Dear Organic Consumer,
The Senate will take up the farm
bill this week, and we need you to contact your senators about several
key amendments. There’s no time to waste. Please read through the list
of important votes below, and contact your senators today! You can call
the senate switchboard and ask to be connected: (202) 224-3121. Or you can look up the number for your senators here.
Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act
Now's our chance! The Monsanto
Protection Act, Sen. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) love note to his state's most
notorious corporation (and one of his top contributors) could be
repealed by the Senate this week!
Ask you’re your senators today: Please
support Sen. Jeff Merkely’s (D-Ore.) amendment to the Senate version of
the 2013 Farm Bill to repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act. The rider was slipped, without debate or a vote, into the emergency Continuing Resolution signed into law in March, to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
will offer an amendment to the Senate version of the 2013 Farm Bill to
repeal the infamous Monsanto Protection Act, which gives Monsanto
immunity from federal law. As long as it remains in force, even the
federal courts can't stop Monsanto from planting new genetically
modified crops, even if they were illegally approved and could threaten
human health or the environment.
The outrage that erupted in response to its passage made the Monsanto Protection Act national news. It was lampooned by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sponsored the Continuing Resolution, offered a public apology. Now, there's a campaign to force Sen. Blunt to resign and worldwide "March Against Monsanto" protests are scheduled for May 25.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the farm bill on Monday, so please take action today. Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act!
Let Farmers Grow Industrial Hemp in the U.S. Again!
Farmers in Kentucky, Vermont,
North Dakota and other states are seeking permission from the federal
government to grow industrial hemp, a crop that the Obama administration
treats like marijuana under the law. This doesn't make sense. The
products of industrial hemp are legal and widely used in organic food,
clothing and plant-based materials like plastics and biofuels. Why
should farmers in other countries get to grow the hemp we use in the
United States?
Please call your senators and ask them to vote for Senator Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky) industrial hemp amendment to the Farm Bill.
Learn more.
Farm Bill Money for Hungry Kids Not Insurance Companies!
The Senate version of the farm
bill proposes to cut $4.1 billion over 10 years from the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest domestic food
aid program. Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) has proposed an amendment to
restore the $4.1 billion in cuts to foods stamps. The Gillibrand
amendment takes the $4.1 billion from payments to crop insurance
companies without reducing the insurance subsidies paid directly to
farmers.
Please call your senators
today and ask them to vote YES on Sen. Gillibrand’s amendment. Please
tell your senators: Farm Bill money should be used to feed hungry kids,
not pad the profits of insurance companies!
Learn more.
Our Seeds Shouldn't All Be Owned By Monsanto!
Farmers constantly face changing
climate, insect, weed, and disease pressures that vary by region, and
they lament reduced options in regionally appropriate seed cultivars
held in the public domain. Crops must continuously be adapted to meet
these changes, and the most productive approach is to have seeds adapted
to the same environment as their intended use through classical plant
breeding.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is
introducing a Farm Bill amendment next week that aims to reinvigorate
classical plant breeding and public cultivar development. Please call
you’re your senators and urge them to support Sen. Tester’s amendment
to reinvigorate classical plant breeding to ensure farmers have the seed
they need to be successful. Developing regionally appropriate seed
varieties held in the public domain is paramount to the success of U.S.
agriculture.
Learn more.
The Senate is expected to begin
consideration of the farm bill on Monday, May 18, although final votes
might take place after Memorial Day. Please call your senators today at (202) 224-3121!
The House and Senate ag
committees both approved their respective versions of the farm bill last
week. The five-year bill could be brought to the House floor for a
final vote in June, and possibly pass before the August recess.
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