The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) will be holding a “Litigation” Conference February 25-27th at the Ritz Carlton, in Dana Point. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss legal issues in the food, beverage, and consumer product industry. According to “Supermarket News,” the planned topics include domestic and international product liability litigation; FSMA regulations, and class action suits. That sounds like something one would expect to learn about at a litigation conference, however, the advertisement for this one has an emphasis on “labeling.”
I wonder if there will be any discussion about the GMA’s “money laundering” lawsuit filed by Washington State’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson. An article in the “Sustainable Pulse” written last October stated:
Washington State’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit this week against the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), big food’s national lobby group representing brands like General Mills, Kellogg’s, Kraft and Pepsico, for violating the state’s campaign disclosure laws. Ferguson alleges that GMA, the largest contributor to the ‘No on 522′ campaign, illegally collected and spent a sum of $7.2 million to defeat Washington’s GE labeling initiative, while hiding the identity of its contributors.
Spending huge amounts of money to defeat Washington’s initiative is not the first time the GMA has played dirty politics. They spent millions to defeat Prop 37, California’s Right to Know initiative in 2012.
In 2005, GMA was a founding member of the “Alliance for American Advertising”, whose stated purpose was to defend the food industry’s alleged First Amendment right to advertise to children and to promote voluntary self-regulation as an alternative to government action.
A coalition of organizations that represent consumers are planning a protest outside the hotel Saturday, February 22nd called “Operation Shopping Cart – Expose the GMA.” I spoke with one of the main organizers of Saturday’s event, DMarie Mulattieri, about why she is concerned with the GMA regulating what is allowed to be labeled on our foods.
“The GMA is a trade association of the food industry. It represents the world’s largest branded food, beverage and consumer product companies. The Grocery Manufacturers Association has taken a stand AGAINST labeling GMOs. If consumers want to know what is in their food they have the right. The GMA doesn’t think so. The GMA is about maximizing profits for its participating food suppliers, they care nothing about the health of the consumer.
Operation Shopping Cart – Expose the GMA is being sponsored by a coalition of organizations that represent the consumer. We have nothing to gain except our health and health of the people that choose to listen to our message. The GMA plans to sue any community/state that passes GMO Labeling laws or declares GMO Free Zones. In their minds, labels equate to bad PR. In our minds, we hope it wakes the consumer up to further research the safety of GMOs.
The GMA plans on totally deceiving the American consumer by having the FDA allow GMO foods to be labeled as “natural.” There is nothing natural about genetically engineered foods. This is tampering with the DNA of the seed, it is not hybridization.
Besides attacking our democratic process and deceiving the consumer, the GMA is also attacking the State of Washington’s elections Disclosure Law that requires full disclosure of top funders in election advertising. Why? Because Washington found the GMA guilty of money laundering $11 million dollars used to defeat Washington’s GMO Labeling initiative, I-522 in full violation of their state disclosure laws. The GMA is more evil than Monsanto.”
I think the average American consumer still believes the government agency, the FDA, is responsible for making sure that our food is safe to eat. If the FDA doesn’t think GMO foods need to be labeled then who are we to argue with them? Mulattieri argues:
“The FDA would like Americans to believe the myth that their approval is equivalent to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Unfortunately, that is simply not true. Consumers can no longer trust their government to make decisions in their favor. The cross over of ex-Monsanto employees or consultants that now hold government positions is astonishing. Obama appointed Monsanto’s VP of Public Policy as the FDA commissioner! Linda Fisher, former VP Government & Public Affairs for Monsanto was appointed as the Deputy Admin for the EPA! Roger Beachy, former Director of Monsanto Danforth Center was appointed by Obama to be the Director of USDA NIFA and the list goes on and on. We basically have foxes guarding the hen house.
Mulattieri went on to say:
“Our goal is to educate more people as to the dangers of GMOs and how deceptive agri-business and government have become in dealing with the American consumer. It is our goal that consumers will stop relying on information purported as truth, when in reality it is simply propaganda designed to drive up profits. We all must take responsibility
Second, we will let the GMA know that their plans to confuse the American consumer, to restrict our right to know what is in our food, and to desecrate our democratic process is well known and that we will not stand by and allow it to happen. We stopped a war in Syria, we will stop the GMA. Americans are not ones to roll over when injustice is happening. They just need to know. That’s what Operation Shopping Cart – Expose the GMA is all about…exposing the injustice in the United States. Over 64 countries have GMO labeling laws our outright bans and so should the United States!”
Members of the GMA can try to silence those who want food GMO labeled. They can continue to “buy” politicians and government agencies all they want, but they should remember that we, the consumer have the power to decide which companies will survive this food fight. Many food manufacturers are already jumping off the “GMO ship” and voluntarily changing their formula to GMO-free. Will those who attend the litigation conference be wise enough to listen to their customers or will they fall for the slick attorneys spiel on how to “sue” their way to profits?
