CALL TO ACTION – PROTECT

OUR FOOD SUPPLY & YOUR RIGHT

TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU EAT

 

 

mapBills to require GMO labeling will be considered in 2015 by the RI House Health, Education & Welfare Committee (Hew) and the RI Senate Health & Human Services Committee.  How can you help this effort?

 

 

FIND YOUR STATE SENATOR

& REPRESENTATIVE AT:

https://sos.ri.gov/vic

 

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR TO

TELL THEMYOU WANT GMO LABELING

IN RHODE ISLAND!

 

 ASK THEM TO TAKE OUR LEGISLATOR SURVEY AT:

http://toxicsinfo.org/surveys/GMOLegislativeSurvey.htm

 

**Corporate influence at the Federal & Global level is working towards a virtual monopoly of our food supply.  “Revolving door” regulators don’t protect us. 

 

**We can join Connecticut & Maine in passing GMO labeling – thus triggering their bills to take effect.

 

**Also, learn how to avoid GMOs in your food now – and tell food producers & retailers you won’t buy them.

 

 

FOR MORE ON HOW TO HELP IN RHODE ISLAND

& TALKING POINTS ON GMOS & LABELING

 

CONTACT:  Liberty Goodwin, Director,

Toxics Information Project (TIP), 401-351-9193, liberty@toxicsinfo.org, or see www.toxicsinfo.org.  

 

For actions on Facebook contact:

Wendy Fachon, wendy@netwalkri.com

 

GMO LABELING

WHAT’S THE SCOOP?

 

64 COUNTRIES ROUND THE WORLD LABEL GE FOOD

WHY?  WHY NOT THE U.S.?  WHY NOT RI http://gmoinside.org/64-countries-around-the-world-label-ge-food/

 

A QUICK GUIDE TO THE QUESTIONS & CONCERNS

AND WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW IN LITTLE RHODY

 

People around the country are mobilizing to require that food containing genetically modified organisms be labeled as such. It is basically a “Right-to-Know” issue.

 

However, what’s all the fuss about?  Are GMOs harmful?  If not unhealthy for most people, should they be identified anyway, so the possible few who might react to them can avoid exposure?  (As is done re: peanut, & dairy allergies).  This little flyer gives you a quick read on the topic.

 

 

 

THE RI FOOD CONCERNS GROUP

(Protecting Our Food Supply from GMOs, Pesticides

& Factory Farming).  CONTACT:  Liberty Goodwin, Director, Toxics Information Project, Providence, RI

 (TIP)Tel. 401-351-9193, E-Mail:  liberty@toxicsinfo.org, Web:  www.toxicsinfo.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

CUTTING THROUGH THE GMO CONTROVERSY

 

A Consumer’s Guide To Clarity Vs. Conflicting Claims

 

 

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?  GMOs are not the same as traditional agricultural hybrids – they involve combinations of entirely different species.  Scientists are divided on the subject of GMO safety, possible health and environmental effects.  No one has “proof”, but there is a large amount of evidence causing concern.  Some say GMOs are safe & productive, others claim they have adverse health effects on humans, animals, crops & farmers. 

Here are some questions that can help the ordinary person to consider these claims & come up with sensible responses.  Each utilizes only generally accepted facts, not disputed ones..

 

USING COMMON SENSE TO

QUESTION GMO POSITIONS

 

1.                  Consider the Source:  Who is most to be trusted?  Do the researchers who are performing studies have ties with commercial interests?  Does that influence their work & findings?  GMOs are designed to permit use of herbicides such as Round-Up and 2-4-D (an active ingredient in Agent Orange) that would otherwise damage crops.  The GMO sellers also make and market the herbicides.  Should we believe their claims that GMOs result in less herbicide use?

2.  What Does History Teach?  DDT, advertised as so safe you could drink it, had to be removed from the market. Antibiotic resistance from over-use in farming is a serious concern.  Could resistance to Round-Up result in the need to apply more or different pesticides?

 

3. Are There Real Health Concerns? Scientists disagree.  Personal stories are most compelling as to actual cause & effect, but some people react to ingredients that others don’t (peanuts, soy, etc.) Already there are reports of people whose symptoms were relieved by going on non-GMO diets.  How can sensitive folks avoid GMOs if they’re not labeled?

 

4.  What’s the Real Impact on Farmers?  Resistant weeds develop after a few years, requiring more or different, possibly more toxic herbicides to be used. 

Is there also a Pandora’s Box concern?  Seeds blow with the wind.  Monsanto has sued organic farmers for GMOs deposited unwittingly on their land.  Can non-GMO options be maintained if contamination becomes widespread?

 

5. Consider Economic Concerns: What might be the effect on costs & diversity if several large multi-national corporations control significant portions of the world’s seed supply?  If farmers have to pay each year for new seeds, will retail prices rise? 64 countries require labeling of GMOs.  Companies change labels all the time.  Why no reports of increased costs from these?

 

6.  Rights & Responsibilities:  Who has the ultimate right to decide what we will put into our bodies?  Is it those making money from selling the food – or we who consume it?