LABEL IT HAWAII has a goal to get a Labeling Law passed in Hawaii next year.
We plan to start now in organizing for next year, as the GMO corporations have a huge grip on our Legislature.
We believe it is your RIGHT to choose what foods you want to feed your family.
We also believe that Labeling will finally allow us to track the negative impacts GMOs have on our health.
I have been sending out lots of "Educational" emails on GMOs and LABELING. Finally I get to send out one that requires us to do something of significance, a three step CALL TO ACTION.
The City and County of Oahu is the only county in our State which has not supported a Labeling bill this year. We have a good chance to change that on April 25th, as we have 3 of the needed 5 votes.
Here is our first important CALL TO ACTION on our road to the 2013 Legislature.
The City (Oahu) County Council is the important first step.
A COUNCIL HEARING REGARDING Resolution 12-57, "URGING THE STATE OF HAWAII AND THE FDA TO REQUIRE THE LABELING OF GMOs".
The hearing will be heard at KAPOLEI, not in Honolulu Hale, starting at 10:00am WEDNESDAY APRIL 25, 20012
Here are the three action items:
1. CALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. We need 5 votes, (Berg and Gabbard are solid supporters, no need call them).
ERNIE MARTIN:768-5002 he is the chairman from north shore and needs a lot of persuasion, he supports GMOs.
IKAIKA ANDERSON: 768-5003 Kailua and Waimanalo guys need to talk with him
STANLY CHANG: 768-5004 he is on the fence (voted yes with reservation at committee level) enough calls may get him to support
ANN KOBAYASHI: 768-5005 she is budget chair and must be influential on the council
ROMY CACHOLA: 768-5007 Kalihi is his district
BREENE HARIMOTO: 768-5008 he did turn around and vote yes at the committee level.
NESTOR GARCIA: 768-5009 Kunia and Kapolei is his district, he also needs a lot of persuasion.
2. SUBMIT TESTIMONY, ON LINE OR IN PERSON ON THE 25TH
3. JOIN US AT 9:00AM ON THE 25TH AT KAPOLEI WITH LABELING SIGNS FOR A "SUPPORT RALLY" prior to hearing. (See Attachment)
Lets see if we can make Social Media work, lets get the word out and action done. Walter Ritte
Here is a letter from Label It Hawaii sent to the startadvertiser as an oped, not sure if and when they will print it. It does show our concerns and position on Labeling. It may take a few readings to get all of the information.
As Americans, we value the basic right to choose from a wide variety of foods in the marketplace, to make informed choices as to what we feed ourselves and our families. Presently this right is being denied to the more than 90 percent of Americans (MSNBC poll) who want to know if a food contains genetically modified organisms (GMO). Why? Because our government does not require these products to be labeled.
As a result, Americans are eating GMO foods without informed consent, despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires no independent safety testing of these transgenic ingredients. In fact, documents uncovered in litigation show that FDA scientists believe that GMO foods could pose serious risks and need stringent testing, but were overruled by administrative superiors. As a result, the FDA merely has a weak “voluntary consultation” process with biotech crop developers and relies entirely on whatever data the companies choose to disclose to governmental agencies. The FDA does not even approve GMO foods as safe, but defers to industry assurances.
The international food safety authority, Codex Alimentarius, ruled last year that labeling is justified to enable tracking of potential adverse health effects triggered by GMO foods. Nearly fifty countries with 40% of the world’s population—including the European Union members, Japan, Brazil, Russia, and China—have laws mandating labeling of GMO foods.
The FDA’s anti-GMO labeling policy rests on the antiquated doctrine that only those changes in food that can be detected by taste, smell or other senses need to be labeled. Since GMO food differences cannot be “sensed” in this way, the FDA declared that GMO foods are not materially different from conventionally produced foods and no labeling is required. This policy—based on 19th-century science—is entirely inadequate to deal with the changes to food that can be triggered by genetic engineering. Potential hazards presented by GMO foods include the presence of novel toxins, elevated levels of native plant toxins, and reduced nutritional content.
It may take years, even generations, before adverse effects of GMO foods are known. For example, many Hawai‘i kupuna remember being sprayed with DDT as children to control head lice. First synthesized in 1874, DDT became a widespread, highly accepted, and extremely profitable pesticide . Eventua the adverse health and environmental effects were recognized, and despite intense opposition from manufacturers, states across the country began to ban the use of DDT. Finally, after decades of use, the EPA issued a ban on DDT in 1972.
Despite industry rhetoric about miracle “supercrops,” the vast majority of commercial GMO crops are “super” only in their ability to withstand spraying with potent herbicides—sharply increasing toxic herbicide use and triggering an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds. Thus, mandatory labeling would also give akamai consumers the ability to choose whether the foods they consume are produced in a sustainable manner.
For over a decade, federal GMO-labeling legislation has been introduced but has failed to pass. But there’s hope. Currently 55 members of Congress, including Senator Dan Akaka, have signed a letter of support to label GMO products.
Locally, Hawai‘i is one of 14 states seeking mandatory labeling of GMO foods, evidence of the unprecedented groundswell of support for labeling across the nation. Hawai‘i prides itself on leading the nation in efforts to protect the safety of our food and the health of our environment.
We demand that the Hawai‘i State Legislature stop listening to corporate lobbyists and instead to the voices and will of its citizens. Anything less is a betrayal of the public’s trust and our right to know how our food is produced.
PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WILL HELP US GET THE NEEDED VOTES TO PASS THIS RESOLUTION. WALTER RITTE
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