A FINE KETTLE OF CHIPS
Ronnie Cummins- Organic Consumers Assoc.
ESSAY OF THE WEEK
Big Dairy’s Big (GMO) Lie
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) is one of the corporate front groups suing Vermont in an attempt to block the state’s GMO labeling law. The trade group is also lobbying for H.R. 4432, an anti-consumer, anti-states’ rights bill, introduced in April (2014) in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.). The bill, dubbed by consumers as the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act, would preempt all state GMO labeling laws. HR 4432 would also legalize the use of the word “natural” on products that contain GMOs.
IDFA President and CEO Connie Tipton has been an outspoken opponent of consumers’ right to know. In her address to this year’s Dairy Forum, she noted that consumers “can be harsh critics on topics such as genetically modified organisms,” and then went on to criticize “restrictive labeling requirements” as “a straightjacket on innovation and marketing.”
Why would the IDFA spend millions to defeat GMO labeling laws, including launching a lawsuit against Vermont?
Isn’t the dairy industry the “Got Milk?” people, the ones who wear milk mustaches to get kids to drink what the industry promotes as healthy whole food? Doesn’t the IDFA represent the family farmers whose black-and-white cows graze happily on green grass outside picturesque red barns?
Truth be told, those idyllic images have nothing to do with reality. They’re part of a carefully orchestrated, and very expensive public relations campaign aimed at keeping consumers in the dark about what’s really in the “dairy products” products (can you say GMOs?) on grocery shelves.
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEKInquiring Minds Would you like to know if the faculty at public universities, whose paychecks come out of your taxpayer dollars, are producing pro-GMO articles and studies at the request of public relations firms that work for companies like Monsanto? We would. So would the nonprofit U.S. Right to Know (USRTK). That’s why the group filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests two weeks ago, asking for correspondence and emails to and from professors and scientists at public universities who wrote for the agrichemical industry’s website, GMO Answers. GMO Answers was created by Ketchum Inc., a public relations agency that also represents Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. According to USRTK: We taxpayers deserve to know the details about when our taxpayer-paid employees front for private corporations and their slick PR firms. This is especially true when they do work for unsavory entities such as Ketchum, which has been implicated in espionage against nonprofit organizations. Espionage? It’s true—and it’s all here in a recent report published by USRTK, Seedy Business. The universities have been “rattled” by the requests, according to a report in Science Insider, which also reported that so far, one of the universities (at least four have received requests) has refused.
USRTK asked for letters and emails exchanged after 2012 between the scientists and 14 companies and groups. The list includes Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Dow, Council for Biotechnology Information and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), and corporate PR firms including FleishmanHillard and Ogilvy & Mather. The scientists—many of whom have publicly supported agricultural biotechnologies—are debating how “best to respond,” according toScience Insider.
How about truthfully? Read the Science Insider article
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ACTION ALERTA Fine Kettle of Chips On January 14 (2015), the Organic Consumers Association asked Kettle Chips to withdraw from the Snack Food Association (SFA), a trade group that along with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Industrial Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), is suing the State of Vermont, in the hope of overturning the nation’s first ever GMO labeling law. In our letter to Marc McCullagh, brand manager for Kettle Chips, we asked that Kettle Chips stand by its brand values by withdrawing from an organization that is spending millions to keep consumers in the dark about what’s in their food. Kettle Chips already labels its products as GMO free, so we thought this would be an easy call for them. Yet despite our request that the company respond to our letter by February 1, we’ve heard nothing. Kettle Chips banks on health-conscious, organic consumers to keep the company profitable. It’s time to pay back that consumer loyalty by withdrawing from the SFA. If not, Kettle Chips could join the long list of Traitor Brands that consumers have chosen to boycott because their parent companies have donated millions to defeat GMO labeling laws. TAKE ACTION: Tell Kettle Chips: Stand up for Consumers’ Right to Know! Quit the SFA! Read OCA’s Letter to Kettle Chips Post on Kettle Chips facebook page |
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ACTION ALERTConserving Nature? Or Promoting GMOs? The Nature Conservancy (TNC) calls itself “the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.” According to its website, TNC “addresses the most pressing conservation threats at the largest scale.” So you might be surprised to learn that TNC is funded by some of the world’s worst polluters and destroyers of the earth’s soil, air, water and food system—and that one of those companies is Monsanto. TNC, which is ranked among the nation’s most trusted organizations, makes no attempt to hide its connections to companies like Monsanto, Alcoa, BP Oil, and Dow. It’s right there on the company website. Here’s what TNC CEO Mark Tercek has to say about GMOs. (Warning: It’s pretty much the same thing Monsanto has to say about GMOs): “Another agricultural technology we should consider carefully is genetic modification. The National Academy of Sciences has found no adverse health effects from GMOs, and also concluded that they can be environmentally beneficial in some ways.”
