Genetically modified food | Be a Seed for Change

Below is an email from Frederick Ravid, a MoveOn member who created a petition at SignOn.org that is spreading like wildfire on the Internet, and we think you should check it out. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

Dear MoveOn member,

President Obama appointed former Monsanto vice president and lobbyist Michael Taylor as senior advisor to the Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

This is a classic example of the fox guarding the henhouse. President Obama should isolate the FDA from corporate influence by asking Taylor to step down immediately.

That’s why I created a petition to President Obama on SignOn.org. Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=269891&id=35269-21087915-c0s4_0x&t=2

The petition says:

President Obama, I oppose your appointment of Michael Taylor, a former VP and lobbyist for Monsanto, the widely criticized genetically modified (GM) food multinational, as senior advisor to the commissioner at the FDA. Taylor is the same person who as a high ranking official at the FDA in the 1990s promoted allowing genetically modified organisms into the U.S. food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety or risks. This is a travesty.

Taylor was in charge of policy for Monsanto’s now-discredited GM bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which is opposed by many medical and hospital organizations. It was Michael Taylor who pursued a policy that milk from rBGH-treated cows should not be labeled with disclosures. Michael Taylor and Monsanto do not belong in our government.

President Obama, Monsanto has been seen as a foe to family-based agriculture, the backbone of America, by introducing dangerous changes to plants and animals and by using strong-arm legal tactics against farmers for decades. Naturally occurring plant and animal species are permanently threatened by the introduction of DNA and hormonal modification, Monsanto’s core businesses.

FDA scientists once regarded genetic modification of the food supply as the single most radical and potentially dangerous threat to public health in history. As early as the 1991, a body of scientific research began to form which now includes articles in over 600 journals. As a whole, these offer scientific evidence that GM foods, hormones, and related pesticides are the root cause for the increase of many serious diseases in the U.S. Since GM foods were introduced, diagnosis of multiple chronic illnesses in the U.S. has skyrocketed. These illnesses include changes in major organs and in hormonal, immune, digestive, and reproductive systems. These modifications to foods and food production may also be contributors to colon, breast, lymphatic, and prostate cancers.

Experts are discouraged that regulators and GM companies systematically overlook potential side effects of GM. Monsanto’s objective to use biotechnology to change the world’s food supply is the opposite policy direction your administration should pursue. Your legacy of supporting Monsanto to have free rein in U.S. food policy is a nightmare scenario that is against the interest of all Americans and world citizens.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=269891&id=35269-21087915-c0s4_0x&t=3

Thanks!

–Frederick Ravid

The text above was written by Frederick Ravid, not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. This email was sent through MoveOn’s secure system, and your information has been kept private.

Tell the FDA you have the right to know when your food is genetically modified.

The first genetically engineered (GE) meat approved for human consumption might soon be on its way to a supermarket near you – a fast-growing salmon developed by a company called AquaBounty Technologies.

But it gets fishier. If AquaBounty’s GE salmon is approved for sale, the FDA might decide to put it right next to normal salmon in the meat case, without any special labeling. Consumers would be none the wiser.

We deserve to know if the meat on our plate is genetically engineered or not. Companies and FDA officials shouldn’t keep us in the dark about the foods we eat or feed to our families.

Tell the FDA you want labels on genetically engineered foods so you can make an informed choice.

No labeling is a dangerous precedent to set for genetically modified foods. Recent drug recalls have shown us that just because the FDA approves something doesn’t mean it’s safe in the long term. Any adverse effects of genetically modified meat on people might not show up until it’s already been consumed by a large number of Americans. And by then it’s too late. Without labeling, it will be even harder to recognize and track problems that might be caused by GE foods.

AquaBounty Technologies’ own scientists are telling the FDA that its GE salmon is perfectly safe. But there’s no way they can prove these claims, and we can’t dump unlabeled GE salmon into the food supply on the word of the company that stands to make a profit.

The FDA is being heavily lobbied by AquaBounty Technologies about its forthcoming decision, and now needs to hear from concerned consumers like you about whether GE salmon should be labeled or not.

Tell the FDA to require labeling of genetically engineered salmon so that consumers can decide for themselves whether to buy and eat it.

It’s up to the FDA to keep our food supply safe, and it’s up to us to let the FDA know where consumers stand on GE foods.

Thanks for taking action

– The Change.org Team