April 8th at the Food and Drug Administration in College Park, MD
The purpose of the FDA is to “protect and promote” the health of Americans. Instead, we are being kept in the dark about the safety and the origin of the food we’re eating as the FDA continues to act in the interest of agribusinesses like Monsanto.
On Monday, April 8, Families, Farmers, Concerned Citizens, Safe Food Activists, Students, and Food Justice Organizations from across the country will stage an “Eat-In” at the office of the Food and Drug Administration in College Park, MD to demand labeling of foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Are YOU hungry for some food democracy?
Put your body where your mouth is and get on the bus to the FDA!
Can’t take the time off? Put your money where your mouth is and help us get there!
For more info or to support the bus: https://fdn.actionkit.com/donate/eat-in-for-food-democracy/
Volunteers with Massachusetts Right to Know GMOs and GMO Free Connecticut are collaborating, with the help of Food Democracy Now! to fill up a bus from Massachusetts to join this action at the FDA. The bus will leave Sunday evening, April 7, and make stops in Connecticut on the way to the FDA for the all day “picnic-style protest,” returning late on Monday/early Tuesday.
Register now to save your spot on the bus:
Please CLICK HERE to register now. Please contact your local regional “bus captain” to get more details. A donation of at least $25 will be sufficient to hold your seat, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. The bus rental actually costs about $80-120 per person, but we are hoping that enough people will donate to cover the costs for those who can attend!
Can’t make the trip? Please donate so that others can!
We would like to make this trip as affordable as possible for people taking time off to attend the event. Your donation will help us fill up the bus with people who may have the time but lack the dollars to make the trip. Please visit this website to make a donation and to help others make it to the FDA! https://fdn.actionkit.com/donate/eat-in-for-food-democracy/
Boston, MA → BostonFDABus@occupy-monsanto.com
Northampton, MA → NorthamptonFDABus@occupy-monsanto.com
Hartford, CT → HartfordFDABus@occupy-monsanto.com
For more details, please visit https://fdn.actionkit.com/donate/eat-in-for-food-democracy/
Please help spread the word by sharing this message and inviting your friends to the Facebook event!
https://www.facebook.com/events/159910580831495/
Its time for the people to speak up! Let’s take back our Food System!
“Eat-In” at the FDA
On April 8th, we will gather on the front steps of the FDA.
We will share some (real) food, and we will make some demands:
1. Mandatory GMO labels on all genetically engineered food sold in America
2. The immediate resignation of the Monsanto minion & current “Food Czar” Michael Taylor
3. The invalidation of Monsanto’s seed patents
4. An immediate end to the revolving door between the government and Big Ag, Big Chem, and Big Food.
Please join us, and help us get there!
Thank you for standing up for Food Democracy!
BREAKING! Occupy Monsanto issues Open Letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg
March 29, 2013
The Honorable Margaret Hamburg
Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration
5100 Paint Branch Parkway
College Park, MD 20740-3835
cc: Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Food
Dear Commissioner Hamburg:
We write to you with the invitation to come join us for some delicious Stone Soup that we will prepare on Monday, April 8, outside the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, Maryland. At 1pm we would like you to address our concerns about the labeling of genetically engineered foods sold in the United States of America. We will bring a small public address system and will provide you with an opportunity to speak to those gathered about why the FDA refuses to change its outdated policies concerning the labeling of genetically modified (“GMO”) foods. We promise to be respectful. We are genuinely hungry for answers to our concerns.
As you very well know, your administration purports man-made, patented genetic technology in our food does not constitute a “material difference” to require a byline on a food label. This is a grossly benighted position that has evoked an eruption of public protest and media investigation for over a decade. This position leads us to ask: whom does the FDA aspire to protect? You owe the American people an explanation for why U.S. policy on GMO labeling keeps us ignorant of whether our food has been genetically modified, while citizens in other countries around the world are granted the right to make informed decisions based on accurate food labels.
Americans from all over the country will bring ingredients to make the Stone Soup on the public sidewalk outside the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.. Before they add their ingredient(s) to the pot, they will have the opportunity to address you and your staff members in order to express why they want genetically engineered foods to be properly labeled in America. The soup will be 100% vegan and we will compile a thorough ingredient list to show how easy it is to make an honest food label.
We expect some may come to speak about the pending disapproval of the genetically engineered Aquabounty Salmon and we hope staff members will consider listening to these oral comments, as well as accept hand-deliveries for docket FDA-2011-N-0899. As a novel drug that is bypassing the normal clinical research phases that drugs overseen by your administration normally require, there needs to be much more dialog with the American public in order to provide absolute proof that the food adulterants used to produce synthetic meat for human consumption are safe enough to not require mandatory GMO labels.
While we have asked everyone to bring their own bowls and spoons so that our picnic will not generate unnecessary waste, we will bring you and Michael Taylor your own bowls & spoons because we genuinely desire your presence. Our upcoming picnic has a purpose that we hope you and your staff members will fully acknowledge and embrace, which is Americans want the FDA to require GMO labeling. Moreover, we hope your staff members feel empowered to engage in a friendly dialog with us over a bowl of delicious Stone Soup.
By offering you organic food, we are not trying to bribe you or your administration in any way. Rather, we wish to speak with you through the act of sharing of a communal meal. Our sharing of food is symbolic of our peaceful demonstration of free speech, and thus an expression of one of the myriad fundamental freedoms we cherish as citizens. We hope you feel welcomed by our invitation, and that this letter inspires you and your staff to join us in the spirit of camaraderie between fellow eaters.
Last year, 55 members of Congress wrote you a similar letter that said:
“The FDA has the opportunity and authority to do right by the American public. When issuing its rule requiring radiated foods to be labeled, FDA stated in broad terms that a decision to require labeling is not just based on the physical changes to the food but also on whether consumers view such information as important, and whether the omission of label information may mislead a consumer. The fact that the FDA has already adopted this broad interpretation of “material” facts demonstrates that [GMO labeling] is a reasonable – and therefore permissible – interpretation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).”
We are unaware of any official reply that was generated from your administration. Before we arrive on Monday, April 8, to prepare the Stone Soup, we would love a response posted on the FDA website because, frankly, we are really hungry for some answers.
See you on the sidewalk.
Sincerely,
Gene Etic
GMO Policy Analyst,
Occupy Monsanto
