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# Wallets Stuffed Full of Monsanto Cash? - newsletter 072415 from Organic Consumers Associaiton
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/organic_consumers_association_0724150903/
- Published: 2015-07-24T09:58:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T18:11:25.000Z
- Description: An Organic Consumers Association newsletter reporting that 275 House members voted for H.R. 1599, which the group calls the DARK Act and says would pre-empt state GMO labeling laws, and asking supporters to fund lobbying to stop the bill in the Senate.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Politics, #vivvo-import

#### TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK

# DARK Day in D.C.

Yesterday, 275 members [(see vote tally here)](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jAX9rBFSM2eYxM5esCd2%2FD3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 1599, the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act. By voting for the DARK Act, these politicians voted against truth and transparency, against science, against the more than century-old right of states to legislate on matters relating to food safety and labeling. 

They voted against the 90-percent of Americans who are in favor of mandatory labeling of GMOs. They voted against the producers of non-GMO foods. 

**They voted against you.**

Now that the DARK Act has been approved by the House, we’ll have to stop it in the Senate. We have to move fast—because Monsanto is desperate to pass a bill that preempts mandatory GMO labeling laws at the state and federal levels, before Vermont’s GMO labeling law takes effect next year.

H.R. 1599 was sold to Congress via multi-million dollar public relations and lobbying campaigns built on lies and deception. **The bill’s sole purpose is to support an industry—Monsanto’s poison-peddling industry—that was founded on lies and deception from the get-go.**

Were the Congress members who voted against you fooled by Monsanto’s slick, deceitful packaging of this so-called “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act”? Or did they simply vote with their wallets, stuffed full of biotech and junk food industry cash?

We don’t know. **But we know this: We can’t let this bill get through the U.S. Senate.**

**Please help us raise $100,000 to prevent this bill from moving forward. Your donation today will go directly to fund additional lobbyists and grassroots organizers so this bill never becomes law. You can donate online now, or by mail or phone.** [**Details here**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5%2Bn1cc0ExSBcEkYEN2yXHj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)**.**

#### ACTION ALERT

# Birds, Bees and Behaving Badly

It’s time to talk about the birds and the bees, while we still have them.

**For years we’ve fought to stop the use of**[**neonicotinoid**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=GHRj3MuWHo7HazNvHl0GKj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) **poisons that chemical companies put in our food and gardens. And we’re winning. This April, Lowe’s joined a growing list of companies that promise to phase out or at least limit the sale of neonic products in their stores.**

Home Depot, Whole foods and BJ’s Wholesale Club have already taken steps to phase out neonicotinoid pesticide products from their stores.

**Consumer pressure prompted these companies to act. Can we get Ace Hardware and True Value to stop selling bee-killing pesticides, too?**

[**TAKE ACTION! Tell Ace Hardware and True Value to Stop Selling Bee-Killing Pesticides!**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CjkuS%2FTK7irDyhpW9bxc%2Fj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

#### VIDEO ESSAY OF THE WEEK

# Watch Out, Tyson

Americans now eat [more chicken](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=cSQQL9J%2Bb7zdYuKY0H%2BhwD3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) than beef—almost 60 pounds per person, according to the latest available statistics.

**Most of that chicken comes from industrial factory farms, controlled by a**[**handful**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=QFrbunCoyTulhELX7DUhDT3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) **of corporations that not only abuse the birds, but also** [**mistreat**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Rgj59RvWhlY%2FHeDnht%2FpIz3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) **the farmers they contract with to raise them.**

Today’s industrial poultry system, heavily reliant on [antibiotics](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=G0Q6hHhUsHWggYYvjmUU6T3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org), [pollutes](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8oyAksD%2BggfSKtyhbybXwj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) the environment, and produces unhealthy meat, including meat linked to widespread[outbreaks](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WPm4QKn5k3TeEOU1jilhVj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) of salmonella.

**Is there a better way to produce enough chicken to meet consumer demand? Without abusing birds and farmers, without polluting the environment and without making people sick? Yes.**

Meet Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin. An innovator and a “Regenerator,” Reginaldo has come up with the anti-factory farm solution to providing consumers favorite meat.

*The factory-farming, conventional system claims they feed the world. The actual facts are totally the opposite, but they have the power, and own and control that story. That is actually one of the biggest travesties because it defines how we think and invest in a different system, not knowing that we’re actually shooting ourselves in the foot big time \[by not supporting and investing in small farmers\].* –Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin

**Reginaldo has developed a scalable poultry farming system that not only delivers healthy, wholesome food and eliminates the health risks associated with chemical-and antibiotic-intensive farming, but also reverses environmental damage and builds rural prosperity.**

It’s the anti-factory farm. And it’s the future of poultry farming.

