Initiative 522--labelling GMO food

[eridani]

The past week has brought some progress and some delays. Please pardon us for not sending a note as promised last Friday, we believed that we would be further along than this by now, however the Secretary of State's office had some delays in starting the validation process of I-522. We have been informed that they will start validating signatures next week and should have final numbers by the end of the week. You can keep track of the progress online at: www.sos.wa.gov/elections/Initiatives-FAQ.aspx

There have been a few questions that have come up as late and I hope I can clarify some of them.

Food and Water Watch

FWW has gifted us with some of their coordinators and field people for the campaign and they are working in tandem with our initiative and cause. They are our temporary boots on the ground as we get through these last phases of the signature drive and we encourage everyone to work together. As we progress through the year we are going to need all the skills and help we can get. FWW is here for a short time to lend us support and help train anyone that asks.

Bumper Stickers, Print stuff, etc.

We've gotten a lot of requests for bumper stickers and hope to have those available in the coming month as well as new materials on the website for you to download and print. We do have campaign buttons available for a small donation of at least $5 to cover costs, just send us an email request to [e-mail] after you've made a donation. Some materials, such a yard signs, will be available during the next phase of the campaign if/when legislation decides to send I-522 to a vote of the people in November.

What can I do right now?

You can find your local representatives and get the conversation started about why YOU want GMO foods labeled and why this issue is important to you. Also think about penning articles to your local newspaper editor and favorite websites. The more vocal we are about this issue the more successful we will be. If you do get printed in a publication or on a website let us know and we will help promote it as well.

Please think about making a donation to the campaign, we will need every dollar we can muster to combat the misinformation that will come from the opposition moving forward.

Donations can be made easily online here https://labelitwa.nationbuilder.com/contribute?utm_source=labelitwa&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1_25&recruiter_id=738

or mail a check to:

Label It Wa
PO Box 65018
University Place WA 98464

Thank you for your continued support!

Chris McManus
I-522 Sponsor

http://www.labelitwa.org/
Label It Wa ·
PO Box 65018,
University Place, WA 98464

[eridani]

1. I 522 Genetically engineered foods hearing 2/14

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2013&bill=522
House - HI 522 Senate - SI 522
Genetically engineered foods

Feb 14 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Water & Rural Economic Development at 10:00 AM. (Subject to change)

[eridani]

2. Why Labels on Genetically Engineered Foods Won't Cost Consumers a Dime

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/448-farm-and-food-policy/17018-why-labels-on-genetically-engineered-foods-wont-cost-consumers-a-dime

The biotech industry, led by Monsanto, will soon descend on the state of Washington to try their best to defeat I-522, a citizens' ballot initiative to require mandatory labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. Voters should prepare themselves for an onslaught of discredited talking points, nonsensical red herrings, and outright lies designed to convince voters that they shouldn't have the right to know what's in the food they eat.

Topping the biotech industry's propaganda playlist will no doubt be this old familiar tune: that requiring retailers to verify non-GMO ingredients in order to label them will be burdensome and costly, and the additional cost will be passed on to consumers who are already struggling to feed their families.

Playing to consumers' fears of higher food costs makes good strategic sense, especially in tough economic times. But the argument doesn't hold water, say food manufacturers and retailers who already have systems in place for verifying non-GMO, as well as rBGH-free, trans fat-free, country of origin and fair trade. The system involves using chain-of-custody, legally binding affidavits, not expensive testing.

"We have used the affidavit system repeatedly, without undue burden or cost," said Trudy Bialic, Director of Public Affairs for Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets. PCC, the largest consumer-owned natural food retail co-operative in the United States, uses the affidavit system to ensure their chocolate isn't made using child slave labor, their dairy products don't come from animals subjected to rBGH hormones, and that all seafood was harvested using sustainable sources and practices.

[freshwest]

3. Already seeing bumper stickers on cars saying those who are smart support 'science'

and to vote against the measure.

WA state has been the target of some of the most intense RW propaganda I've ever seen. We'll see who wins this one.

IDK anyone who doesn't want food labeling. Stores nearby make a point of listing COO and if organic or non-GMO. It doesn't mean that produce from China, or GMO or non-organic produce or foods aren't being bought by those who care.

To those who don't want us to have the choice, I ask, what's in it for them, how does it hurt to have it labeled. All I've seen are accusations of woo or calling those who want information stupid. Such hostility is not a good strategy to get people to give up wanting the information.

