Nader Joins Call to Action on Genetically Engineered Foods
Vote Nader Press Release 6oct00

Farmers and consumers both lose, Nader says

WASHINGTON, DC – Long-time consumer advocate and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader today joined a long list of farmers, consumers, environmentalists, and scientists demanding a moratorium on the use of genetically engineered (GE) products in food.

“Genetic engineering of food has far outrun the science that must be its first governing discipline. Many unknowns attend the insertion of genes across species, from ecological risks to food allergies. These unknowns beg for investigation,” stated Nader in a recent letter to the Sierra Club.

The call to action, initiated by the Genetically Engineered Food Alert—a coalition of environmental and consumer groups—demands that genetically engineered food ingredients or crops should not be allowed on the market unless:

1. Independent safety testing demonstrates they have no harmful effects on human health or the environment;
2. They are labeled to ensure the consumer's right-to-know; and
3. The biotechnology corporations that manufacture them are held responsible for any harm.

Nader suggested that a fourth condition be added to the list, that genetically engineered food ingredients or crops should not be allowed on the market unless “there are significant benefits for human needs not available outside this technology.”

“Genetic engineering represents nothing less than a going-out-of-business sale on genetic diversity,” said Nader.

In addition to outcry from consumers, a growing number of farmers and farm organizations have been voicing opposition to GE foods. In November of last year, the National Family Farm Coalition issued a ‘Farmer's Declaration on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture’ which calls for many of the same demands. “For too long farmers have had their management practices dictated by corporate agribusiness. Consolidation in agribusiness has led to fewer options for seed and inputs and fewer markets for farmers to sell to.” said Nader.

“The Clinton-Gore Administration has been extremely cozy with the GE industry and Bush promises only to be more so. Why is an inadequately tested technology—with so much potential for causing irreversible environmental harm—being imposed on an unwilling public and foisted upon a dis-empowered farming community? This is yet another example of corporate agribusiness interests pitting farmers against consumers,” added Nader.

Coalition members of the Genetically Engineered Food Alert include: the State Public Interest Research Groups, the National Environmental Trust, the Center for Food Safety, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Organic Consumers Association, Friends of the Earth, and the Pesticide Action Network of North America.

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Kevin Webb Nader 2000 Agriculture, Food, and Industrial Hemp Constituency Organizer
202-265-0633 (tel) 202-265-5352 (fax) http://www.votenader.org

"On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right?" -Martin Luther King, Jr

Paid for by the Nader 2000 General Committee, Inc.