July 11, 2013

Monsanto, November, and You

Dear Organic Consumer,

 

In less than four months, voters in Washington State will make a decision that will affect all of us.

 

Will Washington voters say “Yes” to mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods? Or will Monsanto and the Junk Food Giants succeed, as they did in California last year, in frightening or confusing just enough voters to kill Washington’s I-522 GMO labeling initiative?

 

Please help us win this key GMO labeling battle, and continue to build momentum for GMO labeling in other states, by making a donation today. If we raise $150,000 by July 27, natural health leader Mercola.com will make a matching donation to the OCA.

 

Already the pesticide makers – Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Bayer – along with the Grocery Manufacturers Association on behalf of Big Food, are building a war chest to defeat I-522. Why? Because they know that a win in Washington will force food manufacturers to reformulate their products, rather than put a GMO label – the kiss of death - on those products. And if they have to reformulate in Washington, it only makes good economic sense to reformulate all of their products, not just those sold in one state.

 

But there’s another reason the biotech and food industries want desperately to win in Washington. If they can defeat another citizens’ initiative, as they did in California, they believe they can prove that there simply isn’t enough consumer demand for GMO labeling laws.

 

I-522 may be our last opportunity to prove that we are not going away. It may be our last chance to beat Monsanto.

 

Thanks to your overwhelming support last year for Proposition 37, the California Right to Know citizens’ initiative, the GMO labeling movement has come a long way. Earlier this year, Connecticut and Maine passed mandatory GMO labeling laws. Those bills are sitting on the desks of Governors Malloy and LePage. Assuming both governors sign, neither law can take effect until four or five other New England states pass similar laws.

 

The wins in Connecticut and Maine are testaments to the power of grassroots organizing and the strength of the GMO movement. They represent two huge strides forward.

 

But we need a win in Washington in November to seal the deal, to force food manufacturers in the U.S. to finally give us what consumers in 64 other countries already have: the right to know what’s in our food.

 

Momentum is on our side, as are Washington State consumers, legislators, farmers and fishermen. We can’t let this opportunity pass us by. We must not give up this fight.

 

Your donation will be worth twice as much, if we reach our goal of $150,000 by July 27. Please help us defeat Monsanto and the Junk Food Giants in November by making a donation today. Thank you!

In solidarity,

 

Ronnie Cummins

National Director, Organic Consumers Association and Organic Consumers Fund

 

 

 

P.S. – Donations to the Organic Consumers Fund, the 501(c) 4 allied lobbying and legislative action arm of the OCA, are not tax deductible. If you need your donation to be tax-deductible, please donate here to the OCA to help continue our critical GMO public education campaign.

ronniecummins@organicconsumers.org