food policy news
June 2013 5 SUPPORT
NATIONAL GE FOOD
RIGHT-TO-KNOW
ACT
Kudos Martin!
Senator Heinrich Co-Sponsors
Take
O
n April 24 US Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) introduced the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to clearly label genetically engineered (GE) foods so that consumers can make informed choices about what they eat. Kudos to our Senator Martin Heinrich for his cosponsorship of the bill. Other sponsors of the Senate bill include; Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jon Tester (D-MT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (DOR) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO), Tulsi Gabbard (DHI), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Donna Christensen (DVirgin Islands), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Peter Welch (DVT), James Moran (D-VA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Don Young (R-AK), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), George Miller (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Ann Kuster (D-NH) are cosponsors of the House bill. Senator Martin Heinrich says, “Americans deserve to have accurate information when making choices about what they eat. As a parent, the safety and quality of our food is important to me and to families across New Mexico. I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act to ensure consumers are able to make informed and healthy decisions about the products they purchase." According to surveys, more than 90% of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods. In fact, many consumers are surprised to learn that GE foods are not already labeled. Currently, the FDA requires the labeling of over 3,000 ingredients, additives and processes, but the agency has resisted labels for genetically modified foods. In a 1992 policy statement, the FDA allowed
Action for labeling!
More than 90% of Americans support the RIGHT TO KNOW what is in the FOODS we FEED our families.
FOOD
CHOICE
The measure would direct the FDA to write new labeling standards that are consistent with US labeling standards and international standards. Sixty-four countries around the world already require the labeling of GE foods, including all the member nations of the European Union, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand. This legislation follows last year’s letter from Senator Boxer, Representative DeFazio and 54 Senate and House lawmakers urging the FDA to require the labeling of GE foods. The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act has broad support from organizations and businesses, including the Center for Food Safety, Consumers Union, Environmental Working Group, Just Label It, Organic Valley Co-op, the National Farmers Union, Stonyfield Farms, Consumer Federation of America, AllergyKids Foundation, National Cooperative Grocers Association, New England Farmers Union, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Center for Environmental Health, Chefs Collaborative, Label GMOs, Alaska Trollers Association, Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar & Company, Lundberg Family Farms, Nature’s Path, Annie’s Inc., and many others.
ACTION ALERT
WHAT
GE foods to be marketed without labeling, claiming that these foods were not “materially” different from other foods because the genetic differences could not be recognized by taste, smell or other senses. Unfortunately, the FDA’s antiquated labeling policy has not kept pace with 21st century food technologies that allow for a wide array of genetic and molecular changes to food that can’t be detected by human senses. Common sense would indicate that GE corn that produces its own insecticide—or is engineered to survive being doused by herbicides—is materially different from traditional corn that does not. Even the US Patent and Trademark Office has recognized that these foods are materially different and novel for patent purposes. Consumers—used to reading labels to see if foods contain MSG, gluten, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup or aspartame—clearly want more information. More than one and a half million Americans have filed comments with the FDA urging the agency to label GE foods. The bipartisan legislation introduced in late April would require clear labels for genetically engineered whole foods and processed foods, including fish and seafood.
YOU
CAN
DO
!
Let’s get the whole New Mexico Delegation signed on as co-sponsors of the Genetically Engineered Food Right-To- Know Act. Please contact: Tom Udall: 219 Central Ave NW, Suite 210, Albuquerque, NM 87102 Ph: 505-346-6791, 120 South Federal Place, Suite 302, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Ph: 505-988-6511, DC phone: 202-224-6621 www.tomudall.senate.gov/ Michelle Lujan Grisham: 505 Marquette Ave. NW, Suite 1605, Albuquerque, NM 87102 Ph: 505-346-6781, DC Ph: 202 225-6316, Fax: 505-346-6723 www.lujangrisham.house.gov/contact/email-me Ben Ray Lujan: 1611 Calle Lorca, Suite A, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Ph: 505-984-8950, 3200 Civic Center NE, Suite 330, Rio Rancho, NM 87144 Ph: 505-994-0499, 110 West Aztec Ave, Gallup, NM 87301 Ph: 505-863-0582, www.benrlujan.com
action alert!
