CALL-TO-ACTION: JOIN OUR LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN. On December 9th, we will hand deliver your letter to Congress telling them why you need mandatory GMO labeling. We know this is a busy time of year. For taking a couple of minutes to write, the first 100 people to submit a letter to Congress via our email account info@gmofreeusa.org (we will print and deliver for you) will receive a FREE sample kit of organic skin care products from Annmarie Skin Care! Additionally, 6 randomly chosen letter writers will receive one of 5 organic cotton grocery bags or a copy of the best-selling book, “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth”. The submission deadline is midnight, Eastern Time, on Tuesday, December 8th. Next Wednesday, December 9, a team from GMO Free USA will travel to Washington, DC to hand deliver these letters to Senators and Representatives from each state. Please join us by writing a letter to your Congressperson — together our collective strong voices will be heard!
We have learned that the Senate Agricultural Committee may attach a policy rider to the upcoming omnibus government spending bill which is scheduled for a vote no later than December 11, 2015. The rider would preempt States’ Rights to require mandatory labels on GMO foods and put in place a costly, voluntary, technology driven disclosure system. This voluntary GMO labeling scheme proposed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), would take the form of a QR (Quick Response) code. Shoppers in stores would have to scan the code with a smart phone, taking them to a company-maintained website, containing a lengthy, ambiguous paragraph about the GMO content of the product…instead of a simple label, stating “contains genetically engineered ingredients”. Yet another poll released just a few days ago confirmed that 90% of consumers want a simple, clearly worded on-package statement, just like 64 other countries already have.
Here’s a SAMPLE LETTER — please personalize and add your own comments as well.
Dear Members of the U.S. Congress:
I, along with 90% of Americans, want a simply worded, on-the-package label that tells me if a food was produced using genetic engineering. I oppose the use of a costly and unnecessary QR code scheme for the following reasons:
QR codes are socially unjust and discriminatory. The codes would discriminate against shoppers who cannot afford smartphones or a monthly data plan; elderly individuals not familiar with internet technology; disabled people, who can barely manage shopping at all.
QR codes are not a replacement for words on a label.
QR codes will be voluntary, not the mandatory labeling we need.
QR codes would be far more expensive than a simple label. Companies will have to re-tool their product labels to include the code, rework their websites constantly with new information, provide signage and in-store scanning devices for those without smartphones. All of this will be very expensive, and certainly passed on to the consumer.
Americans will likely incur increased costs for cell phone data usage and upgrades to more expensive smartphones with internet access.
Scanning QR codes would be cumbersome for busy shoppers, for instance, mothers with small children.
Stores would have to supply much expanded internet service to accommodate shoppers.
The product ingredient information would be determined and controlled by the very companies wanting to sell their product, as opposed to a third party regulating agency.
Companies will have access to data from customers’ searches, and have the ability to use the information for marketing or other purposes. This is an invasion of privacy.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR STREET ADDRESS,
CITY, STATE AND ZIPCODE (ALL REQUIRED)
Email your letter to: info@gmofreeusa.org – Thank You!
WE NEED TO KNOW IF IT’S GMO!
And please DONATE to help us continue fighting the DARK ACT. Donate HERE.