Prop 37: Honest Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Food Needed
Prop 37: Honest Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Food Needed
This Plant Your Dream Blog was inspired by an article on the website "Appetite for Profit" by Michelle Simon. She calls out the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science--the AAAS, one of the most prestigious science organizations in the world--for coming out for NO on 37 within a week of the Historic Vote in California.
People in the US, unlike those in more than 61 nations, do not have a Right to Know what is in our food. That is the basis of YES on 37 November 6. Some folks wanted to attempt to give CA the RIght to Know and Label GE foods, so we all got together and raised near 1 million signatures to get this People's Grassroots initiative on the ballot. "The World According to Monsanto" will never be the same. We have made our point. We won. I claim Victory now. Every vote YES is a victory.
Date: 11/3/2012 11:53:10 AM ( 12 y ) ... viewed 1472 times
Science, Ethics and Food: Reflections on Prop 37, on the eve of the election...
So the question remains: Why this position right now? Why would such a mainstream scientific organization stick its neck out on a highly controversial issue just days before the election? And how we can trust any future AAAS statements to be based on science, instead of what this looks like: A carefully-orchestrated political and public relations maneuver that puts the AAAS motto to shame: “Advancing science, serving society.” The only interests this charade serves are those of the biotech, chemical, and junk food industries.
Michelle Simon, in her article, "Serving Science or Monsanto?" on her website, AppetiteforProfit.com, calls out the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AAAS, one of the most prestigious science organizations in the world, for coming out for "NO on 37" within a week of the Historic Vote in California.
Some folks wanted to give CA the Right to Know and Label Genetically Engineered foods. We all got together and raised nearly 1 million signatures to get this People's Grassroots initiative on the ballot. We knew we would go up against Big Ag and The Pesticiders. In truth, "The World According to Monsanto" will never be the same. We have made our point. We won. I claim Victory now. Every vote YES was a victory.
I salute the nearly 1 million who signed the People's Initiative that became Prop 37. I honor the tireless volunteers who formed what will become known as One of the Greatest Grassroots Movements in US History that inevitably Labeled GMOS.
My own inspiration is called the Campaign to Grow A Healthier Pizza, inspired by numbers who signed my original petition on Change.org that stood up to the folks in Congress that defined Pizza as a Vegetable and sold out our kids once again to poor nutrition. I will not stop until there are more than 7.5 million + 2 in America who realize that the way to put Special Interests in their place is to grow some of our own food. Not only is the Right to Know a birthright that needs to be guaranteed by our constitution, but the Know-how -- HOW to Grow A Healthier Pizza -- ought be taught to every child and adult around the world.
FROM THE TIMELINE THAT WILL LEAD TO VICTORY: THE LABELING OF GMOS IN AMERICA
Scene at the Registrar of Voters, San Diego, May 2, 2012. 275,000 local signatures were turned in, with nearly 1,000,000 statewide, as Prop 37 shows its popularity. Across the nation, people everywhere said, "Just Label It!" The Mellman Report points out that this is the time for the US to join 60+ other nations that have a "Right to Know-Label GMOs" relationship between their Gov and People.
I have been aware that the AAAS, the most prestigious Science organization in America, has been in the Monsanto Camp and the Biotech Camp since I first attended their annual meeting as Press in 2010 in San Diego. I saw that the US Government was clearly invested in the success of this Biotechnology at all costs, even if that meant eventually leading to a bankrupt economy and soil unfit to grow a healthy plant or human being. Truly, the US Government for the most part was 'in [the farm] bed' with Biotech and Monsanto.
At AAAS, I met the Father of Round Up Ready Agriculture, Dr. Robert Fraley. Round Up Herbicide is a big moneymaker for Monsanto, and the cornerstone of GMO productivity. Studies are showing toxic Glyphosate, found in RoundUp, in the air, soil, water table and urine. Pregnant women are now showing up with Glyphosate in their bodies and breasts. Without knowing, parents feed their kids genetically modified corn that can be bought at Walmart, a few ears for a dollar. Cheaper, in this case, is really not better. When I eat organically, I pay a higher price; I know the doctor bill is included. With GMOs, we are eating food we imagine is tested, but really has not been long-term tested on humans, and can be shown to cause sterility, stunt growth, destroy healthy cells, and escalate rates of mental illness and obesity, among many other "benefits"... People in the US, unlike those in more than 60 nations, do not have a Right to Know what is in our food. That is the basis of YES on 37, November 6.
The CA Right to Know asked nothing more than a simple Label, so people could choose if they wanted GMOs in their bodies.
