An apathy has descended upon the American people, a combination of, “I don’t care,” and, “What difference would it make, anyway?” We have stood back and allowed so many of our rights to be taken away in the last 15 years. We cannot – we must not – lose the right to know what is in the food we eat.
H.R.4432, also known as The DARK Act (Deny Americans the Right to Know) is a bill that will stop efforts to label GMO foods. It will deny individual states the right to pass laws requiring GMO labeling and will make any previously passed state laws null and void. And the ultimate joke is the full title of the bill: H.R. 4432 – Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014.
Of course, the bill is written in such a way that its application is unclear. Yes, it would make sense to have a federal regulation regarding the labeling of GMO foods. Yes, it would be a burden on the manufacturers if each state required a different label. But the truth is, this bill’s ultimate purpose has nothing to do with food safety; it has everything to do with the companies who have spent an estimated 100 million to get it passed – those who benefit from keeping the word GMO off their labels.
So which companies are lobbying for this bill? Well, you’re right if you guessed Monsanto is near the top of the list. They are number three. The first is PepsiCo, followed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
There are two things we can do. One is to tell our represented leaders that we demand the right to choose what we eat. We want GMOs labeled. Every time.
The second thing we can do is start boycotting the businesses that are spending millions of dollars to take away our right to know what we are eating. The following is a short list of those lobbying for the bill to pass.
- PepsiCo Inc
- Grocery Manufacturers Assn
- Monsanto Co
- Land O’Lakes
- Kellogg Co
- International Dairy Foods Assn
- Abbott Laboratories
- Kraft Foods Group
- American Farm Bureau
- American Seed Trade Assn
- Bayer AG
- Biotechnology Industry Organization
- Coca-Cola Co
- Ohio Farm Bureau
- Nestle SA
- ConAgra Foods
- American Sugarbeet Growers Assn
- General Mills
- Dean Foods
- DuPont Co
- Hillshire Brands Co
- Intl Assn of Refrigerated Warehouses
- Corn Refiners Assn
- Syngenta AG
The following organizations are lobbying for labeling of GMO’s and are against passing H.R. 4432.
- Center for Food Safety
- Consumers Union of the U.S.
- Environmental Working Group
- EWG Action Fund
- National Farmers Union
- Natural Products Assn
To find your representatives in Congress and learn how to contact them click on this link. Please ask them to vote against this bill!
To find your senators and learn how to contact them click on this link. Let them know you want them to support the labeling of GMO foods.
Remember the greatest power we have is how we choose to spend our money. If we refuse to buy products from companies that use GMOs, promote GMOs, or oppose labeling of GMOs, and we buy only organic foods, they will lose.
Note from the Editor:
When this story was first published, lobbyists that opposed the bill were listed with those that supported it. We apologize for this error.
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