> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # DARK Days Ahead? - Newsletter 061915 from Organic Consumers Association - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/organic_consumers_association_0619150721/ - Published: 2015-06-19T08:17:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T18:11:25.000Z - Description: An Organic Consumers Association newsletter on the House hearing over H.R. 1599, which it calls the DARK Act, arguing the latest version would preempt state GMO labeling laws and also wipe out state and local laws regulating where GMO crops can be grown. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Politics, #vivvo-import [ ](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BAJtOvaQx0ahgN9hI66c2yrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK # DARK Days Ahead? Today, at 10 a.m., Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and their band of pro-GMO, anti-consumer, stomp-all-over-states’-rights outlaws will stand before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and ask the Committee to support H.R. 1599. We’ve been calling H.R. 1599 the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, because that’s what the bill is intended to do—keep you in the dark about the toxic chemical-drenched GMOs in your food. But that’s only half the story. Since Pompeo introduced his bill-to-kill GMO labeling laws earlier this year, he’s been tinkering with the language. Now, the latest version of the DARK Act is [even darker](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nb7EeBYD2BzvYNUpXhve3CrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) than the original. **In fact, if you thought the** [**Monsanto Protection Act**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=zFI1%2BkNx5O4V%2BU6OG%2FFKXirzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) **was bad (and it was), the new-and-improved DARK Act is the Mother of all Monsanto Protection Acts.** In addition to preempting states’ rights to label GMOs, the latest iteration of H.R. 1599 will wipe out all state and local laws that regulate the growing of GMO crops—laws like the one passed in May 2014, Jackson County, Ore.—and weaken federal oversight of GMO crops and foods. **What can you do? Call Congress today, ask your Representatives and Senators to oppose H.R. 1599\. Then, check our list of meetings and rallies being held at district offices around the country. OCA has been working with constituents in key districts to schedule these meetings, and get press coverage.** We still need volunteers to help organize meetings in the following districts: Kentucky: Guthrie, Whitfield; Texas -Burgess, Barton, Green; Tennessee - Blackburn; Washingon - Rodgers; Missouri - Long; North Carolina - Ellmers, Butterfield; Indiana - Brooks; New York -Collins; Michigan - Upton; Oregon - Schrader; California – Cardenas. **Today’s hearing is just the first step. We need to continue to meet with members of Congress in their home district offices to make it clear that voters and consumers want Congress to oppose this law. If you can help, email** [**campaigns@organicconsumers.org**](mailto:campaigns@organicconsumers.org)**.** **TAKE ACTION: Call Congress TODAY!** [**202-224-3121**](tel:202-224-3121)[**(Tips for calling)**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=sMbANedKHS9uR7UoLiUHICrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Join a district meeting or rally**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4aH9E2CvkbLspPVp7c%2BU%2B3KQ6udRefJ7&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Organize a district meeting or rally**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Dj04012Um%2FQQDn9IFQD%2B0SrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### ESSAY OF THE WEEK # Regeneration? Or Degeneration? *"If governments won’t solve the climate, hunger, health, and democracy crises, then the people will."*\- Dr.Vandana Shiva, speaking at the founding meeting of Regeneration International, La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica, June 8, 2015 When literally billions of people, the 99 percent, are hungry or struggling to survive with justice and dignity; when the majority of the global body politic are threatened and assaulted by a toxic environment and food system; when hundreds of millions are overwhelmed with chronic health problems; battered by floods, droughts, and weather extremes; when endless wars and land grabs for water, land and strategic resources spiral out of control; when indentured politicians, corporations and the mass media conspire to stamp out the last vestiges of democracy in order to force a “Business-as-Usual” paradigm down our throats, it’s time for a change, Big Change. **It’s time to move beyond degenerate ethics, farming land use, energy policies, politics and economics. It’s time to move beyond “too little, too late” mitigation and sustainability strategies.** **It’s time to inspire and mobilize a mighty global army of Regenerators, before it’s too late.** [**Read Ronnie’s essay**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8QpdWy%2FPa0jeQl2NyXbinyrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### CAMPAIGN UPDATE # Let's (Not) Make a Deal There’s a lot of frantic back-room wheeling and dealing going on in Washington D.C. right now. And the upshot could be that as early as today, Congress could grant President Obama the authority to “fast track” international trade deals that will, among other things, weaken food safety laws and [wipe out](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=PpMJHiYJ%2Bz0I3A0NPdbw4irzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) GMO labeling laws in Vermont and more than 60 other countries. **Please call Congress TODAY and ask members to vote NO on Fast Track!** [**1-888-804-8311**](tel:1-888-804-8311)**.** Here’s the latest update on the saga of the 12-nation [Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP)](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=kfi6nz9BDLNrzVLXsoUOxnKQ6udRefJ7&ref=foodconsumer.org) and Obama’s attempt to ram it through Congress using something called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). As reported by PoliticoPro: House Democrats blocked the White House trade initiative last week in a dramatic repudiation of President Barack Obama. Since then, GOP leaders have been busy devising a Plan B to overcome that opposition. Their current strategy, in a nutshell, is to separate the fast track bill, known as trade promotion authority, from Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), the worker aid package that Democrats voted down in order to derail the entire package. There you have it. The TAA is blocking the TPA which is intended to push through the TPP. All of which spells B-A-D news for consumers. But, thanks to the back-room deal-making, Republican leadership have found a way to force another vote today. Again, from PoliticoPro: In a flurry of meetings and back-channel conversations, Democrats are debating what demands they should make to Republican leaders to get behind the GOP’s emerging plan. Republicans are preparing a new round of House and Senate votes to pass a "fast-track" trade bill and worker aid package, which would pave the way for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. **That “new round” of House and Senate votes is set to happen TODAY. And unless we stop them, our corporation-loving lawmakers in Washington will wrangle a deal that will give corporations the right to sue entire countries, in international tribunals, so they can overturn any number of laws designed to protect consumers and/or the environment.