That day I met Dr. Robert Fraley, there was a protest outside the San Diego Convention Center. I knew some of the protestors against Monsanto. There were other loud strangers among the protesters. I sensed that some of them were hired by Monsanto to protest. I am a community leader in San Diego; I know many of the community leaders in the Food Movement. There were people who showed up that I had never seen before.
There was one sweet student who wanted to protest by making organic cookies and have a potluck outside the San Diego Convention Center. I knew her very well. She worked with JR Organic, the main farming family that I have befriended for more than 15 years.
I planted organic seeds of beets with that man, Dr. Robert Fraley. I took a picture with him and his assistant for the record. A few other people planted seeds in that same pot but did not know it. One was from The uniion of Concerned Scientists and that innocent student who made the cookies. I met a man from Maine, who worked for a sustainable farming org, on the way out of the building. He organized their yearly expo which was the equivalent of the National Heirloom Expo I just attended in Santa Rosa, CA. When I left the building it started to rain. I watered those seeds with rain drops and sat there, alone, looking at an American flag. I sang America The Beautiful.
I carry my seeds in a silver box. While Dr. Fraley was speaking, my beet seeds feel to the ground. The woman from the uniion of Concerned Scientists helped me pick them up. Her energy was on every seed. She later saw me with the Father of Round Up Ready. She wondered what I was doing talking to him. Didn't I know any better?
I told Dr. Fraley about the protest outside. I told him I felt I could ease the tension between the GMO Lovers and Organic Lovers. He said he liked where I was coming from.
He introduced me to the main Communication Officer for Monsanto. We talked for a little while. I asked her about the farmers in India killing themselves through drinking Monsanto's Round Up. She told me that they committed suicide for some other reason other than that their lives had been ruined through buying into GMO Agriculture. Round Up just happened to be available so they drank it.
The story of those suicides are told in the film "Bitter Seeds." One Indian farmer, the film says, kills himself every 30 minutes. Many feel shame. They have lost everything. They have no money to give for their daughters' dowries. The GMO Monsanto seeds did not work out.
The idea of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Food was born at that fated meeting, inspired by the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, a committee of AAAS. Our group now has about 100 members on Facebook. That top information officer for Monsanto is part of the group. We are "friends" on Facebook. My vision is that such a Dialogue will lead to something good. I admit I am hurt and angry watching how Monsanto has sold out our world and our seeds and helped buy out the vote in CA. More than $45 Million was spent, and the most brilliant marketing strategy -- the same that has killed off cultures worldwide from the pursuit of owning seeds and growing their own food -- continues to allow Corporations with Ulterior Motives to control our food supply. Until we have an honest Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Food, we will never return our nation to prosperity. We all need to state our honest positions and allow them to be discussed. We need to hear each other. The AAAS will regain integrity when it allows for such a meeting on its stage.
Millions across the US have now had a first-hand experience with Monsanto tactics because of the Prop 37 Campaign. Monsanto has been the biggest contributor to the $45 Million No on 37 Campaign. Many other chemical companies, including Dow and Dupont, invested heavily in keeping people in the dark.
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Prop 37 Results Will Not Reflect The strength of the Powerful Grassroots Movement that has now formed
These are grains of KAMUT ® brand Khorasan ancient wheat growing a few days before the vote on 37 Nov 6. They were vital, strong, and would not be stopped until Labeling was a done deal in America The Beautiful..
Prop 37 can be compared to a Football game, but the final vote does not record the outcome of this game. Each maneuver of the campaign was like a play of the game, I have been playing this game full on since February. I am very weary and tired. There have been numbers of miracles along the way. I will write them up in a book called, "Grow A Healthier Pizza."
The difference between the Prop 37 campaign and a football game is that there were no rules here based on ethics. In football, you have referees in stripped black and white shirts. In this game of politics, there are no fair referees.
In America, we count on our scientists as truth tellers. We trust Science. Yet, the AAAS experience, coming out a week before the Vote to say No on 37, is just the tip of the iceberg; we can no longer look to Science as a fair gauge of the truth. We can not even look to the FDA, our Food and Drug Admin, to be our referee. The FDA, The AAAS, many in Gov, and Monsanto all imagine that it is O.K to treat the farms with Biotech. I am Your Enchanted Gardener, a keeper of Sacred Seeds. I guarantee you, Nature will not allow this. She will bring us Hurricanes and tsunamis, super weeds, and drought, until we see the Light of YES. I am sorry. That is the way it is.
In a game of football, someone blows a whistle when the teams are off sides or break the rules. In the Prop 37 contest, there were no rules, and apparently no referees we can trust fully. Hopefully, the n Department of Justice and FBI will step in as requested by the CA Right to Know, to show that there still is some integrity in Government that addresses Foul Play. This has not been a fair fight.