[eridani]

4. Analysis by Community Alliance for Global Justice

GMOs and Initative 522

By Vanessa Lopez, CAGJ Volunteer

This coming November, Washington state citizens will get a chance to vote on yet another controversial issue, leading the US in progressive social change….at least we hope. Initiative 522 (I-522) was submitted to the state legislature on January 4th with 340,000 signatures representing Washington citizens who believe that they have the right to know if the food they are about to consume was genetically modified. In the months leading up to the vote, I will be offering a well-rounded analysis about the issue with resources and links to keep you intelligently informed. For now, I want to start out with the basics. As an initiative, there are three possible paths for I-522. Legislators can pass it into law just as it is, place it and a legislative alternative on the ballot, or place it on the ballot for a public vote just as it was submitted. At this point, only the last option remains. So the race begins! Two support groups have formed to further the argument for, Yes on 522, and against, No on 522, the initiative. According to Food Democracy Now’s Dan Flynn, “No on I-522 has already received almost $1 million from five big guns:

•The Grocery Manufacturers Association ($472,500)
•Monsanto (242,156.25)
•DuPont Pioneer ($171,281.25)
•Bayer Cropscience ($29,531.25)
•Dow Agroscience LLC ($29,531.25)
They also spent $110,000 contracting Winner & Mandabach Campaigns”, a ballot measure consulting firm who has had success in 3 recent Washington campaigns – “for charter schools, against a soda tax, and for the privatization of state liquor sales”. Funding can equal immense power and an understanding of who funds political issues certainly gives you an idea of who cares about the issue. This was especially important in the late defeat of Proposition 37 in California, where the opposition outspent the supporters by about 40 million dollars. Some of the same groups that defeated proposition 37 in California are opposing Washington’s I-522 by claiming that labeling should not be required because it would:

• Unfairly hurt Washington farmers, food producers and grocers;
• Create more state bureaucracy, costing taxpayers millions;
• Increase food prices paid by Washington families;
• Potentially lower agribusiness profits by reducing sales among consumers who have a baseless fear in GMO’s (ok I added that one, but I have a feeling it was in their first draft of the platform)

“Yes on 522” has a different perspective. They believe that consumers have a ‘right to know’ if a food or processed food ingredient contains genetically modified DNA. If this initiative is passed by Washington voters, the decision to consume genetically modified food shifts away from the producer, processor, chemical or agroindustrial industry and falls directly on the shoulders of the consumer. Read the rest of the report here, including how you can diminish the opposition’s impact and support adoption of GMO labeling. http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2013/07/gmos-initiative-522/

[eridani]

5. Ask Whole Foods and Trader Joes to pony up more bux for 522

I-522 Washington ballot initiative to label GMOs, perhaps the most crucial consumer right-to-know battle in 20 years. Washington is just 10 weeks away from mailing ballots to voters. And yet, no sign of major donations from leading organic or “natural” companies, despite their claims that they support consumers’ right to know.

Will the wealthy corporate giants of the organic food, “natural” products and vitamin supplements industries - Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, UNFI (United Natural Foods), Stonyfield Farm, Hain Celestial, White Wave, Horizon Organic, Ben and Jerry’s, and their trade associations, the Organic Trade Association and the Natural Products Association - put their money where their mouths are?

Two and a half years after coming under fire for trying to arrange a back-door deal with Monsanto and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow for the “peaceful coexistence” of genetically engineered (GE) and organic food and crops, and one year after sitting on their hands while Big Food and Big Biotech dumped $46 million into defeating a popular California Ballot Initiative that would have required mandatory labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and outlawed the routine industry practice of fraudulently labeling GMO-tainted foods as “natural,” the majority of the Organic and Natural Elite are “missing in action” once again

A dozen or so organic companies, retail stores, consumer organizations, and supplements manufacturers, including Dr. Bronner’s, Organic Consumers Association/Fund, Mercola.com, Nature’s Path, Presence Marketing, PCC Markets, Center for Food Safety, and Food Democracy Now, have made significant financial contributions to the Yes on I-522 campaign. Yet the bulk of the industry, as well as major labor, environmental and “progressive” groups, are still throwing in what amounts to pocket change, or nothing at all.

Please see email below. Thank supporter Dr. Bonner (see email below). Make a donation to I-522. Contact local Trader Joe’s, & Whole Foods and tell them they need to support and contribute to I-522 or you won’t support the, and that they need to get the company as a whole to contribute and support I-522. Let’s be a thorn in the local store’s side so they will place pressure on the corporate office.

Pass this on to your friends, because I know you care.

Trader Joes:

Galer: 206- 378-5536
Roosevelt: 206-547-6299
Ballard: 206-783-0498



Whole Foods:

Westlake: 206-621-9700
Interbay: 206-352-5440

[eridani]

6. 13 Lies GMO Labeling Opponents are Recycling in Washington State

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28148.cfm

It’s déjà vu all over again. Last year a coalition of out-of-state, multinational biotech, pesticide and junk food corporations spent nearly $46 million to narrowly defeat Proposition 37, California's GMO Labeling Initiative.

