[BCFSN] Fwd: Vancouver Foundation's Field of Interest Grants - up to $75, 000 per year for social innovations

[Cathryn Wellner]

Hello all,
please see below and know that, though we may not have the impact we may
want as citizens, as consumers, we have, in the past, eliminated GE foods
from the marketplace.

Please consider taking action so that we can keep GE apples out of our food
and ecosystems.
in good food,
Abra

--
Abra Brynne
PO Box 684, Nelson, BC V1L 5R4
phone: 250.352.5342


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lucy Sharratt - CBAN Coordinator <coordinator at cban.ca>
Date: 23 March 2015 at 10:07
Subject: [cban e-News] GM apple approved in Canada over consumer and farmer
objections
To: cban-e-news at cban.ca


*Update: GM apple approved in Canada over consumer and farmer objections*

On Friday March 20, 2015, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency announced approval of the genetically modified (GM) apple,
trademarked “Arctic Apple”. The GM apple is now legal to sell in Canada and
the US. The company says it will start selling GM “non-browning” varieties
of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apple varieties next year. But will
any stores actually sell the GM apple?

The apple is genetically modified to not turn brown after being cut. Polls
show that almost 70% of Canadians did not want this GM apple approved. Are
you one of them?

*Take Action*

Grocery chain stores are listening to customers. Please write your letter
to the head office of your grocery store this week. Contacts are posted at
http://cban.ca/content/view/full/1903 or you can visit the company website
to find a phone number. Your letter is very influential. Please send the
responses you get to info at cban.ca

Information and other actions, including a "No GM Apple” pledge form for
your small independent store, are posted at www.cban.ca/apple

Today’s press release from CBAN is below. Please send this press release to
your local paper. Send your own letter to the editor, to your local
newspaper, if you have something to say about the GM apple.

P.S. You can follow us on twitter @biotechaction or on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cban.canadian.biotechnology.action.network

*Press Release*

CBAN denounces federal decision to approve GM apple: GM apple approved over
the objections of consumers and farmers

March 23, 2015. Ottawa. The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
today denounced the Canadian government’s decision to approve the
first-ever genetically modified (GM) apple.

“Our government is not listening to Canadians,” said Lucy Sharratt of CBAN.
“Fruit growers had asked the government not to approve this GM apple and
polls show that a majority of consumers don’t want it on grocery store
shelves.”

The GM apple is genetically engineered not to turn brown after being cut.
If it gets onto the market, it would be only the second GM fruit sold
anywhere in the world, after a Hawaiian-grown papaya, and it would be the
first GM fruit to be grown in Canada.

“The GM apple will mislead consumers because it will look fresh even when
its not,” said Teresa Lynne of the CBAN member group, Society for a GE Free
BC, “The GM apple threatens the reputation of apples as fresh, wholesome
food. We don’t need it.”

A 2012 survey commissioned by the BC Fruit Growers' Association and the
Federation of Quebec Apple Growers showed that 69% of Canadians didn’t want
it approved.[1] Growers are concerned that the GM apple will negatively
affect the entire market for apples.

“Growers are right to worry that without clear labelling many consumers
will buy fewer apples just to avoid this GM apple,” said Thibault Rehn of
the Quebec Network Vigilance OGM, a CBAN member group. “We need our grocery
stores to step in to protect the consumer interest and the apple industry
by keeping their doors closed to this GM apple.”

The GM apple will not be labeled as genetically modified though the company
says that fresh GM apples would be have a sticker bearing the company's
trademark “Arctic Apple”. The company promises a similar logo on food
products that have ingredients from the GM apple but it’s not clear how
this would be implemented or enforced. Sliced GM apples used by the food
service industry are unlikely to be labelled.

The US government has also decided to allow commercialization of the GM
apple.

-30-

More information: Lucy Sharratt, CBAN, cell 613 809 1103; Teresa Lynne,
Society for a GE Free BC, 604 475 4457; Thibault Rehn, Vigilance OGM, cell 514
582 1674.

[1] Poll available  at
http://www.bcfga.com/files/file/Report%20on%20GE%20survey%20-%20July%203%202012.pdf

CBAN is a campaign coalition of 17 organizations that researches, monitors
and raises awareness about issues relating to genetic engineering in food
and farming. CBAN members include farmer associations, environmental and
social justice organizations, and regional coalitions of grassroots groups.
CBAN is a project of Tides Canada Initiatives.

Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
Suite 206, 180 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 1P5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext. 25
Fax: 613 241 2506
coordinator at cban.ca
www.cban.ca
https://www.facebook.com/cban.canadian.biotechnology.action.network
@biotechaction

Donate today! www.cban.ca/donate





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