If you want to join Saturday’s action, you can visit their Face Book Page and sign up.
https://www.facebook.com/events/585216761561929/
Current coalition partners include:
Americans Organized for Change
Food and Water Watch
GMO Free Orange County
Label GMOs: California’s Grassroots
March Against Monsanto – Laguna Beach, CA
Moms Across America
Organic Consumers Association
Overpass Light Brigade – San Diego
Yo Soy Maiz
.
Here is the new Face Book page where you can find out more about Saturdays action.
https://www.facebook.com/events/452392338223512/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
And just in case this page disappears, here is the event poster:
Sources:
http://supermarketnews.com/gma-litigation-conference-0#ixzz2tjdHbgV2
http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/2012/07/31/fighting-gmo-labeling-in-california-is-food-lobbys-highest-priority/
Good report, Inge. I presume that you’re going to the protest; are you going to cover the conference? I think that I need to renew your press pass.
(Should the dates be Feb. 25-27th?)
yes and yes
*These folks are in big trouble. The FDA recently named All Soy Products as Allergens…….that need to be listed on all packaging. Between the Hi-Fructose Corn Syrup, the Linseed Oil, the Parabens, the Hydrogenated Canola Oil and Soy Oil, Soy Lecithin, Soybean Oil, Soy Protein and Vitamin derived Soy…….they are finding it tough to sell those disasterous Girl Scout Cookies except to the Stoners in front of the Marijuana Stores. Just went into my favorite Donut Shop today….and asked if they used any Soy in their products. They said NO….except for the Soy Oil they use to deep fry the donuts in. My last donut was several months back, but we won’t be getting any more donuts at that location. Ask your Donut maker what Oil they use. No Canola or Soy Oil……for sure!
I am horrifically allergic to canola oil, good luck finding a restaurant that doesn’t use the stuff. Think about it, where are the “canolas” that someone is pressing to get that oil? Yeah…doesn’t exist in nature. Fake food, we are living on fake, dead food, and we wonder why everyone around us is dropping from cancer and heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Thanks for this report.
*Couldn’t have said it any better. What a concept? Create products with 3 and 4 year shelf life. Mark the packages for one year. Take all the returns and repackage those same products for another year. Girl Scout cookies….anyone?
Canola oil is derived from varieties of rape plant. So it does come from a plant….NOT thin air.
And ah……on average we are living far longer than any other generation in the history of man. Yes….there are more instances of cancer and such than before….but a lot of that is because we are living long enough now to develop such things.
I am trying to put a colition together to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. This chemical is used in many industries including the nuclear industry….please join me in this effort.
*Dude, you are so much slime…..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
Kiss our back side and spend the rest of day at home alone!
Wow….so hostile….did I hit some kind of nerve here?
What do mean “legally fooling” people………it is not really that hard to find lots of information on foods that are sold. Just google if you are do inclined……..this looks like a big no issue to me…….an artifact of our litigous society.
You don’t live in the real world, know real actual people, or care.
I do……that’s the point. I would you folks do not live in the real world.
You and 2 other protestors have fun at hte rally.
When I’m talking about real life and real people, what I mean is that MOST people are busy, and unaware of a lot of health dangers, and they come home from work and go by the store, and they see what’s on the package and the ads on TV, and nobody bothers to go research their food on the internet or whatever, let alone spend time determining which sources are to be trusted and which ones are shills. Hence, for the sake of all average Americans’ health, we need honest labeling.
What rally?
Oh darn…looks like I missed the rally.
My point is that for just about any business there is no real upside to selling people things that harm or kill…..that in itself is bad for business….it is therefore self regualting to a larger degree than most people realize.
I realize there may be exceptions in there but life is a risk…..and nothing we do is going to make our world 100% safe….even if you created a police state.
In all seriousness, as a libertarian, I think there are much more pressing issues to advance than this one.
Bladernr1001 – You undoubtedly are busy NOT Paying attention to what is going on around you. If you can sell a product forever…why not? Let’s take Shelf Life. You can easily create a cookie that lasts for four years. You put them on on the market with Use By of six months. The unsold cookies come back to you and you re-package them in new boxes for another six months….. Ever hear of mold on bread? Probably not in the last 10 years. Why? Because the shelf life of bread is now eternal. Nothing turns green anymore. So, you don’t mind ingesting cancer causing time capsules that go off in your brain and trigger illness. Look in your food cabinet – Look at all the things that list Soy Lecithin….not the 50 other things which are bad as well. This accumulates in your brain as fat cells. In your liver, around your heart and in your veins. All soy products in the United States are 100% GMO. They contain Roundup from Monsanto and Dow Chemical….they are a poison which is 100% undigestible. It however is not like beer that gets passed through your kidneys ….no it accumulates in your body. Why is Soy only allowed in products made in America….not in Europe or in smaller countries that want to keep their citizens in good health. You can close your eyes, spread your thighs and the Food Industry will give you a big surprise….when you won’t expect it. By hey, maybe you don’t have any belly fat? Hey, maybe you don’t care how many Diet Cokes you drink a day. Hey, it’s a free country….eh?