Create the Law on Genetic Foods: Sample Letter

Joe Toth (newsgate.duke.edu!agate!howland.erols.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprJoe Toth)
Wed, 09 Apr 1997 17:32:15 -0500

Sample letter to send to your UN Codex Representatives.

PLEASE send a copy or one of your own before meeting April 14.
The Web site below gives your country's representative address.

Here is a suggestion for the USA :

==============SAMPLE LETTER==============
Ms. Rhonda Bond
Mr. Patrick Clerkin,
Office of the U.S. Coordinator for the Codex Alimentarius
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 311, West End Court
Washington , D.C., 20250-3700
Tel: 202-418-8841
Fax: 202-418-8865
e-mail: uscodex@aol.com

April 1997

Dear Ms Bond and/or Mr Clerkin,

I am extremely concerned about the recent introduction of genetically
engineered foods into our food supply. I feel that these foods have been
forced on consumers untested, unlabelled and unannounced. I believe that
splicing
human genes into pigs, fish genes into tomatoes, and insect, bacteria, and
virus genes into potatoes, corn, and wheat, etc., threaten the well-being of
my family and community.

These genetically altered foods have no safety record and no one can guarantee
that they will not have serious, unpredictable effects on the health of those
who consume them. Lowered nutritional value, allergies, introduction of new
diseases, and toxins are just some of our concerns.

Genetically engineering of food is not the traditional crossbreeding of same
species crops or animals that has been done for thousands of years, as the
agri-chemical industry would have you believe. It is isolating a gene in one
species and "shooting" it with a "gene gun "into the cell of another species
--the results could never occur in nature.

It seriously disturbing that these genetically altered seeds are being
released into our environment without adequate research and testing of
their long term
effects. For, unlike chemical or nuclear contamination, gene pollution can
never be cleaned up. New living organisms, bacteria, and viruses are being
released into the environment, free to reproduce, migrate and mutate. No one
knows how they will transfer their mutant characteristics to other organisms.
The effects of genetic mistakes are irreversible and irretrievable.

Our health is threatened each day with chemical, air, and water pollution. I
am vehemently opposed to introducing yet another new technology that has not
been tested and proven safe. The recent announcement by the FDA asking
asthmatics to avoid canned tuna because it was contaminated with sulfites are
the kinds of dangers we consumers face each day. We certainly don't need
genetically engineered foods in our grocery shelves to add to these
uncertainties.

We are also very angry that the FDA is denying American citizens their most
fundamental right of free choiceby not requiring genetically engineered
foods to be labeled. At the very least we expect our government to enforce
strict labeling laws which will allow consumers to make their own decisions to
purchase them or not.

Introduction of these unnatural genes into the DNA of the food that sustains
us is the most serious threat to humanity since the nuclear bomb. We urge you
to thoroughly educate yourself about this issue and act quickly on behalf of
American consumers before it is too late. European governments are taking
action to protect their citizens and so should our government.

Sincerely,

My Name and address.

==================END SAMPLE LETTER============

Dear Friends,

The time is here for the next meeting of the Codex Alimentarus Committee on
Food Labeling (CCFL).

The decisions of the CCFL regarding food safety and labeling are very
influential, because Codex has been designated by the World Trade
Organization (WTO) as the rule-making body for all matters regarding import
and export of foods. In effect, in the international arena, Codex
regulations have the clout of international law, and can be backed up by
imposing trade sanctions and other serious penalties.

Because of this, it is very important to bring as much
attention and information to bear on the deliberations of this committee as
possible.

What you can do to help is to write a letter to your Codex
representative.
You can find the name of your country representative by accessing
the following site on the Web:
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/economic/esn/nutri.htm
Please ask others in your area to do the same!!

More info on this issue on sites like:
http://www.lisco.com/mothersfornaturallaw/
http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/cbio/geneng.html
http://www.demon.co.uk/solbaram/articles/clm505.html
http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/campaigns/ef/toxmut/flavr.html#cflower
http://www.natural-law.org/issues/genetics/ge_hazards.html
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rone/Genetic%20Engineering.htm
http://www.netlink.de/gen/home.html
http://www.bio-integrity.org
http://www.peg.apc.org/~acfgenet
http://www.nemsn.org/ems/html/ tryptophan
http://www.panna.org/panna/
http://www.mum.edu/PRESS/genetics/ethical_stand.html