Stop Food Irradiation Project of Organic Consumers Association

Stop Fast Track 7/22/02: The "Fast Track" bill, which would tie Congress's hands on negotiating international trade agreements, has passed the U.S. House and Senate. But there will be another vote on it sometime this year and another opportunity to stop it.

Please contact your Representative and tell him/her to vote NO on the Fast Track compromise bill. Call toll-free (877) 611-0063. Other things you can do now.

Background: If Congress passes Fast Track, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a/k/a "NAFTA for the hemisphere" (34 countries) will almost certainly be passed. The first and essential step for stopping the FTAA is stopping Fast Track.

In December, the first version of Fast Track passed the House by only one vote (see how your Representative voted). The Senate passed their first version of Fast Track in May.

For more information on Fast Track and FTAA, see our Stop FTAA/Fast Track Page (with links) or Global Trade Watch, or e-mail us with questions.

Industrial Animal Production and Slaughter
Read Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry, by Gail Eisnitz.

January 22, 2002: Meat , Food Packing Workers at IBP/Tyson in Pasco, Wash., Rallied for Safe Conditions. About 500 of the plant's 1,400 employees completed a survey between April and December 2001. According to the union, the survey showed: -- Nearly all those who responded believed production speed contributed to accidents and injuries in their work area. -- About three-fourths said understaffing contributed to accidents and injuries. -- More than two-thirds said they witnessed unsanitary conditions and nearly a third said they witnessed inhumane procedures, such as dismembering animals while they still were conscious. Gov. Gary Locke ordered a state investigation into similar allegations in 2000 after a video aired on Seattle television that seemed to show animals were being treated inhumanely. From the Tri-City Herald.
September 27, 2001: Check out the GRACE Factory Farm Project: more than you wanted to know about factory farms!
September 24, 2001: Getting corporations out of agriculture: Learn about how South Dakota and Nebraska amended their constitutions.
September 20, 2001: US piglets now are routinely given irradiated animal blood parts in their food.
September 19, 2001: Tour de Stench: Take a tour of Kentucky chicken factory farms.
August 20, 2001: Action Alert: Tell your U.S. Senator: Don't give tax breaks for "renewable energy" from incineration of factory-farmed hog and cattle manure.
August 1, 2001: Poultry workers routinely denied wages.
Learn more about slaughterhouses from the Government Accountability Project.
July 8, 2001: Hogging It: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock" a report from the nonpartisan Union of Concerned Scientists, describes the growing public health problem caused by antibiotic resistance. Take action.
June 3, 2001: Join the Halt Hog Factories campaign.
Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser on his visits to slaughterhouses. June 23, 2000: Report: Cattle cut up while alive.
May 11, 2001: The true story of corporate hog farms, a report from IATP with horrifying pictures.
April 15, 2001: Feature article on slaughterhouses: Modern meat: A brutal harvest.
February 2001: Inhumane slaughter continues in the U.S.; many slaughterhouses not complying with regulations.
February 27, 2001: Working conditions in American slaughterhouses today: illegal immigrants, unsafe environments, worker injuries and contaminated meat/poultry.

- How to Be an Activist-

1. Ask your organization to join our coalition against irradiation and for consumer labels on ALL irradiated foods. List of coalition members

2. See our Action Alerts above.

3. Distribute our handouts.

4. Ask for a speaker for a local event.

5. Send us the name of your local newspaper that might be interested in covering the irradiation issue or publishing an opinion piece.

6. Write a letter to the editor about irradiation.

7. If there is an irradiation facility in your area or if local grocers are selling OR PLAN TO SELL irradiated foods, contact us for help in organizing a demonstration.

8. Write comment cards and give to your grocer saying you won't buy irradiated products. Ask your neighbors to focus on one grocer.

9. Sign up to receive action alerts and to send comments to FDA about labeling. We never sell your name.

10. Join Public Citizen's radfood listserve for updates.

11. Don't forget to VOTE in EVERY election! Get an absentee ballot if you won't be home!

USA: Find your state and federal legislators in two steps:
1. Obtain your nine-digit zip code from the U.S. Postal Service.
2. Plug in the zip code at Project Vote Smart.

Progressive Links of the Week

1. Learn about stevia, a no-calorie, natural alternative to aspartame

2. PR Watch Impropaganda Review: Rogue's Gallery of Industry Front Groups and Anti-environmental Think Tanks

Irradiation damages antioxidants and increases free radicals.

Current Food Irradiation Actions:

Chicago-area activists, get involved in a local group!
May 10, 2001: Send a fax to companies that plan to irradiate to say you won't buy their food.
Call Del Monte (fresh foods) at 1-800-543-3090 to say you won't buy the "fresh" foods packaged in glass and plastic that they plan to irradiate.
Keep writing; the Hawaiian papaya industry needs to hear that people want organic, nonirradiated papayas. Contact the papaya industry headquarters in Hawaii, and tell them you are boycotting Hawaiian papayas. Some irradiated Hawaiian papayas are being sold on the mainland--without the required labels--since August 2000. Action alert and sample letter.
Call world's largest retailer Wal-Mart at 1-800-925-6278 and say you won't buy the irradiated meat they plan to sell.
Call Tyson to say you won't buy the irradiated chicken they plan to sell: 1-800-233-6332.
Call Kraft at 800/543-5335 to say you won't buy the lunch meats they plan to irradiate.

In the long term, American farmers will be hurt by cheap irradiated fruits from Brazil and Southeast Asia.

Basic Handouts (also see For Students and Science)

Our basic flyer: What's wrong with food irradiation (3 pages) in Rich Text Format. What's wrong with food irradiation--with references in Rich Text Format. Shorter version without references (2 pages)
Frequently Asked Questions: More comprehensive overview (about 8 pages) in Rich Text Format. Warning: large file with graphics.
Status of food irradiation: foods that can be irradiated, locations of irradiation facilities, responsible U.S. government agencies, etc. (3 pages) in Rich Text Format
Flyer about labeling of irradiated food, in Spanish.

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