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<h3><a title="Stand up for family farmers"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=1"
target="_blank"><strong><strong>Tell the FDA to say NO
to GMO Salmon! </strong></strong></a></h3>
<p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=2"><img
src="cid:part1.02090608.08020800@igc.org" alt="" border="0"></a></p>
<h3><a title="Stand up for family farmers"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=3"
target="_blank"><strong><strong>Act today to keep this freaky
fish off your plate! </strong></strong></a></h3>
<p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-weight: lighter; width: 220px;
text-align: left;">
Sign this petition and send your message to the FDA:
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-weight: bold; width: 220px;
text-align: left;">
I urge you to reject the approval of AquaBounty's genetically
modified GMO salmon.<br>
<br>
As the first transgenic species to be intended for human
consumption, AquaBounty's GMO fish has failed to meet the most
basic requirements of peer-reviewed sciencific standards.
Unfortunately, the FDA has failed to require rigorous
independent scientific testing to adequately protect the safety
of human health, wild fish populations and the environment.<br>
<br>
It is unacceptable that consumers continue to be denied their
right to know what's in their food and how it's produced. Also,
under current law, these genetically engineered salmon would not
have to be labeled, therefore leaving consumers in the dark
about what they are eating.
</p>
<p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-weight: lighter; width: 220px;
text-align: left;">Clicking below will add your name to this
petition.</p>
<a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=4"><img
src="cid:part2.08020006.00090602@igc.org" alt="" border="0"></a>
</div>
<h2><a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=5"
target="_blank"><strong>Tell the FDA you won't eat GMO salmon!</strong></a></h2>
<p><br>
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span></p>
<p>Massive mutant GMO salmon, genetically engineered to grow twice
as fast as wild salmon, are coming to a table near you if you
don’t act today.</p>
<p>On September 3rd, a panel of three Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) officials declared that genetically modified salmon were
“safe” for human consumption. [1] Somehow, the elite FDA panel
arrived at this "decision" based on “scientific research” provided
by AquaBounty Technologies, the same company that stands to profit
from introducing its patented genes onto our plates.</p>
<p>With the potential approval of GMO salmon, Americans are now
entering an alarming new era of genetic experimentation with food
animals, nature and the human population. Already the scientific
community is warning against the real risk that these unnaturally
engineered fish pose to wild species, the environment and human
health.</p>
<p><strong>Act today to stop the FDA from allowing this disaster to
happen! <a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=6"
target="_blank">Click here to automatically sign your name to
the petition demanding
that the FDA halt approval of GMO salmon</a></strong>.</p>
<p><strong><a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=7"
target="_blank">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=8</a></strong></p>
<p>Known as “macro-mutants”, AquaBounty’s GMO salmon are
designed to ignore natural cycles of
food sources and wild fish mating patterns that have existed for
eons. [2]</p>
<p>While AquaBounty's GMO salmon are only days away from being
approved, the FDA has only seen scientific studies provided by the
company that stands to profit from these patented genes. Since
AquaBounty's GMO salmon are being regulated under the FDA's new
animal drug provision, real independent scientific studies were
not required. [3] </p>
<p>If history and the law of unintended consequences has taught
us anything, the FDA’s approval of transgenic GMO mutant fish will
be a
disaster. For years independent scientists have been warning us
about the
dangers posed by these GMO salmon.</p>
<p><strong>Once again,
corporations and our government are trying to place profits over
people.</strong><strong> Act today to stop the FDA from allowing
this disaster to happen! <a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=9"
target="_blank">Click here to
automatically sign your name to the petition demanding that
the FDA halt
approval of GMO salmon</a></strong>.</p>
<p><strong><a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=10"
target="_blank">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=11</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>What will these GMO salmon do to the environment?</strong></p>
<p>One key problem with AquaBounty’s current business model is
that they intend to sell the patented GMO salmon eggs to giant
aquatic fish
“farms” and not raise the fish themselves. [4] By becoming the
Monsanto of
aquaculture in simply selling the seed stock, AquaBounty solves a
key
infrastructure problem, but opens the door to mismanagement of its
product and potential extinction of wild species. While the FDA
states that the patented GMO salmon
will be raised on inland fish farm facilities, there is no
guarantee that the
sold eggs might not accidentally end up in open-water ocean net
pens or
accidentally be spilled during transport.</p>
<p>If this happens, it could spell disaster. Even more alarming is
the fact that, according to the Environmental Assessment that
AquaBounty submitted to the FDA<strong>, </strong>these GMO
salmon eggs are to be hatched in a facility on Prince Edward
Island in Canada and raised at an inland facility in Panama! [5]
That's right, designed in Canada, raised in Panama, and ready for
your plate here in America. Something smells fishy about this
arrangement.</p>
<p>If GMO salmon escape into the wild,
scientists warn that just 60 GMO salmon released into a population
of 60,000
could lead to the extinction of the wild population in just 40
fish generations.
