"So you're being told organic food is no more nutritious than conventional and it's not worth your extra money. Well I'm here to say that it is worth the investment. Why do I say that? Pesticides." - - Dr. Oz, Oct. 19, 2012
Less than two months after telling millions of TV viewers that organic food is "worth the investment," America's most popular TV doctor is singing a different tune. In the December issue of Time magazine, Dr. Oz described organic foodies as "elitist" -- part of the 1% - and claimed that conventional foods are nutritionally equivalent to organic foods. According to Dr. Oz:
The rise of foodie culture over the past decade has venerated all things small-batch, local-farm and organic - all with premium price tags. But let's be clear: you don't need to eat like the 1% to eat healthily.
Suddenly, the pesticides Dr. Oz was so concerned about a couple of months ago, the ones he warned viewers were "one of the greatest threats to your kids' health," no longer matter. What's more, if you're spending extra money to avoid them, you're a food snob -- instead of a responsible, health-conscious parent.
Dr. Oz's flip-flop is just the latest in a series of highly-publicized mass media attacks on organic food and farming. It follows on the heels of a much-ballyhooed, controversial Stanford University study, released in September. The Stanford study concluded that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional -- and far less expensive -- counterparts.
Ironically, it was this same study that Dr. Oz bashed on his October 19 television showfor ignoring the obvious: Conventional food is loaded with toxic pesticides, which makes it not only less healthful, but downright dangerous. Especially for children.
At a time when the health of Americans is rapidly deteriorating -- skyrocketing obesity, childhood diabetes, ever-increasing cases of asthma, allergies, autism, and cancer -- there appears to be a concerted and insidious effort to smear organics, to convince consumers that there's no connection between their poor health and the low-grade chemical food on their plates. Food routinely grown in nutrient-deficient soil, sprayed with toxic pesticides, pumped full of antibiotics and hormones, and genetically modified in Monsanto's laboratories.
Instead, anti-organic forces are pushing the message that cheaper food is better for your wallet. And just fine for your health. Both the Stanford Study and Dr. Oz's Time article focus on cost to consumers at the checkout counter. Neither addresses the long-term cost of poor health caused by toxic chemicals, or the long-term cost to the planet of chemical-intensive, climate-disruptive, unsustainable agricultural practices.
That Stanford study, which was highlighted by major media outlets including the New York Times , Associated Press, and CBS News, didn't address pesticides and their proven link to health problems, especially in children. It didn't address waterways polluted by tons of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The study was limited to fruits and vegetables, so it didn't have to address the growing public health crisis of antibiotics and hormone residues in meat and dairy, nor the millions of annual food poisoning cases attributed to filthy meat and animal products coming out of the nation's factory farm feedlots and slaughterhouses.
The Stanford study also completely ignored the horrendous damage to the environment by non-organic industrial farms and feedlots, including the devastating consequences to the planet of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions from chemical fertilizers and huge factory farm operations. Recent statistics indicate that the direct (greenhouse gas pollution) and indirect (tropical deforestation) impacts of industrial food and farms are the largest contributor to global warming.
What the Stanford study did, thanks to a huge public relations push, was spread the message that organic fruits and vegetables are expensive, and conventional fruits and vegetables are just as good but cheaper. No doubt, the authors hope that consumers will carry over that message from fruits and vegetables, to all things organic.
It's no surprise that the Stanford study would focus on cost. As it turns out, the study was produced by Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute, which gets millions in funding from agribusiness giant Cargill, the world's largest agricultural business enterprise, and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which have deep ties to agricultural chemical and biotechnology corporations like Monsanto. These giant corporations are all part of the same cabal that contributed at least half of the $46 million spent between October 1 and November 6 to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. Just a coincidence that the Stanford study and the mass media propaganda barrage that accompanied it was released during the election season, when voters were still weighing their options on the high-profile California GMO labeling law that was making national headlines?
The motives behind the Stanford study and the Freeman Spogli Institute are obvious. What caused Dr. Oz to flip-flop is anyone's guess -- and just might make for a good story someday. Informed sources behind the scenes have told us that Dr. Oz is under tremendous pressure from the biotech industry after airing a segment earlier this fall that supported GMO labeling. He's also getting pressure from Big Pharma and federal regulatory agencies for his previous exposures of industry malpractices.
