Stop Monsanto, Cargill, et al, From Outlawing Organic Produce

Stop Monsanto, Cargill, et al, from outlawing organic produce

Started by Ani L. Schwartz

Educating Congress: Do Not Supress Organic and Small Farmers and Ranchers; Natural Food Products

Farmers Under Attack...
This urgent message is from our correspondent, Linn Cohen-Cole:

We have just weeks to stop the take over of family farms and ranches,organic and natural foods.

H.R. 875 and S. 425 [and similar bills such a H.R. 759]
We need to rally people immediately. 
The new administration is pushing new farm controls through Congress as fast as possible and have coordinated the bills so there will be no debate and the committee meetings are closed.  

Transparency, change, undoing Bush's regulations, giving the public time to comment, grassroots anything?  Our entire food system and thus our health is being decided without the public knowing and those who do know have zero access and the media is absent and they are moving at warp speed to sew this up.

Would you put these out, in this order, showing the article as you do so people are more likely to read it?  They are imperfect but the closest I've come to explaining how the game is going to be played.  No direct, frontal assault on organic farming but an insidious process of "infecting" organic farming...  

Example: imagine Joel Salatin's wonderful organic farm under the direction of the USDA, with detailed instructions on what he must feed and when, how he must medically "treat" his animals and with what, what he must "spray" and when, ... you get the picture. 

These bills will industrialize all farms and insure the farmers are forced to buy chemicals and drugs.  Organic is dead.  As well as human control over the food supply.  As well as health.

Schoolmarm approach to punishing farmers out of farming. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-and-the-Schoolmar-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090214-935.html

Bills being rushed through Congress, set to destroy organic farming.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-bills-being-rushe-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090217-758.html
 
Linn Cohen-Cole is a dedicated researcher and "Paul Revere" of health freedom. At her urging, we've set up an Action Item for you to send an unmistakable message to your representatives in the Senate and the House. We must educate Congress that you do not want organic and small farmers regulated out of existence. You do not want "Big Agra" regulations, perhaps necessary to protect the public when dealing with large scale agra business, applied to organic and small family farms and ranches or to natural and organic food products, including Dietary Supplements.

LINK: Send a message to Congress.  
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-criminalization-of-see-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090301-82.html     

EDITABLE PETITION:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Protecting Organic and Small Family Farms and Ranches; Natural Food Products

Natural Solutions Foundation, www.HealthFreedomUSA.org, as part of its efforts to educate Congress regarding the inestimable benefits of health care freedom of choice, asked its hundreds of thousands of supporters to let our Congressional representatives know about our concerns for the protection of organic and small family farms and ranches from new legislation and regulation that is more properly applied to large-scale agricultural businesses.

Our concern focuses on pending legislation to establish a “Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services.” This bill is H.R. 875 and the Senate is considering a similar bill, S. 425. While we do support DIVESTING THE FDA and USDA of their often mis-used food authority, we do not support these bills. AS MY CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, I WANT YOU TO VOTE AGAINST THESE BILLS and any substitutes, such as H.R. 759.

If Congress insists upon passing these bills, it is very important that Congress write into these bills specific language protecting organic and small family farms and ranches. These enterprises and all natural products, including organic and natural food products and Dietary Supplements, must be exempted from the controls of these bills.

Such products and such farms and ranches are not part of the food safety problem. The problem is with mega-farms and agra business facilities.

We demand that our natural and organic food products, Dietary Supplements and their producers be protected from the increased regulation of food producers provided in these pending bills and any similar enactments.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Health Freedom was one of the Top Ten Social Issues on Change.org and was added to the President's Briefing Book on Change.gov - “Health Freedom is Our First Freedom!”

Addendum: Kindly accept this PETITION requesting that Congress amend the pending bills to include a specified Rule of Interpretation:

PETITION

To Amend the Food Safety Modernization Act
H.R. 875 [and Substitutes]

By the Addition of the

Natural and Family Food and Farming Exclusion Amendment

To:  The Members of the Congress of the United States of America:

Whereas the proposed Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services should focus its activities on the significant public administration issues involving the capacity of large scale, industrialized agriculture to threaten public safety,

Whereas organic and natural agriculture, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements are not a significant part of the food safety problem, and

Whereas Congress previously provided for an exemption for natural food dietary supplements from the increased agency authority granted by the FDA Modernization Act of 2007, through a rule of interpretation, added as section 1011 of that Act, and has on numerous occasions exempted small and family farms from the same level of regulation as has been deemed necessary in the case of industrialized agriculture,

The citizens ascribing to this Petition therefore hereby request that the Food Safety Modernization Act be defeated, or that it, or any substitute for it, such as H.R. 759, be amended to exclude organic and natural agriculture, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements, through a rule of interpretation, as follows:

“Rule of Interpretation"

“No provision of this act shall be deemed to apply (a) to any home, home-business, homestead, small farm organic or natural agricultural activity, (b) to any family farm or ranch, or (c) to any natural or organic food product, including dietary supplements regulated under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.”

