Aborted Filing

I haven't written anything here for a while, due to a number of variables: finals, laziness, and finally, the ongoing (for me) power outage. Yes, my power is still out, since last Friday morning, approximately 12:45 AM. On Monday, with nothing to do due to the lack of electricity, I hit the road, driving the 60 odd miles to the state capitol building in Olympia. My intent was to turn in my initiative. Traffic wasn't too bad, and it took maybe an hour and a half to get their, not bad considering that I left at 2 PM. Once I reached the state capitol it took me a while to find parking, because most the parking is reserved for legislators. I finally found parking by the information center, and found out where the office of the Secretary of State was (Second floor, northwest corner of the capitol building). I found the office without difficulty, but when I tried to file my initiative, I encountered some problem. The woman at the front desk wasn't quite sure what to do, and had to make a couple phone calls. Here was the issue: initiatives to the people can't be filed until January 8th. I had thought that the 8th was the deadline to file. Ultimately, it's a mistake in my favor. It gives me time to get some other stuff I need to do together, such as creating the signature ballots, and filing with the Public Disclosure Commission, and lining up some monetary aid. I should have some more info up soon.

Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Initiative

Declaration of the People

Labeling of genetically engineered food and food additives shall be required in order to create and enforce the fundamental right of the people of Washington State to know if they are purchasing or consuming genetically-engineered food, and so that the people may exercise their right of choice in purchasing or consuming foods that have been altered through genetic engineering.

Definitions

(a) “Agricultural products” shall mean agricultural, horticultural, viticulture, or vegetable products grown or produced;
(b) “Food” shall mean any article used for food or drink for man or other animals, chewing gum, and articles used for components, including food additives, of any such article;
(c) “Food additive” shall mean any substance, the intended use of which results or may be reasonably expected to result, directly or indirectly, in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food (including any substance intended for use in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food, and including any source of radiation intended for any such use);
(d) “Genetically engineered” shall mean grown, manufactured, processed, or otherwise produced or altered with techniques that change the fundamental molecular or cell biology of an organism by means or in a manner not possible under natural conditions or processes, including but not limited to recombinant DNA techniques, cell fusion, micro- and macro encapsulation, gene deletion and doubling, introduction of a foreign gene, and changing of the positions of genes. “Genetically engineered” shall not include breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in-vitro fertilization and tissue culture processes;
(e) “Label” shall mean a display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon or connected to the immediate container or surface of any article; and by or under the authority of this section, a requirement that any word, statement, or other information appearing on the label shall not be considered to be complied with unless such word, statement, or other information also appears on the outside container or wrapper, if any, of the bulk, wholesale, or retail package of such article, or is easily legible through the outside container or wrapper;
(f) “Labeling” shall mean all labels and other written, printed or graphic matter upon an article or any of its containers or wrappers, or accompanying such article; and
(g) “Principal display panel” shall mean that part of a label that is most likely to be displayed, presented, shown, or examined under normal and customary conditions of display for bulk, wholesale, or retail sale.

Labeling

All foods in the following categories sold or distributed in or from Washington State shall bear a label, created by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, that is plainly visible on the principal display panel and contains the words, “Genetically Engineered”:
(a) All foods derived in whole or in part from any genetically engineered microorganisms, plants, or livestock, if that genetically engineered material accounts for more than one-tenth of one percent of the weight of the product;
(b) All food products prepared or processed using genetically engineered enzymes or other genetically engineered processing agents, whether those enzymes or agents are present in the final product or not;
(c) All foods derived from agricultural products cultivated using genetically engineered agricultural inputs, whether those agents are present in the final product or not;
(d) All dairy and meat products derived from livestock that have been fed genetically engineered feed or feed additives or ingredients, or derived from livestock that have been treated with genetically engineered hormones or drugs;
(e) All genetically engineered foods that are significantly altered in composition or nutritional value, or that require preparation steps different from their natural counterparts shall, in addition to being labeled “genetically engineered,” be label to specify those changes in properties;
(f) All genetically engineered foods resulting from trans-species gene transfers shall specify, in the label, the source of the transgene used and the purpose of the transfer; for instance, “This squash contains viral genetic information designed to make it resistant to viral infection.”; and
(g) All genetically engineered foods resulting from transfer of animal genes into plants shall be labeled to indicate this fact in a manner that will allow vegetarians and those with dietary religious restrictions to observe their dietary guidelines; for instance, “this tomato contains genetic material derived from the flounder, a fish of the family Bothidiae.”

