WATCH THE BROADCAST AND TAKE ACTION
Democracy Now! Reports on the Growing Stop Siddiqui Campaign
President Obama's nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative, Islam Siddiqui is currently a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. He was previously a lobbyist for CropLife and also served in the US Department of Agriculture under President Clinton and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. A coalition of over eighty environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association, have sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee urging them to reject his nomination.
The Organic Consumers Association is initiating a letter-writing campaign asking the USDA to take quick action on the NOSB recommendation. While we wait for the USDA to begin enforcement actions, we're calling on consumers to boycott fake, falsely labeled organic body care brands, and instead to buy only USDA certified organic products.
WATCH THE BROADCAST AND TAKE ACTION
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27042
(copy & paste to your browser)
TAKE ACTION: Stop Siddiqui
Islam Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Islam Siddiqui has been nominated as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. If Congress confirms Siddiqui, he will no doubt continue to undermine public health, biodiversity, climate stability and food security as the "inside man" in the Obama Administration for his former clients at CropLife (a front group for genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agribusiness corporations including Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical).
Croplife America’s regional partner, Mid America CropLife Association, notoriously “shuddered” at Michelle Obama’s organic garden and launched a letter writing campaign in protest, saying that Michelle's rejection of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the White House Garden was a slap in the face for Food Inc. and America's chemically-addicted farmers.
Another Washington wheeler-dealer using the revolving door between government and big business, Siddiqui formerly worked for Clinton's pro-biotech USDA. Siddiqui gained notoriety in 1997-98 as an insider pushing for the infamous proposed USDA regulations for national organic standards that would have allowed toxic sewage sludge, irradiated foods, and genetically modified organisms to be labeled "organic." At the time, Siddiqui explained:
"Number one, there's no prohibition in law against these two issues, both GMOs and irradiation. Number two, we know that Organics Board had recommended against those two items in the organic agriculture. There's a considerable debate on these issues; it's a public debate issue. So essentially, the department has felt that we want to open it up, we want to seek comments. And it could be any one of the three choices; either it could be allowed, it could be prohibited, or it could be allowed on a case-by-case basis, especially dealing with GMOs"
Democracy Now! Reports on the Growing Stop Siddiqui Campaign
President Obama's nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative, Islam Siddiqui is currently a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. He was previously a lobbyist for CropLife and also served in the US Department of Agriculture under President Clinton and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. A coalition of over eighty environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association, have sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee urging them to reject his nomination.
The Organic Consumers Association is initiating a letter-writing campaign asking the USDA to take quick action on the NOSB recommendation. While we wait for the USDA to begin enforcement actions, we're calling on consumers to boycott fake, falsely labeled organic body care brands, and instead to buy only USDA certified organic products.
WATCH THE BROADCAST AND TAKE ACTION
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27042
(copy & paste to your browser)
TAKE ACTION: Stop Siddiqui
Islam Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Islam Siddiqui has been nominated as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. If Congress confirms Siddiqui, he will no doubt continue to undermine public health, biodiversity, climate stability and food security as the "inside man" in the Obama Administration for his former clients at CropLife (a front group for genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agribusiness corporations including Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical).
Croplife America’s regional partner, Mid America CropLife Association, notoriously “shuddered” at Michelle Obama’s organic garden and launched a letter writing campaign in protest, saying that Michelle's rejection of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the White House Garden was a slap in the face for Food Inc. and America's chemically-addicted farmers.
Another Washington wheeler-dealer using the revolving door between government and big business, Siddiqui formerly worked for Clinton's pro-biotech USDA. Siddiqui gained notoriety in 1997-98 as an insider pushing for the infamous proposed USDA regulations for national organic standards that would have allowed toxic sewage sludge, irradiated foods, and genetically modified organisms to be labeled "organic." At the time, Siddiqui explained:
"Number one, there's no prohibition in law against these two issues, both GMOs and irradiation. Number two, we know that Organics Board had recommended against those two items in the organic agriculture. There's a considerable debate on these issues; it's a public debate issue. So essentially, the department has felt that we want to open it up, we want to seek comments. And it could be any one of the three choices; either it could be allowed, it could be prohibited, or it could be allowed on a case-by-case basis, especially dealing with GMOs"
posted by Maribeth Ritchie at
3:10 AM