We also note the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC sec 203 (s) (2) which provides, "(2) Any establishment that has as its only regular employees the owner thereof or the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the immediate family of such owner shall not be considered to be an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or a part of such an enterprise..." Language such as this would be helpful to allay our concerns.

If the FDA Center for Food Safety is to be moved into a new Food Safety Agency, then Dietary Supplements, regulated as foods under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) should be included in such agency, with the proviso that such substances, as foods, are deemed safe when used as directed.

Furthermore, the ascribing citizens Petition the Congress of the United States to declare it the public policy of the United States that organic and natural agriculture, family farms and ranches, and natural or organic food products, including dietary supplements shall be at all times free from suit, vexation, trouble, penalty, or loss of their goods, for the inestimable values they confer upon the public.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This action is shared between food, healthcare, global health, humanitarian aid, fair trade, poverty, genocide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

This is an ongoing pledge that should be fulfilled as often as possible

Keep Vigilant - If We Lose This Battle, Our Lives Will Be Forfeit!

I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog, so here's a list of links that should keep you all vigilant in regards to the dangers of genetically-modified foods:

http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/12342-volunteers-and-resistant-weeds-hitting-us-farming - Volunteers and resistant weeds hitting US farming

http://blog.cosmicegg.net/2008/05/review-controlling-our-food.html - Controlling Our Food


The link above comes from Cosmic Egg, and below is a link to the video Controlling Our Food:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6262083407501596844


http://www.rense.com/general79/seedsa.htm - Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Seeds of Destruction" - Pt 3


http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=14570 - GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMDangerousFutile.php - GM is Dangerous and Futile

http://www.ijsaf.org/contents/16-1/lotter1/index.html - The Genetic Engineering of Food and the Failure of Science – Part 1: The Development of a Flawed Enterprise
http://www.ijsaf.org/archive/16/1/lotter1.pdf

Abstract: A major conflict has developed in science and society between promoters and opponents of transgenic foods. Food, feed, and fiber products derived from transgenic agricultural crops are presented here as a different case from bacterial, industrial, and pharmaceutical crop transgenics and should be parsed from the larger transgenics industry for comprehensive re-evaluation and market roll-back. Reviewed is the development of the crop transgenics industry; the early influence of the biotechnology industry over the US federal regulatory agencies in the context of the development of minimal regulation; the basic technology of plant transgenics; the main transgenic crops, traits, and producing countries; consumer resistance to transgenic foods; industry problems with shrinking investments; the worldwide promotion of transgenic crops; and ecological issues of transgenic crops. Flaws in the one gene–one protein model, the foundation of transgenics, are reviewed in the context of the recent and ongoing restructuring of the science of genetics. Research on the mutational consequences of plant transgenics and its phenotypic ramifications such as allergens and novel proteins is discussed. Major research findings and ‘red flag’ incidents in the history of transgenic foods and feeds are reviewed that reflect the flaws in the genetic foundations of transgenics.

I am a scientist. I understand that many past scientific achievements have improved the lives of human beings worldwide, but one thing that should not be tampered with is our food supply. This is dangerous in the extreme - the fact that scientists have created "terminator genes" that turn off the reproductive power of seeds is horrifying, and should be to you as well. Let's liken this possible catastrophe to the disaster currently taking place in the Gulf; witness BP's absolute lack of ability to stave off the leaking of millions of gallons of oil. Before they were allowed to drill underneath a mile of water, shouldn't they have had a plan, if and/or when things went awry?

They DIDN'T...and now, denizens of those gulf states are paying with their livelihoods.

You may have read about the farms that were taken from the farmers whose livelihoods depended on them, all because of cross-pollination of GM seeds with their crops. In no way should those companies ever been able to take away some farmers' crops; but that is exactly what has happened. Percy Schmeiser is a great example of the evil side of GM.

There is a great video called The World According To Monsanto - it looks like the full video has been removed from Google Video, but you can find it elsewhere. Here is a 30-minute excerpt.

WideEyeCinema has the full video.

I think we've a long way to go before GM foods are actually safe for consumption; and at this point, GM foods are strictly a profit-making venture, regardless of what the companies' mission statements may read. Until those two points are addressed, I see no reason why GM foods should NOT be labeled as such, and We The People can make an informed decision about what it is that we are ingesting.

