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Sonoma County Group Calling on Washington Voters to Pass State GMO Initiative

by Occupy Sonoma County (GMO [at] OcSoCo.org)
To support the passage of GMO labeling legislation, members of Santa Rosa-based Occupy Sonoma County have organized a phone banking campaign to contact Washington residents and encourage them to vote "yes" on I 522.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
From Occupy Sonoma County
Contact: Steve: Steve [at] OcSoCo.org
Thomas: Thomas [at] OcSoCo.org or 707-338-3791

Sonoma County Group Calling on Washington Voters to Pass State GMO Initiative

SANTA ROSA, CA
October 2, 2013

Nearly a year after the narrow defeat of California's Proposition 37, Sonoma county supporters of the measure are once again working to help pass a state law mandating the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods--but this time the battleground state is Washington. On November 5, Washington voters will decide the fate of Initiative 522 (I-522) which would require foods produced with genetic engineering to be labeled as genetically engineered when offered for retail sale.

To support the passage of I-522, members of Santa Rosa-based Occupy Sonoma County (OSC) have organized a phone banking campaign to contact Washington residents and encourage them to vote "yes" on the measure. Since the inception of OSC last December, the group has focused on opposing unlabeled GMOs (genetically modified organisms--another term to describe GE foods) "By mAny Means Necessary." Over the year, their means have included sponsoring monthly meetings, educational events, and protest marches that bring public attention to the growing concern over GMOs. In their latest phone banking effort, the California group will be joining forces with the Washington state "Yes on 522" campaign. The grassroots-based message of Yes on 522 will run counter to a highly-financed media campaign by food and seed industry giants, such as Monsanto, that profit by bringing GE food products to market.

California's Proposition 37 failed, but anti-GMO groups are convinced that passage of the next statewide mandatory labeling law will put serious momentum behind what they see as a growing national movement. They believe that the odds have already begun to turn in their favor. According to the Center for Food Safety, "already in 2013 nearly half of all U.S. states have introduced bills requiring labeling or prohibiting genetically engineered foods." Occupy Sonoma County members are ready to trigger the tipping point that brings mandatory labeling to GMO products, and that is why they are asking members of the public to join their grassroots phone banking drive on Monday evenings in October.

For more information about Occupy Sonoma County and their October phone banking campaign, visit http://www.occupysonomacounty.org or email gmo [at] ocsoco.org. Also on the website is information on the second "March Against Monsanto" that will be held on Saturday, October 12 in Santa Rosa.

Steve Devereux
Occupy Sonoma County
steve [at] ocsoco.org
http://occupysonomacounty.org

###


http://OccupySonomaCounty.org
http://www.facebook.com/OccupySonomaCounty

Occupy Sonoma County embraces the egalitarian, deep democracy principles of the Occupy Movement with a regional strategy for effectively organizing county-wide social justice campaigns that are globally relevant.
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