What: Rally and public hearing on GMO labeling bill and Right to Food amendment
When: Thursday, April 30th 2015. Rally begins at noon. Public hearing begins at 1 p.m.
Where: Rally outside the State house; Public hearing at 214 Cross Building, State House Complex, Augusta, Maine
We are closing in on a couple of big wins for food consumers in Maine, but we need your help to convince lawmakers to protect Maine citizens, not Monsanto’s profits.
A bipartisan GMO labeling bill (LD 991) and a Right to Food amendment (LD 783) are headed for public hearings in the Maine legislature on Thursday, April 30. We need your support to make sure these bills are passed. So, to make it easier for you to attend the rally and public hearing, OCA will pay for buses from Portland, Bangor and Unity.
Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm in Virginia, a leading voice for diversified eco-farming, will join us at the hearing to speak in favor of the Right to Food amendment.
LD 991:
Maine passed a GMO labeling law in 2013, but it included a trigger clause that requires five other New England states, including New Hampshire, to pass labeling laws before Maine’s law can take effect. LD991, “An Act To Amend Maine’s Genetically Modified Food Products Labeling Law” would remove that trigger so the law can be enacted, giving Mainers the right to know now–not years from now.
LD 783:
LD 783 is a bill that proposes to amend the Maine constitution in order to give people the right to acquire food of their choosing and ensure their legal right to protect their health, property, food and lives.
The Right to Food bill states: “Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to food and to acquire food for that individual’s own nourishment and sustenance by hunting, gathering, foraging, farming, fishing or gardening or by barter, trade or purchase from sources of that individual’s own choosing, and every individual is fully responsible for the exercise of this right, which may not be infringed.”
RSVP and/or sign up for a bus: