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Genetically Engineered Seeds Germinate Statewide Grassroots Coalition for Safe Foodby
Louise Maher-Johnson Everyone
eats food. Many of us care enough to actively pursue safe, natural,
healthful
food. But how many of us actively avoid genetically engineered (GE, aka
GM)
food — that is, food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
food
that is unregulated by the FDA, food that has been rushed to market in
the last
ten years without benefit of health or environmental safety research,
and food
that has been produced by a biotech cell invasion process that lands
foreign
and unpredictable genes in the DNA of every cell of the food we eat? Such genes
include pesticide-producing genes and Roundup Ready genes,
engineered to
withstand herbicide, and antibiotic- resistant genes. All of these
never-infood- before genes are said to perform a disappearing act in
the
stomach, before they enter our blood and tissues; but no one knows if
this is
or isn’t so. Research should be mandated. Buying only
non-GM food is probably a good idea. But it’s tricky to ascertain if a
food is
genetically engineered or has genetically modified ingredients. Soy is
the exception.
If you buy soy formula for your baby, it’s not so tricky: 80% of soy,
both in Food
Security and Honest Weight What to do?
Shop at a place like Honest Weight, where lots of whole and minimally
processed
foods, from organic, transitional, or conventional but non-GMO farms,
and from
known, often local, producers are available. The Coop takes its
healthful food
mission seriously and is focusing more and more on local produce, which
is the
best way to ensure food safety. This policy
is nourished, in part, by Honest Weight’s outreach coordinator, who
organizes
year-round events like Earth Day and info tabling at the Coop, and also
responds to calls that come in regularly from local farmers’ markets,
churches
and schools inviting Honest Weight to table on food issues at their
events. Honest
Weight shoppers also have the opportunity to join volunteer or member
credit committees
whose purpose is to educate and even organize around food issues. The
Nutrition
committee, for instance, has been involved since last March in planning
for a
statewide lobby day to educate legislators about the need to protect
food by
simple labeling of both seeds and food with GMO content, and also to
protect
our “Future
of Food” Lobby Day Prior to lobby
day, a Nutrition committee member and/or Park Slope Food Coop member
went to
the state Legislative Office Building (LOB) one day a week for almost
three
months, keeping appointments with legislators and staff on both the
Assembly and
Senate consumer and agriculture committees to discuss secure food
issues. They
were able to convince Assemblyman P. Rivera to introduce three new
bills, and
Assemblyman F. Ortiz to amend his existing bill to ensure more
protection for
farmers. Our local assemblyman, Jack McEneny, was very helpful and has
been a
leader for years in introducing GMO bills — on food labeling,
establishing a
moratorium until further research is done, funding for GMO safety
research,
labeling milk products with GM growth hormone, and protecting the New
York farmer
against lawsuits by biotech companies when unwanted and unplanted GM
seeds
sprout on farmland. McEneny is a sincere proponent of food safety. The seed
for this lobbying effort germinated last summer when Honest Weight
hosted a
meeting of representatives from several food coops, including Park
Slope Food
Coop of Brooklyn, “The
Future of Food” Documentary Honest
Weight (almost 4,000 shareholder members), along with Park Slope Food
Coop
(12,000 members), were the initial roots of this grassroots effort to
educate legislators
weekly and to organize “The Future of Food” lobby day, which was held
on June
15. Sixty-nine citizen-activists attended 58 legislative appointments
here in Another root
system for this lobby day “seedling” was its namesake, the exceptional
documentary
“The Future of Food.” The film will finally open in This
excellent and comprehensive film was the pre-lobby day “education” tool
presented
to legislators as “homework.” It was also shared and screened by the
Nutrition committee,
including several house party showings. The
Future of NYSAGE These
grassroots are spreading. NYSAGE, an organization of food coops and
CSAs, has
joined with NOFA-NY, a broad and effective association of farmers,
gardeners and
consumers, to cosponsor a second lobby day on February 8, 2006. This
coalition with
NOFA-NY and other farm-andfood groups will grow to fruition with the
passage of
consumer protection/food safety regulations in Louise
Maher-Johnson is a member of Honest Weight’s Nutrition committee and
NYSAGE. |
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