Consumer demand for organics is rising steadily. Last year, organic foods accounted for $31.4 billion in sales, according to a recent Obama administration report. Compare that with just $3.6 billion in 1997, and it makes sense that multinational junk food companies, like Pepsi, General Mills, Coca-Cola and others, are buying up organic brands. But these companies also know that there's more money in the $50-billion "natural" foods market, an unregulated market with higher profit margins and lower barriers to entry, than there is in certified organics. That explains why these same multinational companies pitched in the other half of the $46 million to defeat Prop 37. After all, if passed, the initiative would have banned the use of the word "natural" on any product containing genetically modified foods. That would have forced companies to use more expensive, certified organic ingredients in their highly profitable "natural" products.
Estimates are that if Prop 37 had passed, it would have triggered a multi-billion dollar increase in the sales of organic and non-GMO foods, and a corresponding decrease in the sales of so-called "natural" foods. Could it be that Big Ag and Big Pharma, who supply the drugs for non-organic factory farms, are feeling threatened by the fact that the market for organics is growing ten times faster than the market for conventional foods? The bottom line is that the real 1%, America's giant food processors and supermarket chains, are alarmed by the fact that consumers are wising up -- and rising up -- in greater numbers than ever before to demand transparency in labeling, and greater access to organic, locally-sourced, humanely-produced, nutritious food.
In a struggling economy, the quickest way to grab the attention of consumers is to promise them short-term savings. Messages like the ones transmitted by the Stanford study and Dr. Oz's recent article grossly oversimplify the issue of organics versus conventional foods, while propping up an unsustainable but highly profitable factory farm and processed food industry. They miss the point, intentionally, that pesticides, drug residues, and filthy factory farms damage public health and raise U.S. medical costs, which are already the highest in the world.
But no matter how hard Big Ag and the mass media try to misinform consumers, they are fighting a losing battle. There is mounting scientific evidence that genetically engineered foods are hazardous to human and animal health, and are severely damaging the environment and the climate. This is the reason why millions of Americans are turning to certified organic food, which bans GMOs, synthetic pesticides, and animal drugs. The big lie is that cheap chemical and GMO food isn't really cheap, if you take the long view.
Shame on you Dr. Oz, and the rest of the mass media for perpetuating this big lie.
No matter how many universities pump out however many studies, no matter how many famous TV personalities -- including those wearing scrubs -- try to tell us otherwise, our current systems of food and agriculture are unsustainable. That's why the organic food and farming movement is growing by leaps and bounds. That's why organic foods and agriculture will soon become the norm, just as they once were for thousands of years, not just the alternative.
About the authors:
Katherine Paul is director of development and communications at the Organic Consumers Association.
Ronnie Cummins is founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association. Cummins is author of numerous articles and books, including "Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers" (Second Revised Edition Marlowe & Company 2004).
Showing posts with label Activsm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Activsm. Show all posts
Friday, December 7, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Another Letter From The Organic Conumers Association Regarding Prop. 37 and GMO's
Dear Organic Consumer,
People in other countries are dumbfounded when they learn that here in the U.S., for more than 15 years, we've allowed the biotech industry and the FDA to feed us a line about the safety of genetically modified foods - and worse yet, deny us the basic right to know which foods we buy contain GMOs and which don't.
If you live in this country, you should be more than dumbfounded. You should be outraged.
You can help pass this country's first GMO labeling law, Prop 37 The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, by making a donation today.
Last week French scientists published the results of the first ever long-term study on the health effects on lab rats of Monsanto's GMO corn and its best-selling herbicide, Roundup. According to the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, rats fed a lifetime diet of GMO corn and the herbicide-tolerant GM corn, or given water containing Roundup in amounts considered safe in drinking water and GM crops in the US, suffered tumors, multiple organ damage and premature death.
The study drew some criticism for its methodology. But it highlighted the fact that we know very little about the long-term health consequences of a GMO-laden diet. It also raised this critical question: Why are GMOs allowed in our food, without our knowledge, when it's clear that they have not been proven safe?
Here are 8 reasons you want Prop 37 to pass, and why we're asking for your support.
1. GMOs have never been proven safe. The FDA conducts no independent testing of GMOs, but instead claims that they are "not substantially different" from non-GMO foods.
2. The biotech industry is not required to conduct long-term safety studies on GMOs, and it keeps researchers from conducting those tests by claiming the right to protect its patented seeds and technologies.
