Ag industry aims 2 strip local control of food supplies

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Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:51:33 -0700 (PDT)

Ag industry aims 2 strip local control of food supplies

 

 

 

ORWELLIAN STATE NOW REMOVES LOCAL CONTROL OF FOOD SUPPLIES

 

'Legislation aiming to prevent counties, towns and cities from making

local decisions about our food supply is being introduced in states

across the nation. Fifteen states recently have introduced legislation

removing local control of plants and seeds. Eleven of these states

have already passed the provisions into law.

 

These highly orchestrated industry actions are in response to recent

local decisions to safeguard sustainable food systems. To date,

initiatives in three California counties have restricted the

cultivation of genetically modified crops, livestock, and other

organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various

resolutions in support of limits on genetically engineered crops.'

 

 

 

More- http://guerrillanews.com/articles/1456/Big_Food_Strikes_Back

 

 

Big Food Strikes Back

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:16:39 -0700

 

_NEWS IMAGE_

 

Grow more profitably, for us

 

By Britt Bailey and Brian Tokar

 

Ag industry aims to strip local control of food supplies

 

 

Legislation aiming to prevent counties, towns and cities from making

local decisions about our food supply is being introduced in states

across the nation. Fifteen states recently have introduced legislation

removing local control of plants and seeds. Eleven of these states

have already passed the provisions into law.

 

 

 

These highly orchestrated industry actions are in response to recent

local decisions to safeguard sustainable food systems. To date,

initiatives in three California counties have restricted the

cultivation of genetically modified crops, livestock, and other

organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various

resolutions in support of limits on genetically engineered crops.

 

 

 

These laws are industry¡¦s stealth response to a growing effort by

people to protect their communities at the local level. Given the

impacts of known ecological contamination from genetic modification,

local governments absolutely should be given the power to protect the

health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. Local restrictions

against genetically modified crops have provided a positive and

hopeful solution and allowed citizens to take meaningful action in

their hometown or county.

 

 

 

¡§Over the past several years in Iowa, we¡¦ve seen local control taken

away for the benefit of the corporate hog industry,¡¨ said George

Naylor, an Iowa farmer and President of the National Family Farm

Coalition. ¡§With these pre-emption laws signed into law, we are now

losing our ability to protect ourselves from irresponsible

corporations aiming to control the agricultural seeds and plants

planted throughout the state.¡¨

 

 

 

According to Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council, ¡§The

amendment to our House Bill 66 would strip cities and villages of

their authority to implement safeguards and standards concerning

seeds. Supporting local control is quintessentially American, clearly

reasonable, and represents the standards our country was founded upon.¡¨

 

 

 

In the past decade, the same preemptive strategy has been used by the

tobacco industry to thwart local efforts to introduce more stringent

smoking and gun laws, respectively. As Tina Walls of Phillip Morris &

Co. admitted, ¡§By introducing preemptive statewide legislation, we

can shift the battle away from the community level back to the state

legislatures where we are on stronger ground.¡¨

 

Why this challenge to local rights?