I want to know if theres any other moms who'd feel concerned about feeding Cloned Beef/Dairy and other animal products to their children??? Anyone want to get involved in trying to push for Required Disclosure on packaging??? FDA just approved for Ranchers to start putting this stuff on the market....WITHOUT informing consumers that its from a cloned animal. Maybe I'm paranoid, I'd just prefer to have a choice. What about you?
First of all thank you Molly M. for the http://www.organicconsumers.org website information. I went online to see what kind of infomrmation was available. There is actually an email that you can use to take action and send a message to the FDA. Yes it's a great start, I sent a message and I reccomend everyone to do so too, but honestly I don't think that's going to be enough. I am still doing some more digging to see what else we can do. Obviously, with thousands of letters to the FDA before the release and all the opposition FDA has seemed to have made up there mind. It's hard to believe that they just caved into "pressure". Politics always has some underlying reasoning for justifications to fail the public. Some questions I'm looking to find answers to are as follows:
1. Who is head of the FDA and are there any links to interests in technology $, stocks etc.???
2. Are there any grocery stores that are aware of this cloned meat products being in our food we currently buy now or in the future?
3. What are some of the other non-profits saying/doing about this?
4. Lobbyists, assemblymen/women to write letters to?
And various other questions. As I find answers I'll send out updates. If anyone else wants to help and add info. to the topic that would be helpful. It's almost as we, consumers, are somewhat helpless. BUT WE ARE NOT!!!! You can try copying and pasting the following web address to see if it takes you to the take action site, however if it doesn't you can get access with the previous web address.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca...
Best wishes to all....and thank you for sharing your comments and showing your interest and concerns.
You might be interested in this group - Organic Consumers Association - http://www.organicconsumers.org. And you are right to be concerned.
I refuse to buy bio-engineered food. I can't really tell you why, but it freaks me out. I know that most corn is genetically engineered and I won't buy it. I'm a personal chef, so I go out of my way to buy fresh food that has not been changed. I would definitely sign my name on legislation requiring it to be disclosed on the package.
Hi N.,
I am so with you~! Why do we need to clone beef anyway is my question. It sounds way creepy and with mad cow, it makes me wonder. We should have the right to choose. Sign me up~!
Blessings,D.
I agree with you that the products should be labeled so as to offer consumers a choice. No question.
I actually have much more concern about genetically modified food (tomatoes with pig genes added) and irradiated foods than cloning. From a scientific perspective, gmo and irradiation seem much more potentially dangerous to the consumer than meat, milk, or corn that came from one genetic source. Cloned animals or vegetables grow naturally and are whole foods.
YES.... I am totally against it.. You are not paranoid!!! What do we have to do?
I think we should all be a bit weary of all of the alterations happening to our food. There should always be full disclosure so that we consumers have a choice in what we are putting in our bodies and what we feed our children. I try to feed my child organic products as much as possible, including grass feed organic meats. I research where the food is coming from and try to make the best choices for my family in this profit driven world where the health of people seems to come second to corporations making money.
Mother of 1. Expecting a second in a few months.
Yes, please inform us what we can do to stop or alter the guidelines for these actions. It is absolutely unfair that the FDA would allow for such non-disclosure!
I am with you on this one. The Center for Food Safetly is spearheading activism on this issue. You might want to check out their website. Organics can't come from cloned animals, at least not yet, so go with that for this reason and so many others.
Hi N.,
Yes, I agree with you. I too was extremely concerned about that. They have no way to know if something weird will be in the meat from a cloned animal. I certainly don't want to feed it to my kids...
This is completely scary and there is absolutely NO WAY i feel comfortable feeding my family CLONED BEEF!!! This is another example of the FDA not looking at the long term results before letting something on the market. I fear huge detrimental affects from cloned meat. Luckily, we have a local organic grass fed beef farm. They are against cloning. They ship nationwide. Lazy69ranch.com This is my answer so far! Cut out the corporatations from your life as much as possible. Look locally for organic produce at farmer's markets, natural food stores, etc. Or in some cases, land/space permitting, we all need to learn self sustainability and raise our own food. We may be surprised one day not too far from now, when local supermarkets are a thing of the past!
L. Oliveira
No. California
Mother of four!!
I'm assuming that certified organic meat can't be cloned. Am I right?
I am similarly concerned. They did an end run around the electorate on this one by delaying consideration of it until the previous furor had died down. I plan to email my representatives with my disagreement with this action. Maybe a drop in the bucket, but if others do as well, it can be effective. I encourage others to do so as well.
Also, I highly recommend reading Michael Pollan's last two books, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto ( http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781594201455-0 )and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals ( http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9781594200823-4 ) for a wonderfully written look into our food systems in this country, and prescriptions for what we can actionably do. An educated electorate is a formidable one!
I personally feel that all foods consumed by humans should have required disclosure for cloning, added harmones to the feed, or any other additives.