3. GMOs are everywhere. Today, most non-organic US corn, soy, cotton and sugar beets - which are used in most of the sweeteners and additives used by food processors - are genetically engineered. So is the feed fed to the animals you eat. In fact, 75 - 85% of the processed food in your grocery store contains unlabeled GMOs.
4. The companies who want you to believe GMOs are safe are the same ones who lied to you about Agent Orange and DDT.
5. GE crops are responsible for super weeds and super bugs, soil degradation, and lack of diversity - which makes crops and humans more susceptible to disease.
6. The only folks who don't want you to know what's in your food are huge corporations like Monsanto, Dow AgriScience, BASF and food conglomerates like Pepsi and Coca-Cola - who along with other biotech, pesticide and processed food manufacturers have donated nearly $33 million to defeat Prop 37.
7. This is our best - and perhaps only - shot at labeling GMOs and ending Monsanto's monopoly of our food supply and destruction of our health and environment. Nineteen other states have tried - and failed - to get a GMO labeling law through the state legislative process. Prop 37 takes GMO labeling direct to the voters so Monsanto's lobbyists can't kill it.
8. If this law passes in California, food manufacturers have admitted that it may as well be a national law. They won't want to put 'this product contains GMOs" on their labels, so they will reformulate their products. And if they reformulate for California, they may as well do it for all of their products.
Early voting on Prop 37 begins on October 9. By November 6, this historic initiative will have passed or failed.
Please help OCA, OCF, and our allies raise $1 million by Sept. 30 to pass this country's first mandatory GMO labeling law. You can donate online, by phone, or by mail.
This is a David versus Goliath fight that we must win. Let's join the nearly 50 other countries in the world who already require mandatory labeling of GMOs.
For an Organic Future,
Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund
People in other countries are dumbfounded when they learn that here in the U.S., for more than 15 years, we've allowed the biotech industry and the FDA to feed us a line about the safety of genetically modified foods - and worse yet, deny us the basic right to know which foods we buy contain GMOs and which don't.
If you live in this country, you should be more than dumbfounded. You should be outraged.
You can help pass this country's first GMO labeling law, Prop 37 The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, by making a donation today.
Last week French scientists published the results of the first ever long-term study on the health effects on lab rats of Monsanto's GMO corn and its best-selling herbicide, Roundup. According to the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, rats fed a lifetime diet of GMO corn and the herbicide-tolerant GM corn, or given water containing Roundup in amounts considered safe in drinking water and GM crops in the US, suffered tumors, multiple organ damage and premature death.
The study drew some criticism for its methodology. But it highlighted the fact that we know very little about the long-term health consequences of a GMO-laden diet. It also raised this critical question: Why are GMOs allowed in our food, without our knowledge, when it's clear that they have not been proven safe?
Here are 8 reasons you want Prop 37 to pass, and why we're asking for your support.
1. GMOs have never been proven safe. The FDA conducts no independent testing of GMOs, but instead claims that they are "not substantially different" from non-GMO foods.
2. The biotech industry is not required to conduct long-term safety studies on GMOs, and it keeps researchers from conducting those tests by claiming the right to protect its patented seeds and technologies.
3. GMOs are everywhere. Today, most non-organic US corn, soy, cotton and sugar beets - which are used in most of the sweeteners and additives used by food processors - are genetically engineered. So is the feed fed to the animals you eat. In fact, 75 - 85% of the processed food in your grocery store contains unlabeled GMOs.
4. The companies who want you to believe GMOs are safe are the same ones who lied to you about Agent Orange and DDT.
5. GE crops are responsible for super weeds and super bugs, soil degradation, and lack of diversity - which makes crops and humans more susceptible to disease.
6. The only folks who don't want you to know what's in your food are huge corporations like Monsanto, Dow AgriScience, BASF and food conglomerates like Pepsi and Coca-Cola - who along with other biotech, pesticide and processed food manufacturers have donated nearly $33 million to defeat Prop 37.
7. This is our best - and perhaps only - shot at labeling GMOs and ending Monsanto's monopoly of our food supply and destruction of our health and environment. Nineteen other states have tried - and failed - to get a GMO labeling law through the state legislative process. Prop 37 takes GMO labeling direct to the voters so Monsanto's lobbyists can't kill it.