[6] With wild Atlantic salmon already on the list of endangered
species, the
approval of AquaBounty’s patented GMO mutant fish may very well be
a death sentence for wild salmon. One has to ask, what profit
could possibly be worth such an outcome?</p>
<p><strong>How will GMO salmon impact human health</strong>?</p>
<p>Because independent scientific studies of AquaBounty’s
patented salmon have not been allowed, the human health impacts of
GMO salmon
are not currently known. Shockingly, the FDA is relying on scant
scientific
documents provided by AquaBounty itself. In fact, the FDA’s own
assessment AquaBounty’s
studies to determine whether GMO salmon are safe for human
consumption states
that the studies contain “technical flaws” and provide
“insufficient data”. </p>
<p>For two of the studies submitted, AquaBounty used sample sizes so
small that they have no scientific credibility, with only 12 fish
tested for one study, while the study on
possible allergic reactions in humans involved only "6 fertile
fish and 6 infertile fish.” [7] Despite this scant evidence, the
FDA is currently on the verge of approving
the companies GMO salmon.</p>
<p>Serious questions remain about eating fish engineered to
grow faster and how that genetically manipulated trait can impact
human health, especially that of our most
vulnerable populations such as pregnant mothers and children.</p>
<p><strong>Act today to stand up for human health, food safety and
the environment. <a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=12"
target="_blank">Click here to automatically sign your name to
a letter
that tells the FDA that there are consequences to meddling
with nature</a></strong><a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=13"
target="_blank">.</a></p>
<p><strong><a title="Stop GMO salmon today!"
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=14"
target="_blank">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/247?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=15</a></strong></p>
<p>Thank you for participating in food democracy!</p>
<p>- Dave, Lisa and The Food Democracy Now Team</p>
<p><strong><a
href="http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/donate/133?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=16">Please
consider donating to
Food Democracy Now! today – whether it’s $10, $25 or $50</a></strong>.
<a
href="http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/donate/133?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=17">http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/donate/133?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=18</a></p>
<p>We rely on folks like you to keep us going and couldn't do it
without you!
Thanks again for your support.</p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong>:</p>
<p>1. “Aqua Bounty Biotech Salmon OK to Eat-FDA Staff,” Lisa
Richwine, <em>Reuters</em>, September 3, 2010.</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/243?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=19">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/243?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=20</a></p>
<p>2. “Methods to Assess Ecological Risks of Transgenic Fish
Releases", William M Muir and Richard D Howard, <em>Genetically
Engineered Organisms</em>, Chapter 13, CRC Press 2002.</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/248?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=21">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/248?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=22</a></p>
<p>3. "GE Animals Regulated Under New Animal Drug Provisions",
FDA.gov website, FDA Releases Final Guidance on Genetically
Engineered Animals, January 15, 2009.</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/251?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=23">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/251?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=24</a></p>
<p>4. "Modified Salmon is Safe, FDA Says", Andrew Pollack, <em>The
New York Times</em>, September 3, 2010</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/249?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=25">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/249?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=26</a></p>
<p>5. "Enviornmental Assessment for AquAdvantage Salmon", provided
to FDA by Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., FDA.gov website</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/250?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=27">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/250?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=28</a></p>
<p>6. “Mutant Salmon Coming
to a Kitchen Table Near You”, Ariel Schwartz, <em>Fast Company</em>,
July 12, 2010
</p>
<p><a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/244?ak_proof=1&akid=.96984.GhQb69&t=18&akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=29"
target="_blank">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/244?ak_proof=1&akid=.96984.GhQb69&t=19&akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=30</a></p>
<p>7. “Would You Eat Genetically Altered Salmon?”, Deniza Gertsberg,
<em>AlterNet.com</em>,
September 11, 2010
<a
href="http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/246?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=31">http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/246?akid=202.5168.Sw3CEV&t=32</a><!-- ak.wysiwyg=on --></p>
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