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Do you know a local Changemaker?

Green Mountain Coffee and Ashoka's Changemakers have joined up to launch Revelation to Action: Your Place. Your Idea. Your Change. Believing that real change starts at home, we will find and help fund the most innovative ideas to inspire community action and improve communities across the Northeastern US.

PRIZES
3 competition winners will each be awarded USD $5,000

• 7 state winners will each be awarded USD $5,000
• 3 early entry prize winners will receive a Keurig® Coffee Brewer and a 12-month coffee supply
  
• Recommend an organization and if it wins, your prize is a Keurig® Coffee Brewer and a 6-month supply of coffee
• Re-tweet about the competition and you will be eligible to enter a drawing for one bag of fresh Green Mountain Coffee® and fun competition items

NEXT STEPS

1. Visit http://www.Changemakers.com/Revelation
2. If you are new to the site, create a profile, it only takes 5 minutes
   
3. Sign-in with your username and password
   
4. Download the entry form in a word document so that you can edit your entry and save changes before entering online – this ensures that your work is saved
   
5. Enter your idea or organization here: https://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/69520/entryform
   
6. When you are finished make sure to click the "Publish" button to complete your entry
   

Early Entry Deadline: March 24, 2010
Final Deadline: April 21, 2010

Feel free to forward this email to other organizations or individuals that are strengthening communities across the Northeastern US. For complete rules and regulations for this competition, please visit our website at http://www.Changemakers.com/Revelation, and click on Eligibility, Criteria and Prizes.

Tell USDA That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic Food
 

USDA released its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Monsanto's GE, Roundup Ready alfalfa on December 14, 2009, and a 60-day comment period is now open until February 16, 2010.  This is the first time the USDA has done this type of analysis for any GE crop.  Therefore, the final decision will have broad implications for all GE crops.

It is clear that the USDA has not taken the concerns of non-GE alfalfa farmers, organic dairies, or consumers seriously.  USDA’s preliminary determination is to once again deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for farmers or the environment. Instead USDA has completely dismissed the fact that contamination will threaten export and domestic markets and organic meat and dairy products.  And, incredibly, USDA is claiming that there is no evidence that consumers care about such GE contamination of organic!   USDA also claims that consumers will not reject GE contamination of organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat product, despite the fact that more than 75% of consumers believe that they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy organic.

USDA claims that Monsanto’s seed contracts require measures sufficient to prevent genetic contamination, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. But in the CFS lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place!

USDA predicts that the approval of GE alfalfa would damage family farms and organic markets, yet doesn’t even consider any limitations or protections against this scenario.  Small, family farmers are the backbone and future of American agriculture and must be protected. Organic agriculture provides many benefits to society: healthy foods for consumers, economic opportunities for family farmers and urban and rural communities, and a farming system that improves the quality of the environment. However, the continued vitality of this sector is imperiled by the complete absence of measures to protect organic production systems from GE contamination and subsequent environmental, consumer, and economic losses.

Tell USDA That You DO Care About Genetic Contamination of Organic Crops and Food!

 
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 
In USDA's Environmental Impact Statement (Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044) on genetically engineered alfalfa, USDA claims that there is no evidence that consumers care about contamination to organic alfalfa and alfalfa-derived foods from Monsanto's GE Roundup Ready alfalfa. As an organic consumer, I can tell you that I DO care. 
Prohibition of genetic engineering (GE) is a fundamental tenet of the Organic Standard. In fact, the organic rule's failure to exclude GE from its first version was one of the main reasons why 275,000 people like me filed public comments in 1997, at the time the largest outpouring of public participation in the history of U.S. administrative procedure. Consumers care deeply about organic integrity, and GE is fundamentally not organic. Polls show that more than 75% of consumers believe that they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy organic.
USDA also claims that consumers will not reject GE contamination of organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat product. The Organic Standard requires that livestock feed for animals used for meat, milk, eggs, and other animal products is 100 percent organic. As the Court found in the lawsuit that required this EIS, to "farmers and consumers organic means not genetically engineered, even if the farmer did not intend for his crop to be so engineered." Whether or not the end product is impacted is not the issue. Farmers' fundamental right to sow the crop of their choice is eliminated when it is contaminated with transgenes, and so is the public's ability to support meaningful organic food and feed production. Consumers like me will reject GE contamination of organic by any means or at any stage of sustainable food production.
USDA claims that Monsanto's seed contracts require measures sufficient to prevent GE contamination, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. In the lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place! In general, where other GE crops were approved without restriction, contamination of organic and conventional seeds and crops is widespread and has been documented around the world. A recent report documented 39 cases in 2007 and more than 200 in the last decade. The EIS itself acknowledges that GE contamination may happen and includes studies that honey bees can cross-pollinate at distances over 6 miles, and Alkali bees at 4-5 miles, much further than any distances under Monsanto's "best practices."
As a consumer, I care about the contamination of organic foods and crops, and I expect USDA to do everything the agency can to protect organic farmers and consumers. The organic industry provides many benefits to society: healthy foods for consumers, economic opportunities for family farmers and urban and rural communities, and a farming system that improves the quality of the environment. However, the continued vitality of this sector is imperiled by the complete absence of measures to protect organic production systems from contamination and subsequent environmental, consumer, and economic losses. USDA must reject the deregulation of GE alfalfa and protect the integrity of organic.
Sincerely,
Vic DeLuca 

 
Take Action!
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What's At Stake:
 
Comments are due February 16, 2010.
 
Campaign Expiration Date:
February 15, 2010
 

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The Meatrix II: Revolting  - check it out.