British pressure for GM crops unwelcome in Europe

Governments in the UK have been accused of ignoring the safety concerns of many countries about new food technologies

John Vidal, environment editor guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 July 2010 20.10 BST

While the British government says GM crops are essential as the world's population grows, they have been banned in Germany

Britain is one of Europe's most vigorous cheerleaders for the expansion of GM crops. Along with Spain and the Netherlands it has lobbied the European commission to overturn the 12-year moratorium and has committed hundreds of millions of pounds of public money to agricultural research around the world.

The previous government, as well as leading scientists, argued strongly that GM crops are needed for national use as well as to help developing countries feed rapidly growing populations.
This stance was firmly backed last month by the new environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, who, in an interview with the Guardian, committed the coalition government to continuing and extending Labour's pro-GM position. She said she was in favour of GM foods "in the right circumstances".

Tomorrow's offer to allow national bans on GM crops in return for allowing large-scale commercial planting in other pro-GM countries is the latest attempt by the UK and other countries to open up the European market which they believe is worth billions of dollars a year.
"Britain regularly resists attempts in the European parliament to better regulate what remains a highly controversial industry," said Green MP and former European MEP Caroline Lucas.
"Opposition to GM crops is hardening in many European governments with Germany banning all the crops last year and Austria, France, Greece, Hungary and others invoking a 'safeguard clause' in EU legislation allowing them to ban them."

"Britain has consistently voted in favour of lifting GM bans, despite the safety concerns raised by other member states. It tried to end the EU moratorium on growing GM; it was the only EU state to oppose a plan to label food containing minute traces of GM material and last year it battled to prevent Germany banning a Monsanto maize crop," she added.

Friends of the Earth food campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaran said that some member states are losing confidence in the judgment of the European commission on GM issues.

"Thanks to the support of the UK government, commission president (José Barroso) has become a stooge of the powerful agro-tech industry, which threatens to dominate the global food industry of the future if left unchecked," she said.

"The UK government has been openly pushing to weaken European laws on 'zero tolerance' towards entry to the EU of illegal GMOs (genetically modified organisms). It wants to allow contamination of imports to the UK with GMOs unapproved in Europe. Defra and the Cabinet Office have said that UK animal feed could quadruple in price within two years if growers in Brazil and Argentina produce more GM soya, which is banned in Europe," she added. The GM crop would displace conventional soya so making it more expensive.

The government's chief scientific adviser, John Beddington, has been a strong advocate for using new technologies, such as GM, to feed a growing world population, estimated to increase by 3 billion within 40 years.

In January he called for a "green technological revolution" which was widely interpreted as a GM revolution. He told the Guardian: "If GM technology can address some of the problems in agricultural production that conventional breeding or other technologies cannot, or can address them more efficiently and effectively, then clearly we need to be thinking about adopting it."
Beddington's comments followed a Royal Society report which backed GM foods, and speeches by Gordon Brown and other ministers calling for a debate on the issue.

Lord Smith, head of the Environment Agency, said in February that GM technology would be crucial for adapting to climate change. "We probably need to be readier to explore GM options, coupled of course with proper environmental safeguards, in adapting to the changes that the climate will bring."

Britain plans to give an estimated £80m a year to the Cgiar network of international agricultural research organisations which do most of the world's publicly-funded GM research.
The Department for International Development is the second biggest national funder of the network and has promised a further possible £60m to research drought-resistant maize for Africa, pest resistant crops and biofortified rice modified to increase vitamin A. Much of the work is expected to be in GM technologies.

The GM industry argues that scientific evidence from 15 years of widespread use of the technology has shown it to be safe, popular with farmers and a way of making agriculture more sustainable.

"In looking at GM the UK government may have considered the food security needs of the UK, which is a densely populated country with an increasing population. They may be concerned that UK food self sufficiency went from 74% of all food in 1990 to 59% in 2007," said a spokswoman for Monsanto UK.

"In the future, Monsanto would like to offer UK farmers and ultimately consumers a choice of UK crops grown with GM."

Greenpeace urged countries and consumers to reject the EU proposals.
"Member states should be aware that in the next couple of weeks they will be offered an empty promise, the result of which stands to change irreversibly the face of European agriculture for the worse. We call on the European Parliament and member states to reject this deal to ensure a GM-free future," said a spokesperson for the NGO.

Check the comments to this article - you will see that the nay-sayers are dealing with actual issues of concern; the well-wishers are just sticking their heads in the sand.