Watch out, Tyson. You’re about to be replaced.

[**Read and watch**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=uTXhLtZEQ9MgHpXsxVHjjD3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

#### NEW REPORT

# 'Vast and Profound'

When the eminent scientist and climatologist, Dr. James Hansen, speaks, the world listens. Because he’s usually right. Assuming Hansen’s latest predictions are on target, we’re in trouble, unless we stop*talking* about fixing global warming, and start*doing* something.

Hansen warns that sea levels could rise several meters before the end of the century. If that happens, major coastal cities, including New York, London and Shanghai, would be uninhabitable.

Can we avoid disaster? Only if we do something. That “something” must include a plan for drastic and immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. But that won’t be enough.

**As experts at the Potsdam Institute for Climate the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis have** [**pointed out**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4yzeLD5AGgu5bm2utCzY8T3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)**, we will need “breakthroughs in so-called ‘carbon negative’ technologies.” And one of those “breakthroughs” is right under our feet:**

*Call it the photosynthesis option: because plants inhale carbon dioxide and store it in their roots, stems, and leaves, one can remove carbon from the atmosphere by growing trees, planting cover crops, burying charred plant materials underground, and other kindred methods. In effect, carbon negative technologies can turn back the clock on global warming, making the aforementioned descent from the 2 C overshoot to the 1.5 C goal later in this century theoretically possible.*

How do we exercise the “photosynthesis option?” By replacing the current chemical-intensive industrial agriculture system with an organic, regenerative alternative.

**In other words,** [**every choice**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=eEDLFaJR9%2Fg%2B2jcUV0owfj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org) **you make when it comes to the food on your plate, could help avert a climate disaster.**

[**More on Hansen’s latest predictions**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4c144aamL3FrLJix34bZ2z3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**More on climate and agriculture**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=EVdwqgkPNqku0jNvruiBgT3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

#### VIDEO OF THE WEEK

# Garbage In, Garbage Out, Garbage Everywhere

Monsanto and friends want you to believe the world needs their toxic chemical-drenched GMOs in order to feed the world.

**But what if we just stopped throwing away the food we already produce? According to the** [**National Resources Defense Council**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xX%2B9d%2FYLG%2BhSRMHzc2Q%2BIz3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)**, Americans throw away 40 percent of the food we produce—$165 billion worth every year.**

*Food waste is like the band Rascal Flats. It can fill a surprising number of stadiums even though many people believe it’s complete garbage.* – John Oliver

And then there are the labor and natural resources that go into producing all that food. Oliver asks, “Why are we pumping all that water into food being used as a garnish on landfills?|

[**Watch the video**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JXajMdHnxlHHjUgoK81YHj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

#### CONFERENCE NEWS

# Soil Not Oil

Want to know more about how we can replace today’s industrial agriculture system with a regenerative system that feeds the world nutritious food and heals the planet at the same time?

OCA’s National Director, Ronnie Cummins, and Vandana Shiva, activist and author of “[*Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis*](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Rgj59RvWhlaLkWntU0VW8T3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org),” are two of the featured speakers at the upcoming 2015 Soil Not Oil International Conference. They’ll join about 60 other farmers, activists, community organizers, scientists and policy makers, who will present messages of hope at the conference in Richmond, Calif. on September 4 -5.

[**Learn more and register**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OC%2BTzjvz6O6rATqNJkbeEz3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

#### LITTLE BYTES

# Essential Reading for the Week

[**Coke Illegally Claims Diet Soda Can Combat Weight Gain**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wi4F8TRHQTaLtDtv3VTSakgx6TWkJjeB&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**Imagine Farming That Actually Heals the Earth**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wQtDYilLx6to9g16%2FRKl%2Fj3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**Mexico’s GMO Corn Ban and the Glyphosate Cancer Findings**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ooktNh42kmvPuFj2YvxP3T3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**Urban Farms and Gardens Are Feeding Cities Around the World**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=P9uKmnxL2Rwb3fyUkhxwOz3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**FEMA Decides Which Food Additives Are 'Natural'**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=cOXbUplxV4C6azGH7HggBT3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)

[**If It's Wednesday Congress is Violating the Constitution**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tykh7XubvRirf13yaqkK8j3rxioyDDTb&ref=foodconsumer.org)