TAKE ACTION: Tell Nature Conservancy CEO Mark Tercek: Get Out of Bed with Monsanto! TNC CEO Mark Tercek on twitter |
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SUPPORT THE OCA & OCFCan’t Donate? Just Vote! Depending on where you live, you might be grateful that we’re almost halfway through the month of February. But for OCA this year, halfway through February means halfway to the end of a valuable fundraising opportunity, because OCA was selected by CREDO as one of three nonprofits that will receive CREDO funding this month (February). How much funding? That depends on how many votes we receive between February 1-28. Who can vote? Anyone who has ever signed a CREDO petition, or purchased CREDO mobile or credit card services. So this month, we’re asking that you support OCA with your vote. Of course, good old-fashioned, regular donations are always welcome, too. Thank you! Sign a Credo petition to be eligible to vote Donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education) Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our GMO labeling legislative efforts) |
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VIDEO OF THE WEEKBackflips for Biochar Just outside San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico, OCA’s Vía Orgánica project operates an organic teaching farm that uses organic, regenerative farming methods to restore land that, once fertile, has been damaged and eroded for decades, thanks to poor farming practices. Part of the farm’s restoration includes the use of biochar. So what is biochar? And why does it matter? On this tour of Rancho Vía Orgánica, Biochar Bob sees for himself how biochar is building fertile soil in Mexico, giving local people food, while providing hope for local farmers. (You won’t want to miss Biochar Bob’s backflip). |
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GUEST BLOGJuicy Details Blogger Gerrick Dee, who documents his “juicing journey” as he calls it on Juicing with G, recently uncovered some juicy details about the number of pesticides on fruits and vegetables. He wrote about his findings, because that’s what bloggers do. But to make it easy for consumers to identify the Dirty Dozen, the Clean Fifteen and the worst culprits of all—the Dirty Dozen Plus—Dee created an infographic. Dee used to shy away from organic because of the extra cost. But after reading about the health risks associated with pesticides, he changed his views. He also made it a point to include tips (at the end of the infographic) on where to buy affordable, organic and local produce. |
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FAIR WORLD PROJECTThe Power of Art Never underestimate the power of art to change the world. OCA’s Fair World Project (FWP) is filming a documentary, featuring Vandana Shiva and other food sovereignty luminaries, on how small-scale farmers are the key to both feeding the world, and reversing global warming. To help promote the documentary and amplify its message of hope, FWP commissioned political artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez to create a beautiful work of art that will be used on posters, t-shirts, and FWP publications. Climate change is the most urgent challenge of our time. Small-scale regenerative organic farming, which uses widely available and inexpensive methods, holds the solution. If we transition away from our chemical- and fossil fuel-intensive model of industrial agriculture, toward the regenerative organic model, we would not only reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions escaping into the atmosphere—we could sequester 100 percent of current carbon dioxide emissions. But to do it, we need to stand with small farmers. To achieve a critical mass of support, we need to get the word out. More information and how to support the project |
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LITTLE BYTESEssential Reading for the Week Regenerating Our Soils Is Key for Saving Mankind GMOs Will Never Feed the World, but Here's Something That Will Bumblebee's Brain Impaired by Widely Used Insecticide McDonald's Eats Its Words after Tamales Facebook Ad Sparks Backlash in Mexico Processed to Death - Get These Cooking Oils out of Your Pantry STAT! Farmers File More than 360 Corn Lawsuits against Syngenta Ear Tubes May Not Have Long-Term Benefits for Kids with Ear Infection |
ronniecummins@organicconsumers.org