Friday, June 13, 2014

Democracy's Day In Court


Below is text from an email received requesting public donations to fight a lawsuit brought against one US state's recently passed law. It reveals the enormity of the power of corporations, anti-democratically, to push through measures that are in their financial interests but against the will of the people. And yet, because of the size of their businesses they have vast budgets for advertising and public relations spin which keep consumers, often in ignorance, buying their products. 
Whatever label one pins on it , it is NOT democratic. This is just one of the many manifestations of the workings of capitalism. Money is power and power is for the wealthy. Removing the profit motive is the ONLY way to redress this situation and bring real democracy to world communities. Reforms won't achieve it. Revolution will.
JS 


Today, Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit in federal the U.S. District Court, State of Vermont, to overturn Vermont’s recently passed GMO labeling law.

Today, the Organic Consumers Association, through our allied lobbying arm, the Organic Consumers Fund, has committed to contributing as much as we can to defend Vermont’s labeling law, while we also fulfill our $500,000 pledge to help Oregon pass a GMO labeling initiative in November.

After years of good old-fashioned work, and playing by the rules, the grassroots labeling movement achieved its first real victory this year, when Vermont passed the first no-strings-attached law requiring mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms.
But the rules mean nothing to the rich and powerful companies like Monsanto and Coca-Cola, who belong to one of the country’s most powerful lobbying groups—the GMA.

This is the moment of truth for the grassroots GMO labeling movement. If Monsanto and the GMA succeed in overturning Vermont’s GMO labeling law, lawmakers in the other 29 states that are currently considering GMO labeling bills will drop them like hot potatoes.

Legal experts assure us that Vermont’s labeling law will hold up in court. 
But we can’t win in federal court unless we show up. And that means paying a legal team to defend what’s rightfully ours.
This battle is about your health, and the health of your environment.  This battle is about the rights of states to pass laws to protect their citizens.

This is our battle. And it’s going to take all of us pulling together to win it.

From the Organic Consumers Association




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