To comment on line go to: www.justlabelit.org
GRAPPLING WITH THE
FARM BILL
Resilience Planning in Our Food System BY SARAH WENTZEL-FISHER his year represents a significant page in the history of food and farming in America. Congress will grapple with the 11th omnibus Farm Bill, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012. In 2008, Congress passed the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act appropriating $289 billion dollars to nutrition, conservation, commodity, agricultural research, rural development and other food and farm related issues. The current Farm Bill was passed at the end of September 2012 by the Senate, but failed to win approval in the House. The House approved an extension of the 2008 Farm Bill and is currently tackling the 600 pages of policy that will legislate nutrition programs, commodities, rural development, agricultural research, conservation and many other food and farm related topics for the next five years.
T
Since Abe Lincoln established the US Department of Agriculture in 1862, our government has recognized the connections between farmland, farmers, food, community, and economic development by passing legislation intended to keep these connections strong and working for US citizens. The Food and Agriculture Act of 1965 marked the first multi-year Farm Bill, establishing more long-term commodity programs. In 1973 Congress passed the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act, the first omnibus farm bill, incorporting legislation for nutrition programs, conservation, and crop insurance. This year’s Farm Bill has several important pieces which represent a call for serious restructuring of our food systems for resiliency and to better support connecting small and medium farms to consumers at a regional level. Since 1965, the Farm Bill has tended to favor subsidization of commodity crops like soy and corn that have become unsustainable at every level. While they represent small financial inroads, two significant pieces of the new Farm Bill call for a resilience planning in our food systems. The Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act focuses on getting local food to consumers more effectively, boosting income for small and medium size farms and ranches, improving local and regional food system infrastructure, and facilitating extension agencies to provide services more geared towards small and medium sized farms. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich signed onto this legislation as an original co-sponsor, and more recently NM Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham, a member of the House Agricultural Committee, has joined the growing number of elected officials supporting significant food system change. According to the most recent US Agricultural Census, the average age of farmers and ranchers is 60 years. The census also shows that the number of farmers and ranchers over the age of 65 is the fastest growing group in this demographic. As a nation and a state, we face an incredible deficit of farmers as
older farmers and ranchers begin to retire and farm and ranch professions continue to be hard choices for young people. With inaccessible land prices, high levels of student loan debt, a lack of mentorship and information, falsely-low food prices, and other significant hurdles, farming is not the most attractive line of work. The new Farm Bill also features the Young Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act, designed to encourage young people to enter the farming and ranching professions. More specifically, the program will provide support in the form of loans for down payments on land, funds for new farmer training programs, grants for value-added products from farm produce, and a number of agricultural opportunities for veterans. NM
Senator Tom Udall is an original co-sponsor of this bill, and Senator Heinrich has signed on as co-sponsor of this act as well. Few people fully understand what a significant impact the Farm Bill has on our day to day lives. These policies will change the prices of food. They will determine who has access to supplemental nutrition programs and how much families who need this support will receive each month. They will set the tone for our priorities in food production, what kinds of farms and crops get subsidies and support. These decisions have a direct impact on the sorts of food we have access to as consumers. If you’d like to know more about the Farm Bill, read about it on the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s website, www.sus tainableagriculture.net; on the Farm Bill Primer site, www. farmbillprimer.org; or on the Food and Water Watch site, www.foodandwaterwatch.org. More importantly, call or email your elected officials and let them know access to locally and sustainably produced food is important to YOU!
JUNE is
M EM BER S U RVEY MONTH
look in your MAILBOX for our annual MEMBER SURVEY!
Please take a moment to fill out the survey and bring it back to your local Co-op before June 30th and receive a 15% discount Co-op shopping trip. Info: contact Robin at 217-2027.