8. If this law passes in California, food manufacturers have admitted that it may as well be a national law. They won't want to put 'this product contains GMOs" on their labels, so they will reformulate their products. And if they reformulate for California, they may as well do it for all of their products.
Early voting on Prop 37 begins on October 9. By November 6, this historic initiative will have passed or failed.
Please help OCA, OCF, and our allies raise $1 million by Sept. 30 to pass this country's first mandatory GMO labeling law. You can donate online, by phone, or by mail.
This is a David versus Goliath fight that we must win. Let's join the nearly 50 other countries in the world who already require mandatory labeling of GMOs.
For an Organic Future,
Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Prop. 37 Letter from the Organic Consumers Association
Dear Organic Consumer,
We are entering the home stretch of the most important food policy fight in your lifetime. Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, is a November 6 grassroots-powered, citizens’ ballot initiative that has huge implications for the future of food in this country.
This is a battle that pits the people – you, me, moms, dads, rich, poor, young, old - against fat-cat pesticide, biotech, and junk-food corporations who for years have shamelessly manipulated science, the political system, and the truth in order to rack up obscene profits at the expense of your health and safety.
This is a battle that has nothing to do with partisan politics. National polls show that 91% of Americans – republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians - want GMOs labeled.
This is a battle that began on the ground in California and has caught fire, garnering national and international media attention, drawing donors and volunteers from all 50 states.
This is a battle that we must win . . . if we are ever going to have what citizens in nearly 50 other countries already have: the basic right to know if our food contains pesticide-injected, bacteria and virus-laced genetically modified ingredients. Ingredients that, according to a growing number of scientists, are making us sick with everything from allergies and obesity, to cancer and organ failure.
In a few short weeks, early voting begins in California. By Nov. 6, this battle will have been won or lost.
If you eat food, this is your fight. If you haven’t joined in, now is the time.
You take the risks, Monsanto gets the benefits
Would you knowingly feed your family foods that are linked to cancer and organ failure? Absolutely not. Monsanto knows this. Monsanto knows that the FDA has given it a free ride for more than 15 years, allowing its bioengineers to concoct laboratory experiments using you as their lab rat. Between 75% - 80% of all non-organic processed foods contain GMOs. Unless those foods are labeled, you are most likely a human lab rat in a vast genetic experiment.
You take all the risks, Monsanto gets all the benefits.
Scientists point to a growing body of evidence to support claims that GMOs are linked to a host of health concerns. Why didn’t we know this 15 years ago? Because without labels, it’s impossible to trace specific health concerns to their food origins. The FDA conducts no pre-market safety testing on GMO foods, instead relying on Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow chemical to vouch for their safety.
Yes, believe it or not, the FDA allows the same companies that lied to us about the safety of DDT, Agent Orange, PCBs and bovine growth hormone to conduct their own dubious safety testing on GMOs, and then use those tests as ‘proof’ that GMOs are safe.
If genetically modified foods are so safe, why is Big Ag afraid to label them? If genetically engineered foods are safe, why are biotech companies, food manufacturers, and supermarket chains spending millions of dollars to deny you your right to know?
Prop 37 is our best hope – maybe our only chance
It’s not a stretch to say that if we lose the GMO labeling battle in California, we may never get another chance to force Big Biotech and Big Food to come clean about what they are doing to the food that you and I feed to our families. While some argue that we should be focused on a national GMO labeling law, those in the know understand that without this win in California, we don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of passing a nationwide GMO labeling law.
In the past two years alone, more than 19 states have attempted to pass GMO labeling legislation. Yet despite overwhelming bipartisan public support, every one of those efforts has failed. Why? Because powerful agribusiness lobbyists have corrupted the political process.
A federal bill? Forget it. More than a million people signed a petition to the FDA demanding it act on GMO labeling – more than any other FDA petition in history – yet your guys and gals in Washington have failed to act. As long as former Monsanto guns like Tom Vilsack and Michael Taylor hold key government positions and powerful influence, there will be no federal GMO labeling law.
As California goes, so goes the nation
Major food companies have already conceded that if we pass Prop 37 in California, we may as well pass a national GMO labeling law. If this law passes, food manufacturers will take GMOs out of their products, rather than risk losing sales by slapping a label proclaiming “This product contains GMOs” on every package. They admit that from a production standpoint, it makes no sense to reformulate only the products they sell in California, the eighth largest economy in the world – they’ll be forced to reformulate all of their products for all US markets.