Enforcement

By the effective date, the legislature shall prescribe, enact and enforce measures implementing this initiative.

Effective date

This new initiative shall become effective ninety (90) days after the approval of the voters of Washington State and shall supercede any federal law, act or regulation which contains less stringent or less complete labeling information for any product subject to the provisions of this initiative.

Revisions of this law

The voters of Washington State authorize the legislature to make changes consistent with the intent of this law so long as the changes further the purpose of this initiative. Substantive changes, such as changes to the categories of foods or food additives, the full or partial omission of any category of food or food additive, tolerance levels expressed as a percentage, definitions pertaining to terms used in this initiative or labeling requirements are to be referred to a vote of the people.

Progress Update

Last night I finished the initiative (basically), bringing me one step closer to my trip to Olympia and my showdown with the Secretary of State. When one submits a proposed initiative, one must include a signed affidavit (available on the website of the Secretary of State). This affidavit must also be signed by a notary public. I must admit I didn't really know what exactly are the duties of a notary public (though Wikipedia is always helpful), or how one goes about finding one. I asked my mother, and she said that most banks will have a notary public, so today I ventured to the U-district branch of Washington Mutual, and had one of the friendly tellers direct me to a notary public. A couple of the managers were notaries, and the notarization process is really easy. An ID check, a couple signatures, a date and a stamp are all you need. It takes about two minutes, and now I have my Affidavit for Proposed Initiative ready to go. Once I finish the bulk of my finals (a couple papers due on Thursday), I can go to Olympia, slap down the five dollar filing fee, and begin the revision and review process. I would include the text of the initiative, but I'm not on my home computer, and don't feel like typing the whole thing out. I should have that up in the next day though.

An Overview and Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I have recently become highly interested in several issues of which I feel I can say, without hyperbole, are critical to the continued success of our society. The issues of which I am writing are sustainability, global climate change, and the local food movement, three issues that are vastly interlinked. I feel that once one has the proper information on these issues, one cannot ignore them. These aren't political issues; these issues affect everyone on a daily basis, whether you know this or not.

My recent interest in these issues has led me to see what I can personally do to aid these movements. Along with certain changes I am trying to make on an individual level, I have undertaken a political project to see if I can effect change on a larger level: I have written an initiative to the people of Washington state, with the hope that it will appear on the 2007 general election. This initiative will require the labeling of all food in Washington containing GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms). One may ask what the connection is between GM foods and the issues I've listed. My response is that this would be a small step in the right direction. My goal for the initiative is to plant the seed (pun intended) of doubt about the safety of GM foods in the heads of consumers, with the hope that with ability to make these choices, people will begin to start asking questions about the current state of our system of agriculture, start wondering why so much of American food contains GMO's, while the rest of the industrialized world has banned or requires mandatory labeling of such foods, why there is so little independent academic research of these items, etc. I feel that consumers should be given the chance to make an informed decision about what they put in their bodies. This should not be a politicized choice; rather, I believe it is an unalienable right of the citizens of a functioning democracy.

I am something of an outsider to politics, and hope to learn a lot about this particular democratic process. My goal for this blog is to detail the democratic process, and to also use this blog as a means of disseminating information on the causes I find important.

The deadline for submitting this initiative is quickly approaching. Initiatives to the People, which is what this is, must be filed within ten 10 moths prior to the next state general election, which gives me until January 6. I hope to finish writing the initiative by the end of this week, at which point I must find a notary public to sign an affidavit stating that I'm a registered voter. From there I'm off to Olympia to drop off the paperwork with the Secretary of State. Once the initiative is submitted and approved, which I anticipate, I will be faced with the daunting task of obtaining 224,880 signatures by July. It'll be a lot of work, but I think I'll be able to get a lot of help from good people. When I finish the initiative this week, I'll put the text in its entirety up here, and hopefully Friday I'll have the chance to make the trek to Olympia. Details to follow soon.