From GMO Free NY
Sometime during the next 7 days, contact your district Assemblymember AND Senator and ask them to support bill A.3525 (Assembly) / S.3835 (Senate), which would require the labeling of genetically engineered foods sold in New York. Even if you contacted your legislators earlier this year, please take the time to do it again.
We can't stress enough how important it is that EVERY Assemblymember and Senator hear from their constituents. They need to know that there is strong public support for GMO labeling! To date, the loudest voices in their ears have come from the lobbyists the biotech industry and big food companies have sent up to Albany. We need to drown out their voices! So no matter where you live, reach out to your elected officials. Emails are good, phone calls are better, visits to district offices are best!
Talking points for an email or phone call:
- State your name, address, and that you are a constituent of the Assemblymember/Senator.
- Say that you have the right to know what's in the food you choose to buy for yourself and feed your family.
- Say that since the FDA has not set a policy requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods, it's up to states like New York to enact their own labeling laws.
- If you want to add anything else about why you believe GMO foods should be labeled, please do so. (Here are a few example: The safety of GMOs has not been proven. There have been no long-term animal feeding studies. The herbicides used on GMOs are known to cause birth defects and have been linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma. 64 other countries have GMO labeling laws but Americans are still dining in the dark because the biotech and big food companies don't believe in transparency.)
- Ask the Assemblymember/Senator to support bill A.3525 (Assembly) / S.3835 (Senate) once it has been reintroduced in 2014. Ask them to sign on as a cosponsor, if they have not yet done so.
- Ask for a reply.
If you are willing to go the extra mile and visit your legislators in their district offices, don't worry about visiting within the next week. Just make sure you schedule your meetings before the Christmas holidays. Come January, they all return to Albany for the start of the 2014 legislative session. State all of the talking points listed above and anything else you want to add. Also, if you want some informational flyers to leave behind with your legislators, please email stacie@gmofreeny.net.
Find your NY Assemblymember:assembly.state.ny.us/mem
Find your NY Senator:www.nysenate.gov
More info:www.facebook.com/pages/GMO-Free-NY/439598096119410