Connecticut Needs Immediate Help to Pass a Mandatory GMO Labeling Law
Currently that would mandate labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This bill would give us the transparency that citizens of 50 other states, including all of Europe, Japan, Brazil, China, Australia, and New Zealand already enjoy.
We want the right to know what foods contain GMOs so that we may have the ability to choose whether or not to feed GMOs to our families. GMOs are in 80 to 90 percent of all the processed foods in America, yet most Americans have no idea when they are eating GMOs because of the lack of labeling. If you are eating processed food with derivatives of soy, corn, canola, cottonseed, or sugar beets, and that food has not been certified organic or verified as Non GMO by the Non GMO Project, then you are consuming GMOs. If CT HB 5117, the mandatory GMO labeling bill, is not called for a vote before May 9th, the bill will die.
Righttoknowct.org needs YOUR help to get this bill passed. Regardless of what state you live in, HB 5117 will affect you! If CT can lead the way for GMO labeling legislation, other states will follow. If this bill is defeated, it will deter other states from attempting to pass similar legislation and the Biotech industry will have yet another victory.
Below are action steps you can take to support the Connecticut GMO labeling bill.
Time is running out.
Righttoknowct.org needs your help now.
# 1
PLEASE CALL AND E-MAIL THE CT HOUSE LEADERSHIP URGING THEM TO CALL HB 5117 FOR A VOTE THIS WEEK
Speaker of the House:
Christopher Donovan
Christopher.Donovan@cga.ct.gov
860-240-8500, 1-800-842-1902
House Majority Leader:
J. Brendan Sharkey (D)
Brendan.Sharkey@cga.ct.gov
1-800-842-1902 | (860) 240-8500
House Republican Leader:
Lawrence F. Cafero, Jr. (R)
Larry.Cafero@housegop.ct.gov
1-800-842-1423
# 2
TELL CONNECTICUT LEGISLATORS TO SUPPORT OUR RIGHT TO KNOW
Tell your legislators to vote in favor of CT HB 5117, a mandatory GMO labeling bill. Go towww.righttoknowct.org to send letters to CT legislators asking them to support the bill. Click on the link and it will only take minutes.
# 3
ATTEND THE RALLY ON FRIDAY, MAY 4TH, FROM 11:30 - 1:00 PM AT THE CAPITOL IN HARTFORD
You have a right to know what is in your food! Support the GMO labeling bill and Right to Know CT who will rally at the Capitol on Friday, May 4, from 11:30-1:00 pm, after which we will hand deliver the Right to Know petition to the legislature The rally will be held on the north side of the state Capitol building that overlooks the park, so let’s meet there. Come anytime from 11:30-1:00. Please prepare a sign or banner to help promote our mission, to get HB 5117 passed to mandate GMO labeling in our state. Please remember, this is a Pro-GMO labeling event, not a Non-GMO event, all signage should stay on message. Analiese Paik, Tara Cook-Littman, Bill Duesing, and Bob Burns among others will each make brief statements at the rally so passers-by and the media will hear the many reasons why GMO labeling is important for CT consumers. Please tell your legislators to attend the rally and show their support.
# 4
SIGN THE PETITION
http://www.change.org/petitions/speaker-donovan-president-of-the-senate-williams-governor-malloy-support-our-right-to-know-what-is-in-our-food-and-enact-hb-5117-into-law
# 5
E-MAIL AND CALL GOVERNOR MALLOY
Governor Shumlin of Vermont has already succumbed to the pressures of Monsanto and is refusing to support Vermont's GMO labeling bill, we CAN NOT allow this to happen in CT. E-mail and call Governor Malloy in CT and tell him to support our right to know and support CT HB 5117. Tell Governor Malloy that CT is not alone, the country stands behind Connecticut's efforts to mandate GMO labeling. Governor Malloy www.governor.ct.gov (click contact link to send e-mail)1-860-566-4840 / 1800-406-1527
# 6
FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW
http://www.thehour.com/online_features/hot_topics/shopping-advice-knowing-what-s-in-your-food/article_662e7d2a-bc97-5673-937e-e82041a538f2.html http://www.visionmagazine.com/archives/1201/1201_culture_gmo.html
In the US, by 2009/10, 93% of the planted area of soybeans, 93% of cotton, 86% of corn and 95% of the sugar beet were genetically modified varieties. Yield is the main reason for genetic programs in the first place, so lets not BS anybody. Why would somebody pay more for seed that produced a lower yield, DUH.
In 1998, the World Bank forced India to open up its seed sector to global corporations like Monsanto. The global corporations changed the input economy overnight. Farm saved seeds were replaced by corporate seeds, which need fertilizers and pesticides and cannot be saved. Farmers used to reserve a portion of their crop each year to plant the next one, but they weren't allowed to do that with agricorp seeds. This new expense increases poverty and leads to indebtedness. Also, cotton prices have fallen dramatically. Cotton producers in the US are given a subsidy of $4 billion annually. This has artificially brought down cotton prices, allowing the US to capture world markets previously accessible to poor countries. The WTO rules for trade in agriculture are, in essence, rules for dumping. We complained when the Chinese dumped cheap steel into the market, driving American steel companies (already weakened by competition with Japan in prior decades) into the ground. The WTO has allowed wealthy countries to increase agribusiness subsidies while preventing other countries from protecting their farmers from artificially cheap imported produce (no tariffs).
GMO = Government Modified Organism (so we can make lots of corporate money for campaigns!) Local, grassroots, organic, natural farming and food production is essential, essential, to maintaining not only our spirits as Americans who can produce, but it also establishes pride in community. All this technology is cool and wonderful and makes us feel like we are all connected in some kind of electronic commune, but in its sterility and genericness, it fails to do the simplest of things, ie, feed us properly. For that, one needs to search out the local farms and develop relationships with said farmers. Corporate food moguls and monopolies? Shoot, why aren't those hippie wanna-be Occupiers protesting them?
Regulations mandate labelling of all ingredients in food, why shouldn't added foreign genes be listed as well?