of their manufacturers'

lack of concern over the issue.

 

Until things are really labeled, we don't think it's possible to remove

everything GMO from the store.

 

Our ultimate goal would be not to have any GMOs in our store. But until

there is a labeling law, can we be successful? I don't know. The best we

can do for now is work with our hunches and do what we can.

 

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Copyright 2003

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

425-771-4049

label

http://www.thecampaign.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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