The Monsanto Protection Act is back and it’s even worse than before!
Late last week, Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS) released a dangerous new amendment to the DARK Act that would preempt any state or county laws regulating genetically engineered (GE) crops in any way.
Can you take just a few seconds to urge your Representative to Oppose H.R. 1599?
As you’ll remember, Representative Pompeo’s so-called Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 1599), which has been dubbed the “Denying Americans the Right-to-Know” (DARK) Act, would block any federal or state action to require the labeling of GE foods. According to CFS's analysis, this new amendment1 would not only block state labeling laws but would block democratically-passed GE-free zones and restrictions on growing GE crops in 11 counties in 4 states. This could result in widespread harm to farmers and communities.
Center for Food Safety has been a champion of GE food labeling for over a decade and has long supported the ability of states and counties to create GE-free agricultural zones in order to protect traditional farmers from contamination as well as communities from exposure to associated pesticides. Last fall, voters in Hawaii and Oregon passed county-level restrictions on GE crops. Just this past month, a court in Oregon upheld Jackson County’s law establishing a GE-free zone. Yet these and numerous other state and county ordinances would be undone by Rep. Pompeo’s bill.
The labeling of GE foods is quickly becoming one of the most hotly debated food policy issues across the county and for good reason. In the absence of federal leadership, states have led the way by passing mandatory legislation intended to prevent consumer deception and give consumers the right to know what they are buying and feeding their families. More than 30 states introduced legislation to require GE labeling in 2013 and 2014. Currently three states – Connecticut, Maine and Vermont – have passed mandatory GE labeling laws and Alaska has a law that requires that GE fish be labeled. Additionally, 64 countries around the world require GE food labeling.
While Pompeo and his allies in Congress have been trying to do all they can to keep consumers in the dark, this new language makes it clear that Monsanto and the biotech industry are the ones really steering this ship.
Urge your Representative to oppose Monsanto’s dream bill today >>
Thanks for everything you do,
Center for Food Safety
---------------------------
Comments