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The Politics of Trust Network
Calling in Allies
from the Politics of Trust!
Are you a member of the
Politics of Trust?
Are you a noble green,
a noble Democrat,
a nobel Republican?
You all belong in the
Politics of Trust Network
if you care of healthy food.
Date: 8/12/2005 2:15:31 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1154 times
to Enchanted Garden Club ally John Vasconcellos
Elder Stateman, retired Senator
Dear John, please help me!
Please alert Josh and our allies
in the Politics of Trust Network:
http://WWW.POLITICSOFTRUST.NET/
2. Please connect and hook me up with your
friends in Sacramento who can help me defeat this
and be advocates for Sustainable Living.
Through Collaboration we can ensure that
"The Future of Food" will be bright--
whole, pure, and natural.
I am very concerned about this
law that Sen Dean Flores is attempting
to get through, SB 1056.
This is dangerous to the future of organic food
and the health of the children we care about.
http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=92&i=602
THIS is the PRESS RELEASE from
Sen Dean Flores site here:
Florez calls for statewide standards for seeds
SB 1056 overrides conflicting local regulations, helps many farmers cut use of pesticides
SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Agriculture Committee will consider legislation today by Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, that would establish uniform standards for the regulation of seeds in California, under the existing California Seed Law.
Certain California localities have sought to enact ordinances prohibiting seeds which have been genetically modified from being planted within their jurisdiction. The result is a confusing patchwork of conflicting regulations that impede farmers’ ability to obtain the best seeds for their particular needs. The confusion only grows for those farmers whose land straddles two jurisdictions with competing rules.
Critics of genetically modified seeds often overlook the positive effects such modification can have in reducing pesticide consumption and protecting air quality. Many seeds are now genetically modified to make the plants they grow into more resistant to pests, reducing the amount of harmful pesticides applied to produce we eat and released into the air we breathe.
“The Central Valley fights a daily battle against air pollution, lung disease and pesticide poisoning,” Florez said. “I am supportive of any effort that helps us continue our great agricultural tradition in a way that mitigates those threats to public health.”
Proponents of Senate Bill 1056 assert that a consistent statewide policy will enhance economic growth for growers and assure consumers of a high level of quality control. Twelve states have passed similar legislation within the past year.
The Assembly Agriculture Committee will meet today, June 29, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4202 of the State Capitol.
*** MEDIA ADVISORY *** MEDIA ADVISORY *** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
WHO: Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter
WHAT: Hearing on bill to establish uniform statewide seed policy
WHEN: TODAY; June 29, 2005
1:30 p.m.
WHERE: State Capitol, Room 4202
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/templates/SDCTemplate.asp?a=3192&z=142&cp=PressRe...
STATUS OF SB!056
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1051-1100/sb_1056_bill_20050707_status...
John This is the way I see it:
Turning Point for California's Farm Industry
Industry aims to strip local control of food supply
by Britt Bailey, Becky Tarbotton
Environmental and healthy-farming advocates are learning what tobacco-free campaigners learned in the 1990s: When local governments step up to protect their community's citizens, industry responds by taking away the authority of local governments.
In spring 2004, three California counties and two cities passed ordinances that restricted growing genetically modified organisms. In response, state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter (Kern County), earlier this month gutted and then amended Senate Bill 1056 with some of the broadest and most sweeping pre-emptive language ever written in the Legislature. Its purpose? To override existing local restrictions, prohibit any future initiatives that might restrict genetically engineered crops and eliminate local control of seeds and plants. Essentially, to hijack control of our food supply.
Just as the tobacco industry acted to restrict local tobacco controls in 20 states, agribusiness corporations and their affiliated associations are behind the moves to thwart local efforts to restrict the growing of genetically modified foods. In the 2005 session, 16 state legislatures, including California, introduced bills prohibiting local control of seeds and plants. The nearly identical language used in each of the bills illustrates a systematic and ordered approach to stifling community decision-making. Agribusiness councils, whose leadership includes members such as bioengineering firms Monsanto and Syngenta, are promoting the legislation while the bills' initial language has been developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative public-policy organization.
What will such pre-emptive laws do to local control? According to Tom Campbell, director of the California Department of Finance, "state pre-emption laws can do two things. They can overturn the will of the people in the event an initiative has passed, and they can prevent the introduction of laws on the same subject from being introduced in the future." Pre-empting local authority stifles citizen participation in the democratic process and should give pause for any legislator or citizen. What are voters in Mendocino and Marin counties to think when their votes to restrict genetically modified crops and protect local food and farming are worthy of so little respect?
