Pending Legislation - GM Food labeling, and Mandatory Recycling

[cedarman]

I heard about two new bills being considered in the VT state legislature:

One, was to require foods containing ingredients using "genetically modified" ingredients to have a label on the package.  The labeling would be the responsibility of the manufacturer.  The sponsor of this bill fully expects the bill will be challenged in court.

I have no problem with out legislature passing controversial bills that "might" be challenged in court, as long as the bill is not in violation of the US Constitution.   By mandating the manufacturer/grower of the food is responsible for the labeling (even if the manufacturer is out of state) appears to put this bill in direct conflict with the US Constitution Interstate Commerce clause.  The federal government is given the authority to regulate interstate commerce under the Constitution, that is clear.  By passing a bill/law in VT that appears to be against the US Constitution, and knowing it WILL be challenged in court, the legislators who support this bill are wasting OUR resources now in debating the bill, and IF it passes, more of OUR resources will be wasted, both in terms of $$ to defend the law, and in court room time that could be used to settle other matters.  I am not a legal expert, and I have no vested interest in the outcome of this bill (I do not work in an industry that would be impacted), but it just sounds like a waste of time and resources.  Maybe our state legislators should be pushing our US Congressional Representatives to address this issue at the Federal level where it is supposed to be handled.

The second bill was mandatory recycling, including recycling of food waste.  Hopefully the sanitation businesses have a plan in place for this, or the state has a plan in place for HOW people in dense population areas can compost food waste.  I am also interested in Why the state didn't implement a container redemption policy similar to NY's where water bottles and other containers would be subject to a deposit to encourage more recylcing?

[rdmapes]

Good Evening,
I guess Monsanto is wasting no time in letting VT know what they will do.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/monsanto-threatens-lawsuit-against.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29

Since there are numerous studies pointing to changes in DNA, killing of honey bees, and destruction of heirloom seeds it would be shameful for people to know what they are consuming.

Here is an interesting documentary, it might be worth your time.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/watch-thrive-documentary-for-free.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29

Enjoy,
Ron

[mirjo]

The problem I see Ron is that the important information doesn't seem to get out to the masses as it should and is buried in the fringe where most people don't see it. The main stream media is owned by large corporations that control what we see (sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theory, I know; however, in the early 2000s most of the media outlets we know well could be traced back to a handful of large corporations (most people don't even realize this). I'm sure it's a little smaller now as those have bought out others.

There are very few small, independent, locally owned anything anymore. WCAX is a rare breed indeed and it's only a matter of time before it is no longer local. WPTZ is owned by Hearst and I don't know for certain, but I would bet Hearst is owned by a larger company still. Clear Channel owns the majority of radio stations in the country including many listened to here. The Free Press is owned by Gannett and I don't know if Gannett is owned by another company or not, but it owns a lot of newspapers nationwide. ABC owns Disney or vice-versa, which is owned by Time Warner or some such configuration. It's nuts. Between Clear Channel, Time Warner, Gannett, & Reuters all of the media outlets in the US are pretty much spoken for (I think those are the top four) It's kind of scary when you realize about how much influence large corporations have over what we are "fed," in both mind and body.

It's really no surprise congress does outlandish things. They know what side their bread is buttered on and they want to keep the cushy job. We feel powerless against it, because we're in the dark and it's difficult to fight that way. :/

[rdmapes]

Good Morning Mirjo,
Not sure why people feel powerless. We can vote out those who have been sent to D.C. over and over again. We do have the power. People need to turn off the TV and break the trance. 5 corporations control all the major news outlets. The wonderful thing about the internet is that there are more local and individual reporting of news worthy events.

For example this individual has created an interesting story based on facts.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ActivistPost/~3/s64DhseuT14/revealing-american-takeover.html

Get a news aggregator, build in RSS feeds for NASDAQ, MarketWatch, Intelhub, Foreign Policy, etc. You will soon see what is happening in the world and how we are surrendering our freedoms, wealth, childrens future.

Get informed