It’s time to make a phone call to your Representative

I have written about the DARK (Deny Americans Right to Know) Act many times and will likely do so again. There will be more calls to action, but this week is an important one. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 1599 (DARK Act) which would pre-empt states from requiring labeling on GMO products. The bill will now go to the House for a full vote as early as this Thursday, July 23, 2015. It’s time to pick up the phone and make your voice heard before that vote takes place!

The House will likely vote on this bill next Thursday and surely before the end of the month. Our elected House Representatives must hear from everyone concerned, that this is indeed a dark bill. It’s a new revamped version that would not only pre-empt states from labeling, but also from regulating GMO crops in their state. It’s now become much more than a labeling bill. It will make it virtually impossible to create a mandatory labeling law for many years, taking the US a long time to join the 64 other countries with labeling laws.

How can you get involved?

Phone calls are the most important! Ask your employees, family members and friends to join in and make calls, too. There is nothing more powerful than making a phone call. If you know the House member or staff member, that’s even better, you’re in!

Send emails urging them to oppose the DARK Act. When the House votes on the DARK Act, urge them to support the consumer’s right to know what it’s our food.

Use your social communities to reach out and contact your Representative directly on Facebook pages. Invite your employees, family members and friends to join the discussion right on their Facebook pages. They pay close attention to what’s happening on those public pages.

• You can find and contact your representative by entering your zip code HERE.  Or you can call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121. They will send you to your Representative’s office.

What you can say:

As a [parent, consumer, chef, farmer, producer, manufacturer, etc.], I want to know what’s in the food I’m feeding my family. That is why I support GMO labeling. Like most Americans, I simply want to know what’s in my food and how it was produced.

Americans want to know what’s in their food. American consumers want the same rights as consumers in 64 countries who already have the right to know whether their food contains GMOs.

Support for GMO labeling crosses demographic boundaries. Polls show that more than 90% of Americans want the right to know, regardless of age, income, education or party affiliation.

Millions of Americans have taken action. More than 1.4 million Americans have joined a petition to the FDA demanding the right to know what’s in their food.

The DARK Act will block state GMO labeling laws. The DARK Act, introduced by Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS), would pre-empt GMO labeling laws already passed in Vermont, Maine and Connecticut and pending legislation in 17 other states.

The DARK will block local regulation of GMO crops. The DARK Act would also block state, county and local regulations designed to protect public health and the environment from the impacts of growing GMO crops. These regulations also protect farmers from economic harms caused by pesticide drift.

The DARK Act will allow “natural” claims. The DARK Act would allow food companies to continue to make “natural” claims on GMO foods and block state efforts to protect consumers from misleading “natural” claims.

Voluntary Labeling Won’t Work. Food companies have been allowed to make GMO and non-GMO claims since 2001, but consumers are more confused than ever. A new USDA non-GMO program simply duplicates an existing FDA guidance that allows non-GMO claims.

I urge you to oppose the DARK Act. When the House votes please support the consumer’s right to know what’s in our food.

The House may yet pass this bill before we have a Senate version. But it’s important that we don’t have an overwhelming majority vote in its favor.

Even with over 30 lobbyists working for non-GMO labeling, we have people working tirelessly to make an impact!  Won’t you please join in and make that phone call? Then pass it on!