There is no denying that agricultural biotechnology is a complex and controversial issue. You would think this would be all the more reason public debate and discussion should be encouraged, not silenced. Yet if legislators such as Florez have their way, citizens will lose an opportunity to be part of the discussion to resolve one of the most challenging issues of our time. Local initiatives and citizen actions restricting genetically modified crops are a signal to the Legislature that Californians are concerned about this new technology and, in the absence of government leadership, are taking matters into their own hands to protect their environment, economy and health.
Proponents of SB1056 assert that California needs uniformity and homogeneity with regard to seed laws and that the state could not possibly handle a patchwork of laws passed by local government. Yet, if local authority over seeds is taken away by the state, then so is every farmer's choice not to use genetically engineered seeds and plants. Once genetically engineered plants are released into the environment, historically preserved and heirloom seed strains are forever affected, according to a 2004 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Diverse agricultural economies may suffer from losses due to this contamination. For example, if organic crops become contaminated with genetically engineered pollen, those farmers may lose their organic certification.
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to James Madison in which he stated, "I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but the people, and if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take the power from them." That critical power is now being challenged, as state Sen. Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata (Humboldt County), noted: "Regardless of how you feel about the (genetically modified organism) issue, taking away local voters' rights is a serious threat to democracy."
Please voice your opposition to SB1056, which impedes our ability as community members to protect and create a sustainable food supply. Contact your legislator (to find out who that is, go to leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html), Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (senator.perata@sen.ca.gov) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (assemblymember.nunez@assembly.ca.gov). This legislation does not represent the freedoms our country was founded upon.
Britt Bailey is director of Environmental Commons in Gualala (Mendocino County) and environmental policy instructor at the College of Marin in Kentfield. For updated information on the seed and plant pre-emption bills,
visit http://www.environmentalcommons.org/gmo-tracker.html.
Becky Tarbotton is campaign coordinator for Californians for GE-Free Agriculture (www.calgefree.org),
a statewide coalition promoting ecologically
and economically viable agriculture.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This op-ed piece was published by the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, July 20, 2005, and reprinted by Common Dreams.
"I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but the people, and if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take the power from them."
- Thomas Jefferson
Leslie Goldman, Your Enchanted Gardener,
SEES and plants SEEDS of success
for super RIPE people and their DREAMS. Moment by Moment Leslie,
Your Enchanted Gardener:
Plant Your Dream Blog:
http://curezone.com/blogs/f.asp?f=92
or Http://www.lesliegoldman.com
top center
Latest EG PROJECT Your Sponsorships have help
C0 create:
http://www.lesliegoldman.com/Feng_Shui_Conferences/index.htm
You will find Numbers of links
to other Enchanted Garden Projects
from this Main Site:
Http://www.lesliegoldman.com/
Snailmail address:
Leslie Goldman
c/o Enchanted Garden
6008 Arosa St.
San Diego, CA 92115
619.582.9669
"A magic day he passed my way and while we spoke
of many things Fools and Kings, this he said to me,
'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be
loved in return.' " -- "Nature Boy," written by eden
ahbez, recorded by Nat King Cole
in 1947, the year of my birth.
Leslie Goldman, Your Enchanted Gardener,
SEES and plants SEEDS of success
for super RIPE people and their DREAMS.
An ambassador of Heart and Soul, Leslie's influence is expressed through poetry that inspires intimacy and photo images that record the history of Peace on Earth. Leslie was given a U.N. Peace Medal in 1982 for the work he would do in his life. His mission is growing the Enchanted Garden, a name for our Renewed Earth that he encourages each of us to plant with heirloom organic seeds and fragrant herbs growing in harmony with our deepest seed dreams. His message in '05-'06 spreads through Seven Love Cures, poems that appear as Postal Poetry Plaques, and forthcoming on Greeting Cards, and as framed art; Words men need to know and women want to hear, these writings are heart remedies for women and men alike. They belong on nutritional supplement counters everywhere. Vitamin “L”--"L" for Love--is his game. “Gardeners make better lovers,” Leslie says, "It's time for each of us to be one of Mother Earth's World's Greatest Lovers now."
Leslie's work is supported international by a network of Sacred Earth Keepers who sign a Declaration of Interdependence http://www.lesliegoldman.com/Feng_Shui_Conferences/id83.htm
and join the Enchanted Garden Club. http://www.lesliegoldman.com/id28.htm
You can hear the voice of eden ahbez here: http://shadowboxstudio.com/edenahbez.htm
Contact info:
Your Enchanted Gardener
to Join Leslie email list and receive
special FREE GIFTS and BLESSINGS
go to http://www.bebo.com/friends/17745049a341027232b22
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