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Raise Your Fork for Reform is a consumer movement. The idea is to encourage consumers to contact their legislators and food companies and to suggest reform of our industrial food system.
1. Our farm and food policy should promote an agriculture which preserves our environment and provides a level playing field for all farmers, while producing safe and healthy products.
2. Stop supporting programs which encourage large farming operations to produce corn, soy, wheat and rice. This makes it difficult for small farms to compete by growing diverse food crops with ecological practices, because of the low cost of foods produced by heavily subsidized crops.
3. To support legislation which rewards agricultural and food companies who follow the tenets of the (TBL) Triple Bottom Line and (CR) Corporate Responsiblity.
4. To encourage manufacturers to learn about and/or join the Ecological Food Manufacturer movement so they can learn to improve their corporate behavior while producing safe, nutritious foods. This will help consumers judge the quality of the foods and will discourage manufacturers from using misleading marketing information.
5. Shoppers can also "vote with their forks" by visiting sites such as www.raiseyourfork.com and by insisting food companies practice responsible food and beverage communications as set by the International Chamber of Commerce.
Tell Food Companies, It is Time for Change
Dear Representative
We know that from 1/2 to 2/3 of our healthcare crisis is caused by preventable disease linked to diet. While it appears this is due strictly to consumers' choices, the fact is that most of these dietary choices are results of the wide availability of "cheap calories."
Please address the main problems with our farm policy:
1. Price supports for corn, soy, wheat and rice, through heavy subsidies to industrial size farmers is not sustainable! The playing field is far from level for small farmers, trying to grow diverse crops, using ecological farming practices.
2. Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) spread disease, encourage irresponsible use of antibiotics and other chemicals, is harmful and toxic for the animals, and reeks havoc on the environment. CAFOs require government standards and oversight and should not be regulated by the industry.
3. Please develop policies which reward farmers to use less peticides and fertilizers, especially from petro-chemicals.
4. Please change labeling laws to include warnings about genetically modified (GM) foods.
Almost everyone today is aware of the "buy local" and "eat organic" movements, but these foods tend to represent a very small portion of the 50,000 items available in supermarkets. All food manufacturers from small to huge conglomerates can have the biggest effect on Americans' health, while at the same time producing monumental benefit to the environment.
By learning to be green and by finding new ways to be profitable, while doing the right thing, food manufacturers will make a better contribution to the sustainability movement and the environment than any other ONE industry.
This will also save tax dollars, because of the marked improvement of health related issues of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. This can be managed 100% by the industry itself, totally funded by the increase in more Ecological Food purchases.
Please help us with government support so we can do the important work with food wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers. By guiding them to the Ecological Food Manufacturers Association (www.ecofma.com) and urging them to become involved with our work, we'll be successful, because the time is right!
This may be the most important industry challenge we face as a culture. As concerned voters, we will not stop until our voices are heard and our legislators help us reform a troubled food system. Thank you for your consideration.
[Your name]