The health hazards of genetically modified foods create an urgent need for labeling in California.
Rising concerns from the scientific and medical community about the hazards of Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) have prompted a call to action. Thousands of health and consumer advocates, and statewide organizations will rally together on the south steps of the State Capitol at 11th & N Streets, Sacramento, on Monday, January 5 beginning at 9:30am.
On this first day of the 2015 California legislative session and Governor Brown’s inauguration, demonstrators will demand that lawmakers take action to protect the public interest by passing a bill to label GMO foods.
The SOS: Save Our Species rally is sponsored by the California State Grange and Label GMOs in response to a growing body of evidence that GMO foods are unsafe for human consumption. For more than twenty years, multi-national corporations such as Monsanto have injected natural foods with GMOs without adequate testing to determine the effects on humans, plants and animals. Shockingly, the process is unregulated and GMO foods are unlabeled. Nearly 80% of all processed foods contain GMOs.
Rally supporters are seeking healthier alternatives to GMO foods, the preservation of natural seeds, and a reversal of the increasing use of pesticides that are damaging our food supply. Nationwide, demand for organic foods (non-GMO) has been an outcome of these concerns, making California’s organic agriculture sector one of the state’s fastest growing industries.
Zen Honeycutt, Director of Moms Across America will be a featured speaker at the rally.
“My organization has sponsored laboratory testing of mothers’ breast milk,” states Zen. “ These tests have found the presence of RoundUp herbicide, also known as glyphosate – the most commonly used pesticide across the globe – in these mothers’ milk. This poison is a health risk that no mother or infant should ever have to eat.”
The SOS: Save Our Species rally will raise awareness of these health and safety issues and call on legislators to pass a bill to label all GMO foods. The California State Grange and other organizations are simultaneously lobbying for legislation to label baby foods.
Sixty-four nations around the world label GMO foods. Substantial data is available, validating the health risks to living creatures. The contamination of organic crops by GMO pollen and toxic weeds has produced unacceptable risks to the environment and threatens our food, soil and water supply. The cost to farmers has run into the billions of dollars in lost exports and income.
A wide variety of notable speakers will address the rally, including; Bob McFarland, President of the California State Grange, Pamm Larry, Founder of LabelGMOs, Zen Honeycutt, Director of Moms Across America, and Miguel Robles, Director of Biosafety Alliance.
For more information about the SOS: Save Our Species rally,
please contact Greta Eliasson at (916) 454-5805, or via email:
eliassong@californiagrange.org, or Jessica Denning at (916) 715-2731,
or via email: jessica@denningfamily.com.
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