If this law passes, we’ll finally see GMOs disappear from products in all 50 states, just as they’ve disappeared from foods in nearly 50 other countries that already have mandatory GMO labeling laws.
The opposition knows what’s at stake. That’s why they’ve amassed a war chest of more than $32 million – so far - to kill this initiative. Monsanto alone has kicked in $7.2 million. DuPont and its subsidiaries have dumped in $4.2 million, Dow and Bayer CropScience $2 million each, and the Kings of Junk Food, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, have contributed a combined $2.8 million. The biotech and junk food processing industries are running scared because, finally, GMO labeling is going to be decided by the people – not politicians or industry lobbyists.
The battle for GMO labeling relies on you
The Organic Consumers Association and our allied lobbying organization, the Organic Consumers Fund, have been a key player in Prop 37 from the very beginning, spending countless hours, serving on the campaign’s steering committee, and raising funds. OCF has pledged $1 million – money we’ve raised from people like you who are outraged that our elected officials have ignored pleas from the overwhelming majority of their constituents to require mandatory labeling of GMOs.
Today, I ask for your continued support in this monumental David-versus-Goliath fight for what ought to be a guaranteed, basic right – a right we’ve been denied for far too long. The more money the opposition throws at this fight, the more obvious it is that for the first time ever, they believe their science experiments and huge profits – at your expense - may be at risk.
The polls show us leading in California, despite being behind in terms of raising money. But money alone won’t win this battle. It will take a herculean effort by tens of thousands of volunteers to overcome the opposition’s massive advertising campaign, a campaign of lies meant to frighten and intimidate voters into thinking a few extra words on a label will somehow be more dangerous than being a lab rat for Monsanto.
If you haven’t already, please pitch in today using our secure online donation system, by sending a check, or by calling our office to help with the ongoing mobilization of volunteers, printing of leaflets and signs, and outreach to the media to keep this issue at the forefront of voters’ minds.
If you have already donated all you can, please reach out to your friends. Forward this letter. Share it on Facebook and Twitter.
If we win this battle in California, we win it for all of us. If we lose? Monsanto will grow larger, more powerful, more arrogant, more dangerous. And the quality of your food – and most likely your health – will deteriorate.
This is your fight. And time is running out. Thank you!
Organically yours,
For an Organic Future,
Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and
Organic Consumers Fund
We are entering the home stretch of the most important food policy fight in your lifetime. Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, is a November 6 grassroots-powered, citizens’ ballot initiative that has huge implications for the future of food in this country.
This is a battle that pits the people – you, me, moms, dads, rich, poor, young, old - against fat-cat pesticide, biotech, and junk-food corporations who for years have shamelessly manipulated science, the political system, and the truth in order to rack up obscene profits at the expense of your health and safety.
This is a battle that has nothing to do with partisan politics. National polls show that 91% of Americans – republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians - want GMOs labeled.
This is a battle that began on the ground in California and has caught fire, garnering national and international media attention, drawing donors and volunteers from all 50 states.
This is a battle that we must win . . . if we are ever going to have what citizens in nearly 50 other countries already have: the basic right to know if our food contains pesticide-injected, bacteria and virus-laced genetically modified ingredients. Ingredients that, according to a growing number of scientists, are making us sick with everything from allergies and obesity, to cancer and organ failure.
In a few short weeks, early voting begins in California. By Nov. 6, this battle will have been won or lost.
If you eat food, this is your fight. If you haven’t joined in, now is the time.
You take the risks, Monsanto gets the benefits
Would you knowingly feed your family foods that are linked to cancer and organ failure? Absolutely not. Monsanto knows this. Monsanto knows that the FDA has given it a free ride for more than 15 years, allowing its bioengineers to concoct laboratory experiments using you as their lab rat. Between 75% - 80% of all non-organic processed foods contain GMOs. Unless those foods are labeled, you are most likely a human lab rat in a vast genetic experiment.
You take all the risks, Monsanto gets all the benefits.
Scientists point to a growing body of evidence to support claims that GMOs are linked to a host of health concerns. Why didn’t we know this 15 years ago? Because without labels, it’s impossible to trace specific health concerns to their food origins. The FDA conducts no pre-market safety testing on GMO foods, instead relying on Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow chemical to vouch for their safety.
