Video: Vote YES on I-522

"This is one of the official campaign commercials by the Yes on 522 -- the ballot initiative to label genetically engineered food in Washington. For more information and how to ensure your right to know what's in your food, visit us at www.yeson522.com."

From the latest Organic Bytes newsletter

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob361.htm

Washington State to Deliver GMO Labeling Signatures Today!

Vermont, Connecticut Also Advance Labeling Laws

We may have narrowly lost the GMO labeling fight in California this past November, but there’s good reason to believe we’ll win in at least two or three states in 2013.

Today, activists in Washington State will deliver approximately 350,000 signatures to the state legislature, guaranteeing that when voters show up at the polls in November, they’ll get the chance to pass I-522, a statewide GMO labeling initiative.
 
On the other side of the country, Vermont is picking up where it left off last year after the governor caved in to Monsanto’s threats to sue the state if it passed a GMO labeling law. Undaunted, and buoyed by stronger-than-ever support from consumers and lawmakers, Vermont legislators will reintroduce GMO labeling legislation in early January.  Connecticut is moving forward, too, with plans to introduce a similarly popular GMO labeling bill early this year.
 
All signs point to an uphill battle for Monsanto and friends to defeat I-522 in Washington State. I-522 proponents have a full nine months to raise awareness and money, compared with the YES on 37 (California Right to Know Genetically GMO Labeling) Campaign which had only six months to reach voters and raise money. Plus we had to raise a lot more money in California, which has five times as many voters as Washington.

Other reasons for optimism in Washington?

• Washington’s wheat farmers, apple farmers and fishing communities support mandatory GMO labeling because it’s in the best economic interests of the state. Unlabeled GMO wheat, apples and salmon coming on the market will severely damage state agricultural exports. 
• Washington’s newly elected Governor, Jay Inslee, is a long-time supporter and former Congressional advocate of GMO labeling.
• The biotech industry is going to have a tough time explaining why GMO salmon have to be labeled in Alaska, under a state law passed in 2005, but won’t be labeled in Washington.
• Consumers could force Big Food, which donated millions in California to defeat Prop 37, to sit out the fight in Washington, as they continue to boycott the organic and natural brands of big donors, such as Kellogg’s, General Mills, Unilever, Dean Foods, Kraft, Pepsi and Coca Cola.
• If we pass a GMO labeling law in Washington and Vermont and/or Connecticut it will likely have the same marketplace impact as a national law. National brands won’t want to face the PR nightmare of labeling their products as containing GMOs in one state, while keeping consumers in the dark about GMOs in other states.

Learn more
 
Let’s pass GMO labeling in 2013! Donate today the Washington state ballot initiative, I-522, and other state GMO labeling efforts

The fight moves to Washington State

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bytes/ob356.htm

Follow OCA: Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest   View PDF | Subscribe & Read Past Issues | OCA Homepage | Donate    GMO Labeling Fight Moves to Washington State 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! Building on our Movement's near-victory in California (where we got 48% of the vote, despite being outspent five to one) the Label It WA team is rushing to meet a December 31, 2012 deadline for signature-gathering. They’ve already collected 230,000 signatures. But they need 100,000 more by December 31 to make sure they have the 241,153 valid signatures required to get on the ballot in 2013. This is another critical battle for GMO labeling, one with some strategic advantages we didn't have in California. I-522 already has strong support from Washington farmers, ranchers, and dairies, both organic and conventional, who are up in arms about the economic and environmental threats posed by genetically engineered wheat, apples, and alfalfa.  Plus, Washington is far smaller than California in terms of population and registered voters and boasts a powerful network of co-ops, independent natural food stores, and grassroots organizations who are already fully on board with the campaign. In addition, Washington's new Governor, Jay Inslee, is a longtime Congressional supporter of GE food labeling and organic agriculture. According to Washington State law, if the state legislature feels there is majority support for a ballot initiative, in this case mandatory GE food labeling, they can pass it into law before it goes for a statewide vote in November 2013. If you live in Washington and can help collect signatures, or are willing to set up a meeting with your state legislator in December to convince him or her to support GMO labeling and I-522, sign up here. Label It WA also needs money, for paid signature-gatherers, for public education, for coalition-building and to counter the inevitable attacks from Monsanto and Big Food.  The Organic Consumers Fund has donated an initial $60,000 to the campaign, but we need to raise more. To support the campaign, donate here. Monsanto and Big Food would love to see us go away, but the millions of people in California and across this country who fought for Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative, have made it clear: we are here to stay. How is it that in 60 other countries, citizens have fought for and won this basic right, yet here in the U.S. we continue to let dirty corporate money corrupt our food and our politics? Let’s get I-522 on the ballot in Washington, let's help Washington voters convince their legislators to enact I-522 into law even before November 13, and let’s win. Volunteer in Washington Follow 'Label It WA' on Facebook