National Campaign to Force Labeling of Irradiated Food in Schools

Call in Day for National School Lunch Week - October 15, 2003

Urge Your Member of Congress to Co Sponsor H.R. 3120
The "Right to Know School Nutrition Act"

As part of National School Lunch Week, Oct 13-17, we urge you to call
your Member of Congress and tell them to co-sponsor H.R. 3120. This
bill, introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) requires labeling
of irradiated foods when they are served in schools, and requires
schools to have non-irradiated meal options available at all times.

Call 800-839-5276 and ask to speak to your Representative.
To find out who represents you, visit www.vote-smart.org

Sample Phone Rap
Hi, I am a constituent of Representative ______________________. I am
calling to urge him/her to co-sponsor H.R. 3120, the Right-to-Know
School Nutrition Act.

This bill is very important to me, because it will help ensure that
schoolchildren have alternatives to irradiated food if their school
decides to serve it. I do not believe that enough research has been
done on the safety of irradiated foods, and I am firmly opposed to using
our children as guinea pigs for a questionable technology.

Please keep me informed of Representative _________________ 's stance
on this legislation. Thank you.

Background

In May 2003 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved
irradiated beef for the National School Lunch Program, which provides
more than 25 million low-income children with free or subsidized
lunches. The USDA made their decision despite the overwhelming
opposition to this proposal from parents and concerned citizens.

Irradiation exposes food to doses of ionizing radiation equivalent to
millions of chest x-rays, in order to kill bacteria. This process
destroys essential nutrients and hastens their depletion during storage
and cooking. Irradiation also creates known toxins and carcinogens in
food, such as benzene and toluene, and a new class of chemicals, called
"unique radiolytic products" some of which the FDA has never tested for
safety.

Food irradiation perpetuates the disgusting environment found in many
feedlots and slaughterhouses, where animals wallow in their own filth
and are slaughtered at overly fast linespeeds. These conditions make it
impossible to keep meat clean from excrement and other carriers of
deadly pathogens like E. coli 0157:H7.

To read the bill text, visit http://thomas.loc.gov
To learn more about irradiated foods and their inclusion in the
National School Lunch Program visit http://www.safelunch.org

To download a printable Action Alert, visit
http://www.citizen.org/documents/nslw%20call%20in%20day.doc