Yesterday, Senator Roberts (R-KS) and Senator Stabenow (D-MI) announced a deal to bring Monsanto’s dream bill to the Senate floor. Senators will vote as soon as next week.
The final bill is terrible. This so-called “compromise” simply hands Monsanto and Big Food corporations a complete victory.
Instead of on-package labels, the bill calls for companies to provide a website url, a QR code, a symbol or a phone number on the package, sending consumers on a wild goose chase to figure out what GMOs might be in their food. This sham of a federal labeling scheme pre-empts any state law, robbing states of the right to adopt meaningful GMO labeling laws as Vermont has done.
Added to that, the bill doesn’t even provide for any federal penalties for companies’ failure to comply, and it excludes the most recent forms of genetic engineering. It’s a total cave-in to Monsanto.
It’s critical that you take action today, even if you have before.
Please share this alert and ask others to do the same.
Take Action
Call or email both of your U.S. Senators to urge them to oppose Senator Pat Roberts’ bill or any compromise that doesn’t mandate on-package labels for genetically engineered foods.
You can look up who your Senators are and find their contact information here:
- Online
- Phone: 202-224-3121
A phone call is more effective than an email. If you do send an email, please replace the opening few lines of the sample script below with your own personalized message – personal messages have more impact than form emails.
Sample Script
I urge Senator ____________ to reject the latest version of Senator Roberts’ bill (S. 2609), or any bill that prohibits states from requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).
The current “compromise” for GMO labeling is completely unacceptable. Pre-empting state laws in favor of a federal program based on QR codes, a symbol, 8-800 numbers, or a statement on packages referring people to websites is a sham. None of these provide information in a reasonable, accessible manner for consumers.
There won’t even be any penalties for failing to comply, and the definition of genetic engineering is so narrow that it is already obsolete.
Many companies have already started to put clear GMO labels on their food packaging all across the country to comply with Vermont’s law. The labeled food is the same price as the unlabeled, proving what we have said all along – labeling GMO foods is feasible and inexpensive.
Please listen to the vast majority of Americans and reject Senator Roberts’ bill and any Senate compromise that would restrict states’ rights for labeling and result in anything less than clear mandatory on-package labels that state “contains genetically engineered ingredients.”