My friend John Vasconcellos, the former CA State Senator, 38 years in government, was a friend of both Democrats and Republicans. We ate lunch a few weeks ago. One of his old Republican allies showed up for the lunch. She loves him as we all do who came to lunch. She only remembers John for good. His current project is the Politics of Trust. That is his legacy. We definitely need The Politics of Trust today. Many virgins of politics stepped on this field of play for the first time through Prop 37. They will go away outraged, and fired up. I am so very sorry to have witnessed this political contest called Prop 37.
It is no test of truth to say the strength of our food movement can be judged by the numbers who voted against Prop 37. Every vote for YES is a victory in the face of dishonesty among Scientists. Ethics had been thrown out. No whistle was blown loud enough to say NO had cross the line. People will not forget. Prop 37 will not end Nov 6. That is only the beginning.
It is not a Fair Fight, when the No side buys a full page ad in a local black paper in Oakland and says that grocery bills will go up $400.00 if YES wins. That simply was not true. That was a deception.
It was not a Fair fight to scare local San Diego farmers into believing that they would be vulnerable to suits if Yes passed. Their was no basis of reality in that.
Farmers are farmers. They have enough on their minds, and do what they do best. The best of them grow our food in a Godly way. Organic is too small a word to describe the inherent holiness of a farmer, and we will not allow Monsanto or anyone to continue to desecrate our relationship to the soul by further degrading our seeds or soil. Food is precious. Food is used to Plant Your Dream. Food is Sacred substance.
in 1919, Alfred W. McCann, an honest member of the Press, wrote about the "Moneybags"--Special interests-- that stole our gov, McCann said, if we continued in our ways, we would come to witness the most extreme of hardship and ill health in America We now bear witness economically the Empty Harvest, that McCann announced. We do not even know today that GMO are part of that desecration. No one on the Yes side, even asked to get rid of them. We just wanted choice to have innocent people know they were there.
Nina Federoff, the AAAS President, was at the same conference where I met Dr. Robert Fraley, the Father of Round Up Technology. Read and debate her book "Mendel in the Kitchen." It gives the BIO--Biotechnology Industry Organization-- point of view splendidly. Nina is now "our Ambassador of GE." President Bush, who was served organic food in the White House appointed her. Hilary Clinton kept her on. She was a devoted NO on 37 supporter.
One day, God Willing, that woman from the uniion of Concerned Scientists who picked up my seeds; Dr. Robert Fraley, PhD, Nina Federoff, and some of the lead Stakeholders from the Organic Trade Association will be on stage at the AAAS. I will be Your Enchanted Gardener. The tension between GMO Lovers and Organic Lovers will lessen because Truth will be told.
We already have a perfect technology that goes with living on our most precious planet--Nature's Original Tecnology. Soil of our earth is a womb made to grow one of her most precious natural resources--a Fully Alive Human Being. We will Win Back Our Sacred Seeds. The affront of Science and its No on 37 position is that they did not grasp the affront to human dignity in denying us the Right to Know what is in our food. We will one day be a nation of Wellness Warriors who take time each day to live so that when we are 90, we look 60. This day is coming. How fast can a Dream Grow? As Fast as a Blade of Grass. We were born to plant this dream. We have already planted it. God bless us all, Yes and No alike. If Biotech feels they have another plan better than nature, let them honestly enter a true Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Food on the stage of the AAAS with all points of view expressing. It is only then Science will be restored to the role it was meant to play.
Leslie Goldman
Your Enchanted Gardener
Plant Your Dream Blog.
First Draft
November 3, 2012
three days to the Countdown of Nov 6.
May Peace Prevail on Earth.
We are each Sacred Seeds
Dr. Robert Fraley, PhD; Leslie Goldman, Your Enchanted Gardener: and Tami Craig Shilling, a chief information officer Monsanto Corp.Photo from AAAS 2010
Sacred Seed Prayer
Leslie Goldman Your Enchanted Gardener
THIS IS A VIDEO THAT INCLUDES FOOTAGE OF DR. ROBERT FRALEY, THE FATHER OF ROUND UP READY AGRICULTURE IN AMERICA
This video includes footage of AJ Kawamura, who was Sec of Ag when I filmed him at the CA Small Farm Conference in 2010. The flowers on the stage when Dr. Fraley spoke in this video at the AAAS were from my Enchanted Garden.
Each year, my first stop inside the Hall at the Natural Product Expo West, is to visit the Flower Essence Services Booth. I highly recommend these remarkable remedies. Amen.
I would like to see a version of this in the Huffington Post.
Come visit Booth 49 at the Pacific Symposium Nov 9-10-11 at the Catamaran. Experience the QuintEssential Remedies I use. Let's get together to discuss what's next after Prop 37,
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