** Our initial [victory](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=446%2B7kH0u%2BWz1edo99jJgirzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) was fleeting—now, it’s back to work. Please call your Congress member today! **Call Congress TODAY.** [**1-888-804-8311**](tel:1-888-804-8311)**. Tell them NO FAST TRACK!** [**Learn more**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=vMuwapwHQOKkpAg5QAa2xirzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### SUPPORT THE OCA & OCF # The End Folks are hard at work on Capitol Hill today. Hard at work trying to strip states of the right to pass GMO labeling laws or ban GMO crops. Hard at work to give President Obama the right to ram through international trade deals that give corporations unprecedented power to dismantle carefully crafted domestic and international laws intended to protect the people and the planet. **Folks are hard at work on Capitol Hill today to put an end to transparency, and an end to what’s left of our democracy.** We don’t know how the hearing on Pompeo’s DARK Act (H.R. 1599) will go this morning. We can’t predict whether or not Congress will vote to betray the people on a scale that defies reason. We do know that whatever happens, we must all stay in this fight together. **OCA is working frantically with volunteers in about 25 key states to knock on the doors of Congress members in their home districts, and ask them to oppose Pompeo’s bill to kill GMO labeling laws. We will continue organizing these meetings until the DARK Act is defeated.** **We are mobilizing volunteers around the country to call Congress and ask them to oppose trade deals that give corporations more rights than they’ve ever had, at the expense of public health and safety.** **Please support this critical work with a donation today. Thank you.** [**Donate to the Organic Consumers Association**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=c%2Bg%2FHEpAP%2F2tisfWvrmsnXKQ6udRefJ7&ref=foodconsumer.org) (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education) [**Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=z3Uj9Fl2rixkblSr3ok7SyrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org)(non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our GMO labeling legislative efforts) #### ACTION ALERT # Safe? Prove It! Monsanto loves to claim that all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been thoroughly safety tested before they end up in our foods and on our grocery store shelves. That’s a lie. The truth is, when it comes to “safety testing” of GMOs, Monsanto has been making the rules. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in March that the agency has abandoned its 2008 proposal to update the 1990s-era regulations governing genetically engineered crops. Instead, the USDA will craft new regulations, from scratch. In preparation for crafting the new regulations, the USDA wants to hear from the public. **This is a great opportunity to tell the USDA we want stronger regulations that protect the environment, public health and farmers—and that we want mandatory safety testing of all GMOs now!** [**DEADLINE Midnight June 22: Demand Mandatory Safety Testing of All GMOs!**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2FmYCZnw8R7mhuKmuZJeHrSrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### VIDEO OF THE WEEK # Meet the 'Regenerators' Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association and Dr. Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, discuss how the newly formed Regeneration International Communication Network will help to promote the benefits of regenerative organic agriculture and counter the growing global push for industrial agriculture based on GMOs and the increased use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Ronnie Cummins: *The governments and large businesses of world are failing to solve the climate crisis, failing to solve the crisis of poverty, the crisis of environmental degradation, the crisis of values and ethics. If governments and corporations can’t solve the problem, we the people are going to have to solve the problem.* Vandana Shiva: *What we are talking about, is regenerating a new democracy, regenerating new economies, regenerating agriculture which is at the heart of the problem, but can be heart of solution. Everyone eats, most people in world are farmers, so this is an invitation to everyone to join. Everyone loves freedom, rather than being controlled by fraudulent and criminal corporations.* [**Watch the video**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nb7EeBYD2BySkXxDOtHvmyrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) #### LITTLE BYTES # Essential Reading for the Week [**Whole Foods Markets: Throwing Organic Farmers under the Bus?**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=mR6sJ9BmTFexusc4P9Qw3SrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Pope Francis Slams GMOs and Pesticides for Environmental and Social Damage**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IRYTQguMqStlX3ge0nTKmyrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**6 Foods That Still Have Scary Amounts of Trans Fats**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=2Og2avLAvg2k7dRS%2FZbAnSrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**USDA Finally Recognizing That Soil Can Sequester Carbon**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=TUbC1WHNG8zvkbtkhVWOUyrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Endgame for Glyphosate? The Global Fallout of WHO's 'Probable Carcinogen' Classification**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AshIettpSMGYDttxDz6VOirzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Video Debate: More Evidence Turning up against Fluoride Dangers**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=gMNDUo%2F2F6y2DWIQrLfUNCrzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org) [**Neil Young's Corporate Targets Respond to Him Calling Them out on New Album**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8nt0BwQTFSduYa8mWspU9irzHIrS3lOE&ref=foodconsumer.org)