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IMPORTANT: Brand New Video for the “Just Label It” Campaign and Recap of Yesterday’s Conference Call
Yesterday, I was on the media conference call for Just Label It, the nationwide campaign to get genetically-modified foods (GMOs) labeled.
On the call we saw a preview of the fantastic new Just Label It video (WATCH BELOW) and we also heard from:
* Gary Hirshberg, Chairman of Stonyfield, who recently resigned as CEO to dedicate more time to this very important cause.
* Robyn O’Brien, leading food safety advocate and author of the acclaimed book The Unhealthy Truth: One Mother’s Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of America’s Food Supply — and What Every Family Can Do to Protect Itself.
* Robert Kenner, writer, director and producer of the documentary Food, Inc. and the Just Label It video below.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS DISCUSSED
– The general benchmark for labeling, of any sorts, is materiality. Is something about the food materially different that would warrant a label?
For example, “made from concentrate” or “country of origin”. These are things that must now be labeled.
Yet GMOs, because they don’t taste or smell materially different, do not have to be labeled. As we know, this reasoning is completely absurd. The DNA structure of GM-food and non-GM-food is totally different.
As a result, we recently filed a petition with the FDA mandating that they require the labeling of GMOs.
GMOs receive patents because they are deemed unique and different, but the FDA/USDA considers GM-food and non-GM-food the same thing. Makes no sense at all.
– The U.S. is the only developed country in the world that doesn’t require GMOs to be labeled. The EU, Japan, Russia, China and Brazil all require labeling.
– The major safety concerns about GMOs continue to grow. While pharmaceuticals must undergo years of human clinical trials, GMOs need none of that, even though they are something that people ingest on a daily basis.
– The growth of GM-crops is leading to an increasing amount of toxic pesticides being sprayed on our farmland, which is causing another set of serious problems.
In the last several years, the use of glyphosate, Monsanto’s Round-Up herbicide, has grown from 7.9 million pounds per year to 119 million pounds per year.
The really alarming problem is that these weeds have become resistant to glyphosate and have morphed into uncontrollable “superweeds”. Superweeds now occupy over 13 million acres throughout the country.
In order to deal with these superweeds, Dow Chemical believes that 2,4-D, a super-toxic herbicide, is needed to kill them.
Dow Chemical is now poised to receive permission from the USDA for a GM-corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, one of the primary ingredients in Agent Orange.
So, in order to control these “superweeds”, we are going to pour even more toxic herbicides onto them.
2,4-D will not only poison our water supply but will severely impact the air quality wherever it is sprayed.
It is nothing short of an outrage what is going on, and the Obama Administration has shown no will to stop any of this.
– Robert Kenner talked about the most shocking thing that he witnessed while making the movie Food, Inc.
At a hearing to discuss whether cloned meat should be labeled or not, a representative for the meat industry said “it would be too confusing for consumers” and that they “shouldn’t get this information.”
– Right now, the Just Label It campaign has amassed 500,000 signatures. BUT we need 500,000 more to meet our goal of 1 million.
The link to sign the electronic petition is HERE. If you haven’t signed it, please do so.
Also, please forward this page to your entire network of colleagues, friends, and family, and have them watch this video below.
It is absolutely essential for the health and well-being of our country that genetically-modified foods be labeled.
