Campaign for Safe Food

Current Status of the Campaign For Safe Food

Oregon PSR’s Campaign For Safe Food is currently not staffed.

However, the following services are still available:

• Obtaining literature on recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) and the industrial meat system

• Requesting presentations on genetically engineered food, rBGH and the industrial meat system

• Responding to questions from the media or public

Services can be obtained by contacting the Oregon PSR office at 812 SW Washington Street, Suite 1050, Portland, OR 97205, calling 503-274-2720 or sending a quick email

History and Accomplishments

The Campaign For Safe Food (CSF) officially started October 1, 2003 with this mission statement: Work for the establishment of agriculture and a food supply in Oregon that does not use genetically modified organisms.

Rick North was the founder of the program and retired as CSF project director January 31st, 2011. Martin Donohoe, MD, was CSF’s chief scientific advisor for its duration.

For over seven years, staff and volunteers spent thousands of hours studying the science, history and politics of genetically engineered (GE) foods. Based on that research, they were convinced GE foods have not been demonstrated safe for human health and the environment, and have made this stance known directly to the public, government and corporate sector.

GE food is an enormous issue and CSF became a reliable source of information on all aspects of it. So as not to be spread too thin, the program focused its efforts on two main problems – biopharmaceutical crops and recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST). In 2009, the industrial meat system was added as a third major focus area.

These are some of the major accomplishments:

General

•  Signed up 2,500 people for our listserv and consistently informed them through our e-mail updates about the risks of GE food and the industrial meat system

•  Linked our supporters with specific actions they could take to oppose GE food

• Made nearly 300 presentations, to the public, business and government

• Became a highly credible source of information on television, radio, newspapers and the internet

Biopharmaceutical crops

• Introduced a bill in the Oregon legislature in 2005 that would limit the growing of these crops to non-food plants grown indoors in contained, controlled facilities. The bill passed the Senate but not the House.

• Our legislative efforts attracted so much attention that the governor appointed a task force to study the issue for a year. We served as advisors to this task force and made recommendations for its report, many of which were adopted.

•  We helped write the Oregon rules adopted in January 2010 (OAR 603-052-1236), which provided for:

1.   Equal authority for the Oregon Health Division to review biopharm planting along with the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture

2.   Opportunity for a public information meeting on a proposed biopharm planting in the county of the proposed planting and a public comment period of 30 days

3.   Requirement of the biopharm company to pay all costs of any remedial action required

4.   Requirement of the biopharm company to pay costs of increased monitoring of Oregon officials

rBGH (rBST)

• Became the first local grass-roots activist movement opposing rBGH in the country in almost a decade, re-igniting the issue

• Co-founded the national coalition opposing rBGH in 2007 and served as the group’s coordinator

•  Produced “Know Your Milk,” the brochure on rBGH that has been distributed to tens of thousands of people throughout the country
•  See above contact information for details on how to obtain  this brochure or visit this link for a digital copy

• Produced the “Consumers Guide to rBGH-Free Dairy Products,” distributed to tens of thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest
• For a copy of this guide click here

• Produced the “Fact Sheet on rBGH’s Documented Harm to Cows.”
• For a copy of this fact sheet click here
  

• Co-authored the response to Elanco’s report on rBGH exposing its false statements

• Led the nationwide efforts to successfully stop bills or rules banning or restricting rBGH-free labeling in all eight states in which they were considered: Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont

• Led the nationwide effort opposing rBGH that has resulted in 75% of all fluid milk and yogurt becoming rBGH-free

• Led the regional effort that resulted in virtually all dairies in Oregon and Washington to go rBGH-free

• Led the effort to persuade these Pacific Northwest dairies/retailers to go rBGH-free:

Alpenrose

Andersen

Darigold

Eberhard

Fred Meyer (fluid milk only)

Market of Choice

Oregon Ice Cream

Safeway (fluid milk only)

Tillamook

Umpqua

Wilcox

• Led the effort to persuade these national dairies/retailers to go completely or partially rBGH-free:

Dannon

Kroger

Starbucks

Yoplait

• Led consultations with these organizations that contributed to their official opposition to rBGH:

American Nurses Association

American Public Health Association

Health Care Without Harm 

Industrial Meat System

• Produced “Improving Meat Production – Improving Our World” brochure, distributed to thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest.
• For a copy of this brochure click here

None of this would have been possible without the financial and citizen activism support of so many Oregon PSR members and individuals, businesses and organizations that believed in our efforts. Thank you to everyone who played such a major role in our success.

For links to the Campaign for Safe Foods coalition partners, please go here.