Organic Consumers Association

Activists in Washington State have been hard at work on I-522, a November 2013 ballot and legislative initiative to require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). And they need our help!

Organic farmers and allies have slammed a USDA committee report for kowtowing to the interests of genetically modified crop growers and the biotechnology industry.

The goal of the USDA-appointed committee, the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21), was to address contamination by genetically modified (also known as genetically engineered, or GE) crops to organic and non-GE crops, and to look at compensation mechanisms for that contamination.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) called for a national boycott of the popular natural and organic brands owned by 10 parent companies that donated to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative.

On the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to greenlight a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less toxic component in the notorious Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange).

Damage done to wildlife and the environment by illegal marijuana growers is causing great concern, especially for officials with the state Department of Fish and Game.

On June 26, 2012, Kellogg Company contributed $20,167.59 to the California political campaign, Stop the Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by famers and food producers. This organization was set up to spread propaganda about the cost of labeling GMOs to California residents. In this digital age, you have to wonder why a company would spend more money than it could possibly cost to change their product labels to fight against the consumer’s right to know what we are eating.