Now, the same who’s who of the world’s most notorious global corporate bad actors has descended on Washington State. Why? To try to stop Washington State voters from passing I-522, a citizens’ initiative that, if passed, will require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in all food products sold in Washington State.

Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies, designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests.

Here are the lies. And the facts. Please read, print, email, roll up and stuff into a bottle you launch into the sea . . . whatever it takes to spread the word that while $46 million may buy a lot of lies, it doesn’t change the facts.

[eridani]

7. Sign up to be a signature gatherer for next year's initiative

We have an opportunity to bring democracy back to the USA. Sound a little grandiose? Well, maybe, but only just a little. We've witnessed how little productive change has occurred in the last several years and decades.

Someone has to turn this ship around. Absent any serious effort from our representatives, I guess it's up to us. Fortunately, we are not alone.

As you know from earlier messages, Pat Daly and I are your representatives/delegates to WAMEND. WAMEND is a coalition of organizations working to send a message to Congress that a Constitutional Amendment is needed to restore the primacy, the sovereignty of We the People. The number of member organizations in Washington is 25 and growing.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's attack on us for over 120 years with fantastical decisions granting pieces of paper the birthrights of humans and BIG MONEY the right to overwhelm our political processes with unlimited spending, we are building a groundswell to demand that amendment and to support its ratification.

It starts here, now. Recruitment and planning is underway. Starting in January, we will need at least 3600 dedicated activists to collect the signatures of at least 325,000 registered Washington voters on our public initiative. The initiative will call on our representatives to pass an amendment clarifying that:

1. The birthrights of human beings, some of which are listed in the Bill of Rights, belong to human beings only, not to corporations or other organizations created by law,

2. Congress and state and local governments have the ability to level the playing field by regulating how much money any individual or organization can spend in elections or the political process in general, and

3. Expenditures and donations shall be promptly disclosed to the public.

Beginning in January, we will have just under six months to get the job done.

So, we are rapidly approaching crunch time when we will either do something about this or slip quietly into the shadows and just kvetch about our situation.

The good news is that in addition to the 25 member organizations, we have about 10% of the signature gatherers we think we will need already signed up. We are asking each one to gather the signatures of 100 registered Washington voters. 3600 Super Citizens like you will go forth in teams and with backup to get this initiative on the ballot in November 2014. Will you be a Super-Citizen who helps us in early 2014? We’ll provide everything you need.

Please sign up here: http://wamend.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=140161aab15478e0b58358cfa&id=e962522f5b

We definitely need and want your help. You can help in as many ways as you can imagine.

You can find out more about this effort at www.wamend.org.

Thank you for joining this amazing and crucial effort to restore the will of We the People.

[eridani]

8. Join the Truth Squad

Yes on 522 is the campaign to label genetically engineered in Washington State. Like me, they believe shoppers should be given the information to make their own choices. Will you join me in supporting their campaign by adding your name as an endorser (www.yeson522.com/endorse)?

Lots of things already have labels. We know about sodium and sugar levels, natural or artificial flavorings, farmed or wild caught salmon. We should get to know whether the food we buy is genetically engineered or not.

Labels matter because they give us the information we need to make informed decisions about what we eat and feed our families. Please take just a moment to add your name as an endorser of Yes on 522 here: www.yeson522.com/endorse.

Together we will pass labeling of genetically engineered food this November.

[eridani]

9. Premiere of GMO OMG film in Seattle 9/18

I would like to invite you to our long anticipated WA premier of GMO OMG, a documentary which I exec. produced. It's a beautiful film that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year and has since won a number of festivals. Watch the trailer. I hope you can join us.

Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Avenue - "Hammering Man" entrance (1st & University St)

7.00 pm - cocktails and organic food

7.30 pm - GMO OMG screening

Please RSVP to [e-mail]

Seats are limited so RSVP today. This event is free, however if you would like to help support the film's wider release, please donate online at GMOfilm.com

[uppityperson]

10. Thank you for posting all of these. I've been seeing mostly negative ads, but looking at who

backs which ads has told me which way to vote.

[eridani]

11. GMO documentary 10/13 at Anacortes library

Saturday, October 12: Confused about GMOs and how to vote on I-522? Watch the 85-minute documentary "Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives," an award-winning film that may change your diet, help you protect your family, and accelerate the consumer tipping point against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For more info about the film, see http://geneticroulettemovie.com/. Heather Burke will lead a discussion afterward, and she promises healthy refreshments will be on hand. Anacortes Library, 3:30 pm.