We stand at a pivotal moment on Earth. The ocean’s are heating up and becoming more acidic because of human-induced global warming. Phytoplankton, the irreplaceable foundation of the ocean’s food chain are dying off. Wild fish populations are crashing, not only because of global warming, but because we are allowing out-of-control, "profit at any cost" industrial fishing corporations to wreck havoc. And now the coup de grace. The Obama Administration is poised to approve the first genetically engineered fish for human consumption, GE salmon, while the FDA is still aiding and abetting the force-feeding of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to the public, wielding the fouled Bush-Quayle Era doctrine of "substantial equivalence" of GMO and natural foods like a club, legally blocking adequate safety testing and labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
We need to take action now, before the so-called FDA "review" of genetically engineered salmon is finished. It’s unlikely the Obama Administration will ban GMO foods or fish, even though they are inherently hazardous. But if massive public pressure can force the FDA to require mandatory labels on Genetically Engineered fish, polls indicate that most consumers will boycott these GE fish and force them off the market. We have until November 22, 2010, to submit public comments calling for labeling genetically engineered salmon. In addition the FDA still needs to do an Environmental Assessment before approving the GE salmon. The FDA Environmental Assessment will include a 30 day public comment period. How many letters can Organic Consumers Association members generate in the next two months?
You sent 100,000 letters in opposition to Tom Vilsack for USDA Secretary because of his pro-biotech, pro-Monsanto politics. We need to send that many or more to stop genetically engineered salmon. Direct action is going to be necessary, too. If the Obama Administration stubbornly continues to hide behind the scientifically discredited Bush-Quayle doctrine of "substantial equivalence" claiming there isn’t a "material" difference between genetically engineered and normal salmon, then we’ll have no choice but to use every tactic we can muster to throw a wrench into the gears of the Frankenfoods Express. Please help us save the wild fish and the oceans instead of allowing the biotech industry to brainwash us into believing that industrial fish farms and genetic engineering represent the future of food. Write to the FDA to demand labels and adequate pre-market safety-testing of GMOs. And please forward this Action Alert to everyone you know.