Yes, believe it or not, the FDA allows the same companies that lied to us about the safety of DDT, Agent Orange, PCBs and bovine growth hormone to conduct their own dubious safety testing on GMOs, and then use those tests as ‘proof’ that GMOs are safe.
If genetically modified foods are so safe, why is Big Ag afraid to label them? If genetically engineered foods are safe, why are biotech companies, food manufacturers, and supermarket chains spending millions of dollars to deny you your right to know?
Prop 37 is our best hope – maybe our only chance
It’s not a stretch to say that if we lose the GMO labeling battle in California, we may never get another chance to force Big Biotech and Big Food to come clean about what they are doing to the food that you and I feed to our families. While some argue that we should be focused on a national GMO labeling law, those in the know understand that without this win in California, we don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of passing a nationwide GMO labeling law.
In the past two years alone, more than 19 states have attempted to pass GMO labeling legislation. Yet despite overwhelming bipartisan public support, every one of those efforts has failed. Why? Because powerful agribusiness lobbyists have corrupted the political process.
A federal bill? Forget it. More than a million people signed a petition to the FDA demanding it act on GMO labeling – more than any other FDA petition in history – yet your guys and gals in Washington have failed to act. As long as former Monsanto guns like Tom Vilsack and Michael Taylor hold key government positions and powerful influence, there will be no federal GMO labeling law.
As California goes, so goes the nation
Major food companies have already conceded that if we pass Prop 37 in California, we may as well pass a national GMO labeling law. If this law passes, food manufacturers will take GMOs out of their products, rather than risk losing sales by slapping a label proclaiming “This product contains GMOs” on every package. They admit that from a production standpoint, it makes no sense to reformulate only the products they sell in California, the eighth largest economy in the world – they’ll be forced to reformulate all of their products for all US markets.
If this law passes, we’ll finally see GMOs disappear from products in all 50 states, just as they’ve disappeared from foods in nearly 50 other countries that already have mandatory GMO labeling laws.
The opposition knows what’s at stake. That’s why they’ve amassed a war chest of more than $32 million – so far - to kill this initiative. Monsanto alone has kicked in $7.2 million. DuPont and its subsidiaries have dumped in $4.2 million, Dow and Bayer CropScience $2 million each, and the Kings of Junk Food, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, have contributed a combined $2.8 million. The biotech and junk food processing industries are running scared because, finally, GMO labeling is going to be decided by the people – not politicians or industry lobbyists.
The battle for GMO labeling relies on you
The Organic Consumers Association and our allied lobbying organization, the Organic Consumers Fund, have been a key player in Prop 37 from the very beginning, spending countless hours, serving on the campaign’s steering committee, and raising funds. OCF has pledged $1 million – money we’ve raised from people like you who are outraged that our elected officials have ignored pleas from the overwhelming majority of their constituents to require mandatory labeling of GMOs.
Today, I ask for your continued support in this monumental David-versus-Goliath fight for what ought to be a guaranteed, basic right – a right we’ve been denied for far too long. The more money the opposition throws at this fight, the more obvious it is that for the first time ever, they believe their science experiments and huge profits – at your expense - may be at risk.
The polls show us leading in California, despite being behind in terms of raising money. But money alone won’t win this battle. It will take a herculean effort by tens of thousands of volunteers to overcome the opposition’s massive advertising campaign, a campaign of lies meant to frighten and intimidate voters into thinking a few extra words on a label will somehow be more dangerous than being a lab rat for Monsanto.
If you haven’t already, please pitch in today using our secure online donation system, by sending a check, or by calling our office to help with the ongoing mobilization of volunteers, printing of leaflets and signs, and outreach to the media to keep this issue at the forefront of voters’ minds.
If you have already donated all you can, please reach out to your friends. Forward this letter. Share it on Facebook and Twitter.
If we win this battle in California, we win it for all of us. If we lose? Monsanto will grow larger, more powerful, more arrogant, more dangerous. And the quality of your food – and most likely your health – will deteriorate.
This is your fight. And time is running out. Thank you!
Organically yours,
For an Organic Future,
Ronnie Cummins
Director, Organic Consumers Association and
Organic Consumers Fund
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Activism
But what can just one of us do? Against all that money and power trying to crush us into roaches?
- Jello Biafra
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.
