Last week Peter Shumlin, Governor of Vermont, signed the first “no strings attached” GMO food labeling bill. Food manufacturers will now be required to inform consumers if their products contain GMOs and will no longer be allowed to call genetically engineered foods “natural” or “all natural.”
Last year Monsanto threatened to sue the state of Vermont if they passed a GMO labeling bill and it looks like they are keeping their word. On May 9, the GMA confirmed that it will sue Vermont in federal court to overturn H. 112. According to an article in Organic Consumers Association:
Governor Shumlin is ready for the legal fight and told constituents that he signed it because the people of Vermont have a right to know what is in their food. He told his citizens he works for them and will not cave in to the threats of multi-national corporations.
In California, SB. 1381, our own version of the GMO labeling bill just passed the state senate.
You can make sure your voice is heard about our own labeling bill by contacting your state representative and Governor Jerry Brown:
http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html
https://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php
Good for Vermont and its governor for having the balls to stand up and say NO by damn we won’t get intimidated by threats of lawsuits!
*Maple syrup is not all the same……..and they actually know the difference in
Vermont.
How do we help?
You know, the GMA’s obvious desperation is just making it worse for them.
Greg, click on the link at the bottom of the post to find your representative and his/her contact info….and then go to Gov. Browns link to call him or send him an email. We need to really push this…that’s what the people of Vermont did and their Gov. heard them loud and clear.
What else does the GMA do?
“The Grocery Manufacturers Association has opposed virtually every state bill across the nation that would restrict the sale of junk food or soda in schools. Michele Simon, in her book Appetite for Profit, found in a search of the GMA website more than 126 hits relating to schools, most of which are either submitted testimony or a letter filed in opposition to a school-related nutrition policy.”
from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grocery_Manufacturers_Association#Political_contributions