GMO food labeling

[Guest guest]

For those who would like to see GMO food labeled.......

There is a link below where you can go to the website and print out

form letters to mail to your House Representative.

 

 

Dear News Update Subscribers,

 

I hope you all had an enjoyable Labor Day Holiday!

 

Now it is time to get down to business and get HR 2916,

the " Genetically

Engineered Food Right to Know Act, " passed into law. This e-mail will

explain how we can accomplish this important goal.

 

We are pleased to announce that The Campaign to Label Genetically

Engineered Foods has a new home page on our popular web site at:

http://www.thecampaign.org

 

You will find the new home page is geared for ACTION in the effort to

get HR 2916, the " Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, "

passed into law.

 

The current 108th U.S. Congress runs until October 2004. So we have

well

over a year to gather congressional support for this landmark

legislation.

 

In order to get Congress to pass the " Genetically Engineered Food

Right

to Know Act " into law, we will most likely need to generate between

500,000 and 1,000,000 letters into Congress. That is a lot of

letters,

but it is a goal easily obtainable with a focused effort by the

organic

and natural products industry, the environmental community and

concerned

citizens.

 

Over a period of a few months in 1998, nearly 280,000 comments were

sent

to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) complaining about their

attempt to include genetically engineered and irradiated foods in the

definition of organic. If we duplicate that type of concentrated

effort

now, there is an excellent likelihood that the 108th Congress will

act

to pass the " Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act " into law.

 

There are many factors that are working in our favor. For example, in

July 2003, a new ABC News poll indicated that 92 percent of the

public

said " the federal government should require labels on biotech foods. "

With that type of overwhelming recent statistical evidence on our

side,

any politician who starts to receive hundreds of letters sent to him

or

her via the U.S. mail is unlikely to oppose labeling legislation.

 

If the polls were showing 60% of the American public are for labeling

and 40% are against labeling, then our job would be much more

difficult.

But when a poll from a highly respected news agency such as ABC News

reports an overwhelming 92% want labeling, if a politician starts to

receive hundred of letters from the voters who have the power to

elect

him or her, it is political suicide to not go along with the will of

the

people.

 

As a matter of fact, members of congress who get flooded with letters

sent by U.S. mail on an issue that has broad popular appeal will

often

co-sponsor the bill to show they are on the right side of the issue.

Remember, all 435 voting members of the House of Representatives are

up

for re-election in 2004.

 

The key factor in getting the " Genetically Engineered Food Right to

Know

Act " passed into law is the power of DUPLICATION. If 10 people tell

10

other people and you take this down just five levels, watch what

happens:

 

10 x10 = 100

100 x 10 = 1,000

1,000 x 10 = 10,000

10,000 x 10 = 100,000

100,000 x 10 = 1,000,000

 

To help facilitate such duplication, on The Campaign's new web site

home

page there are " Three Basic Action Steps " we are asking everyone to

take:

 

Step Number One: Mail a letter to your U.S. House Representative

asking

him or her to co-sponsor bill HR 2916, the " Genetically Engineered

Food

Right to Know Act. "

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

 

Step Number Two: Print out at least 10 additional form letters and

give

them to your friends and associates to mail to their House

Representative.

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

 

Step Number Three: Go to our Tell A Friend web page and send an e-

mail

message to your friends and associates that informs them about The

Campaign's web site and asks them to mail a letter to their

Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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

 

Our web site also features numerous " Advanced Action Steps " and

" Activist Action Steps " for people who want to do more than just the

" Three Basic Action Steps. "

 

Folks, if you are still reading this far, listen up: We have a GOLDEN

opportunity to pass HR 2916 into law. NOW is the time to start

spreading

the word to your friends.

 

Let's show Monsanto and the biotech industry that it is NOT okay to

contaminate organic agriculture in the United States. Let's show

Monsanto and the biotech industry that the American public will NOT

continue to be guinea pigs in the largest feeding experiment to ever

take place on planet earth.

 

And how do we show them? By passing the Genetically Engineered Food

Right to Know Act, HR 2916, into law during the current 108th

Congress.

 

WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN, but not by simply wishing for it. It will

ONLY

happen if we each take the responsibility of getting our friends,

relatives

and neighbors to send letters to their members of Congress.

 

Please be aware that we are not talking about sending e-mail to

members

of Congress. The letters need to be sent in the U.S. mail to have the

proper impact. Why?

 

It is much more time-consuming and labor-intensive for a member of

Congress to response to letters they receive by U.S. mail than those

they receive by e-mail. Elected officials get so many e-mails that

such

electronic messages often don't stand out. On the other hand, letters

that arrive by U.S. mail get maximum attention, especially in these

modern times when e-mail is so common.

 

A one-size-fits-all generic sample of our new form letter is posted

below.

 

Please go to The Campaign's home page and follow the instructions to

print out a customized form letter addressed to your House

Representative.

 

Simply sign and complete the letter and then mail it to your

Representative's

Washington, DC office by the U.S. Postal Service. That is Basic

Action Step

One. Remember to do Basic Action Step Two and print out 10 more

letters to give to your friends. And take Basic Action Step Three by

sending

e-mails to your friends telling them about The Campaign's web site.

 

It is ONLY through the power of ACTION and DUPLICATION that we will

get the

" Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act " passed into law.

 

Thanks for your continued activism and support!

 

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. "

[Guest guest]

FYI, read somewhere lately that around 60% of the GMO food on the planet

originates in the US. And, I'll bet that very little of it is labeled as

such. Proves once again that when good people do nothing, this is what we

get.

 

If only our letters to congress had the same impact as the billions of

dollars that pour in from the people with vested interests in producing

these GMO foods.

 

 

 

Sheryl [ssarndt]

Wednesday, September 03, 2003 4:58 PM

 

GMO food labeling

 

For those who would like to see GMO food labeled.......

There is a link below where you can go to the website and print out

form letters to mail to your House Representative.

[Guest guest]

Yes. I feel frustrated at times over this issue, mostly because

I feel I, as a consumer, have little or no impact in comparison

to the lobbying that gets done to congress that is funded by

large food corporations.

 

~ PT ~

 

Lift up your eyes upon

This day breaking for you.

Give birth again

To the dream.

~ Maya Angelou

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~>

, " daveo " <daveo@m...> wrote:

 

> If only our letters to congress had the same impact as the billions

of

> dollars that pour in from the people with vested interests in

producing

> these GMO foods.