We have a right to know what we are putting in our bodies and those of our families.
I'd like to have a choice. I'm already not happy about the seafood that's in the markets. I don't purchase that anymore either. None of it is from local places. (Oakland, CA)
That is disturbing to me considering that they dont know the long turn effects that it would have on our bodies. I am interested!
N., It's my understanding that what was approved was to market products from the offspring of cloned animals. The idea is that the cloning is used for breeding stock. It is still not legal to sell animal products that include or are from cloned animals. Hope that helps. J.
Yes, I also agree that these types of issues should be notified to customers, and no, you are not being paranoid. This type of issue is actually one of the reasons why my family and I decided to go vegetarian seven years ago. There is actually a lot of things that go into our food that we are not knowledgeable about, that or we do know, but are not educated about the side affects. For examples growth hormones that are given to livestock affects the human body. The side affect is that children are hitting puberty earlier than what is natural.
There are even things that is done to meat products that most people don't know about, such as irradiating meat. This is where meat is "treated" with radiation. This is done because radiation kills off bacteria, but it also kills some of the nutrients in the meat. Worse of all, the side affects is "unknown". Sorry, but I don't want to get anywhere near something that has been in any contact with radiation, especially food! Irradiating food has been occurring since the year 2000 or 2001, and this information is not on the packaging.
I am sure there is something that we can do about getting the information labeled on food items about it being from a cloned animal. Probably a petition or something.
I would also push to want to know if the meat we were eating came from a cloned animal!!!
I totally want to protest this outrageous happening to our food supply and at least want labelng and disclosure of cloned meat. What can we do??
Yes, I would be very concerned about feeding my children or eating cloned anything. The research and technology for this is too new and they don't know what the side effects of this could be. And to eat it without even knowing...that's scary. Have you seen "I am Legend," I think this is a really bad idea. I mena the movie is a bit far fetched but the idea is we shouldn't be jumping the gun and exposing ourselves to unknown dangers by partaking in something I personally just don't know enough about. We should have a choice.
Absolutely demand disclosure, I'm with you and I am a registered voter. What can I do to help?
Hi,
This isn't just an issue with children, for I'm scared to eat meat and dairy products as well. I was horrified upon discovering this tidbit, because who's to say if it truly is safe to eat cloned animals? Yet, if you recall the KFC scandal that took place some years ago (it was reported that KFC wasn't using real chicken but instead some synthetic form of meat), we've probably been eating cloned animals for a while and didn't know it. We can push for an FDA warning, but I think praying is the best thing one can do in this situation, for the government is aware of many things that we may never be privy to.
interested if you find any advocacy groups/more info....
I am completely with you. I assume everything I buy from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods is safe, but who knows anymore.
Wow! That is REALLY important to know...Does this have to do with Organic beef and chicken also??? I would definetly push for something like that.
C.
Wow, that's crazy...........I heard about cloning but I thought it really never came to fruition where its going to be used by consumers on a regular basis. FDA approved.....without being informed......don't know about this.......don't know what the logistics of this process....is it harmful........is it the same.........don't know a thing. I always watch the news...never seen anything on this topic.......
I will have keep my feelers out there and read packaging...
N.,
I try to serve as much organic food as possible in my house. I don't think you are paranoid at all. In fact, I think people put way too much faith in our FDA. If some don't care thats fine but I want to know what I am eating and feeding my family and I would never choose to purchase anything that is cloned or GMO's. I get info on this subject all the time and let my opinion be known.
Thanks for caring,
Felecia
I agree! We have a right to know and be aware of what we are really eating.
I am VERY concerned about this- DNA is nothing to mess around with- do you know how I can get invloved? For now I am trying to not eat any meat & dairy that is not organic- but this is challenging when we go out to eat.
I agree with you. I wouldn't want to buy anything that I wasn't sure where it was coming from! I certainly would not feed it to my children. If you are getting a petition ready, I would gladly sign it, and I'm sure I can get some of my friends and family to sign it as well.
What can be done? I think I heard milk from cloned cows was already permitted and has been sold. Where do we start?
C.
They gave the OK to products from clones and their offspring, so I think the protest needs to be about animals in the food chain- otherwise I am sure that they will make a loophole for so many generations removed from the cloned animal, etc. What I read was that the clones themselves are too expensive and /or valuable to use as food. I assume that wouldn't apply to dairy cows. I am all for labeling! (Especially if we can't get the practice banned)
Yes, we should all be very concerned about cloning of animals and having the choice to feed our children "real food". The FDA should take responsibility with this possibly dangerous experiment and be sure to label all the ingredients that we are consuming. It is important to take action on the issues we are passionate about.
I'm with you N.. I rarely eat red meat, but when I do, I only buy from Whole Foods where they do not sell genetically altered foods. I try to speak with my pocketbook, but would support a push for required disclosures on packaging.
