Archive for January, 2014
Posted on Monday, January 20th, 2014 by Michele Simon
The Grocery Manufacturers Association may soon be coming to your state capital. Take note of their rap sheet before you let them in the door.
In secret documents that I uncovered in November, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (aka food industry lobbyists) laid out its five-point plan for opposing the labeling of foods containing genetically-modified organisms or GMOs. First on the list: “To oppose all state efforts that would impose mandatory labels” including state legislation. With more than 20 states having introduced state bills to require GMO labeling, the junk food lobby has its work cut out for it. But they’ve wasted no time as the 2014 legislative session gets underway, starting with targeting the New Hampshire capital.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Food Safety, Industry Tactics | Tagged: Big Food, California Prop 37, FDA, GMO labeling, GMOs, Grocery Manufacturers Association, I-522, junk food | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Friday, January 17th, 2014 by Michele Simon
The food lobby wants a voluntary federal approach to GMO labeling, but we should let the states have their way, for now.
Those advocating for improvements to our broken food system have, of late, had little to crow about. However, in recent years, a growing movement to label foods made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has begun showing real promise. While the food industry continues to make unsubstantiated and deceptive claims that GMO labels would be confusing or increase food costs, polls show that more than 90 percent of Americans favor GMO labeling. And the states are listening. At least 20 states have proposed legislation requiring that genetically engineered foods be labeled. Read rest at Al Jazeera America ….
Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Food Safety, Industry Tactics | Tagged: Big Food, California Prop 37, FDA, GMO labeling, GMOs, Grocery Manufacturers Association, I-522, Monsanto, PepsiCo, trade groups, voluntary self-regulation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Friday, January 10th, 2014 by Michele Simon
When I was asked yesterday by POLITICO to comment on a press release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation celebrating the food industry’s alleged reduction in calories, I thought, Oh, that data we’ve been waiting for is finally is published. But I was wrong. As I reported last June, a collection of food companies calling themselves the “Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation” jumped the gun with a self-congratulatory release claiming to have made good on its 2010 “pledge” with the first lady’s Let’s Move campaign to reduce the number of calories in the food supply by 1.5 trillion.
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Posted in Big Food, Industry Tactics, Media, Public Health | Tagged: first lady, Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Let's Move, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sam Kass | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Friday, January 3rd, 2014 by Michele Simon
If you ask most Americans about the NRA, they will think of the National Rifle Association. But another powerful industry trade group bearing those initials, the National Restaurant Association, conducts its own campaign of duplicitous lobbying and outright deception at the expense of the public interest. Read rest at Al Jazeera America ….
Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Labor | Tagged: Big Food, Corporate Accountability International, labor, lobbying, McDonald's, National Restaurant Association, workers rights | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