- Margaret Mead
It's my belief that political, social, and environmental activism are some of the most effective things that we, the common citizens, can be doing that will cause real positive change in the world. With all of the countless corporations, banks, and politicians causing harm to the world, in one way or another, it's up to us to stop them. We have to be the big obstacle for them, because nothing else will. The good thing is that we can make a difference, especially when joined together in large numbers. I know there's a lot of important issues to cover and try to fix in the world, but luckily, every one of them has atleast one large activist organization working tirelessly for the cause and attempting to create as positive a change as possible. And even better, the presence of the internet has made it easier than ever for anyone to actively become involved with any of these organizations and to help join the fight and make positive changes in the world. It's great to get out and find live activist protests and demonstrations in public to join, but when location or work schedules get in the way of that, it's still just as effective, and convenient, to join the organizations "Action Alerts" teams and work from home (just follow the "Take Action" links). Most of the organizations make this as quick and easy as possible for their participants. So without further ado, here is a list of organizations that I strongly recommend getting involved with:
GreenPeace - http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - http://www.peta.org/
Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.edf.org/
Flouride Action Network - http://www.fluoridealert.org/
Global Exchange - http://www.globalexchange.org/
Organic Consumers Association - http://organicconsumers.org/
Right to Know GMO - http://www.carighttoknow.org/
Green America - http://www.greenamerica.org/
Answer Coalition - http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html
Natural Resource Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/
Oceana - http://oceana.org/en
World Wildlife Fund - http://worldwildlife.org/
United For Peace and Justice - http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
The Nature Conservancy - http://www.nature.org/
War Resisters League - http://www.warresisters.org/
Center for Biological Diversity - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
Clean Water Action - http://www.cleanwater.org/
Earth Justice - http://earthjustice.org/
Conservation International - http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx
Healthy Child Healthy World - http://healthychild.org/
Eco Health Alliance - http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/
Clean Clothes Campaign - http://www.cleanclothes.org/
This is just a small example of the many organizations that are out there. If you'd like, you can join any one of those, as well as searching for other ones that focus on the main issues that you care about. Consider the quote "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." The world needs our help right now, and I hope you'll join the effort.
- Jello Biafra
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.
- Margaret Mead
It's my belief that political, social, and environmental activism are some of the most effective things that we, the common citizens, can be doing that will cause real positive change in the world. With all of the countless corporations, banks, and politicians causing harm to the world, in one way or another, it's up to us to stop them. We have to be the big obstacle for them, because nothing else will. The good thing is that we can make a difference, especially when joined together in large numbers. I know there's a lot of important issues to cover and try to fix in the world, but luckily, every one of them has atleast one large activist organization working tirelessly for the cause and attempting to create as positive a change as possible. And even better, the presence of the internet has made it easier than ever for anyone to actively become involved with any of these organizations and to help join the fight and make positive changes in the world. It's great to get out and find live activist protests and demonstrations in public to join, but when location or work schedules get in the way of that, it's still just as effective, and convenient, to join the organizations "Action Alerts" teams and work from home (just follow the "Take Action" links). Most of the organizations make this as quick and easy as possible for their participants. So without further ado, here is a list of organizations that I strongly recommend getting involved with:
GreenPeace - http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - http://www.peta.org/
Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.edf.org/
Flouride Action Network - http://www.fluoridealert.org/
Global Exchange - http://www.globalexchange.org/
Organic Consumers Association - http://organicconsumers.org/
Right to Know GMO - http://www.carighttoknow.org/
Green America - http://www.greenamerica.org/
Answer Coalition - http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html
Natural Resource Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/
Oceana - http://oceana.org/en
World Wildlife Fund - http://worldwildlife.org/
United For Peace and Justice - http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
The Nature Conservancy - http://www.nature.org/
War Resisters League - http://www.warresisters.org/
Center for Biological Diversity - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
Clean Water Action - http://www.cleanwater.org/
Earth Justice - http://earthjustice.org/
Conservation International - http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx
Healthy Child Healthy World - http://healthychild.org/
Eco Health Alliance - http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/
Clean Clothes Campaign - http://www.cleanclothes.org/
This is just a small example of the many organizations that are out there. If you'd like, you can join any one of those, as well as searching for other ones that focus on the main issues that you care about. Consider the quote "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." The world needs our help right now, and I hope you'll join the effort.
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