Newsletter #X9 - Chebucto Group - Sierra Club
Newsletter #9
Sierra Club - Chebucto Group
Welcome to the 9th issue of Sierra News from the Chebucto Group.
In this issue: Upcoming Events
Climate Change Campaign
Genetically Engineered Food Campaign
Updated Excomm List
We need volunteers for the Earth Festival! Please contact Allison to
help, 425-1379 or .
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, July 8, 1:30 p.m.
Press Conference, Lord Nelson Hotel. The Coalition to relist Jim
Campbells Barren will be presenting petitions to Premier John Savage,
Opposition Leader John Hamm, and NDP leader Robert Chisholm. Everyone is
welcome to attend--come show your support for the Coalition. For more
information, contact Nadia, 425-5119.
Tuesday, July 8, 7:00 p.m.
Conservation Working Group meeting, 2099 Gottingen St. (Oxfam office).
Everyone is welcome. For more information, please contact Nadia,
425-5119 or Cass
July 11-13
Earth Festival, Garrison Grounds, Halifax. We need help with the Sierra
Club display on Saturday and Sunday, *please* contact Allison to volunteer,
425-1379 or
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CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGN
The Sierra Club of Canada, in conjunction with other groups, has launched a
campaign on climate change. The aim is to halt emissions that lead to
global warming. Interested in working on this campaign? A local action
kit is available. Please contact Nadia, 425-5119 or Cass,
from the Conservation Working Group.
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GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD CAMPAIGN Contributed by
Richard Wolfson
Is anyone interested in working on a GEF campaign in Nova Scotia? Please
contact Nadia (425-5119) or Cass from the
conservation working group.
_________
Dear friend,
Thank you for your concern about genetically engineered foods. I wanted to
up-date you on our BanGEF letter writing campaign, which many of you may
not have actually heard about yet. This campaign is in response to the
success of a similar campaign in Europe.
In Europe, consumers have been successful in convincing many large food
chains to not carry genetically engineered foods, or at least to label
them. They accomplished this by having many people write letters to the
head offices of major food chains, expressing their concerns, stating that
they do not want to eat genetically engineered foods, and demanding that
these foods be at least labelled. Because food chains are responsive to
concerns from customers about their products, these letters can have a very
large impact.
In response to the European success, we have begun a similar campaign in
Canada.
In Canada, since there are only a dozen or so major chains, it is easy to
start with them. Below is a list of food chains that we already have
contact information for. Please encourage anyone concerned about
genetically engineered foods to send these chains as many letters, faxes,
and emails as possible to:
Loblaws:
Ms. Neva Pandos, Customer Service, Loblaws National Office, 6220A Yonge
St., North York, ON M4T 2S5 fax: 416-218-7861 email: npandos@ngco.com
(a number of people have sent email to this person, but they have not
indicated openness to label, etc.)
IGA:
Tim Carter, Vice-President of Public Affairs, Oshawa Group Limited (IGA),
302 The East Mall, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6B8 Tel. 416-236-1971, fax
416-236-2071
(They do not have email, but have expressed receptivity to the few letters
they have received. It would be good to send more letters)
Dominion, A&P and Food Basics:
Ronald Boudreau, Executive V.P. Supermarket Operations, A&P and Dominion
P.O. Box 68, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1A6
Tel: 416-239-7171 Fax: 416-234-6581 (A&P, Dominion)
.........
Below is a sample letter that you can use if you like to write your own.
If you use this one, please rewrite it somewhat in your own words so that
all the letters do not look the same:
SAMPLE LETTER FOR THE GEF CAMPAIGN
* To grocery stores, food producers, restaurants:
Dear _____,
I would like to congratulate you on the quality, convenience and pleasant
service I find in your store/company/restaurant. I very much enjoy your
products.
I would also like to let you know about some new experimental foods on the
market, which I feel very concerned about, namely genetically engineered
foods.
I object to them for several reasons. (Mention some of the dangers you have
read about and you can ask them to contact you if they would like more
information) I will not allow my family to be experimented on with foods
that have not been rigorously tested. Nor will I blindly accept that the
environment my children live in be endangered by a technology whose
side-effects are admittedly unknown. The last decades have seen enough
technologies bring disastrous results.
I would very much appreciate if you could send me written assurance that
your foods do not contain genetically engineered ingredients or at the very
least, that such ingredients are clearly labelled.
A group of citizens in Ottawa is going to publish the list of all food
retailers, producers, and restaurants, who keep their products free from
these genetically modified ingredients or who at least label these foods so
that customers can choose. They will also publish a list of all companies
who do not respond or who not commit do labelling. I will pass your
written confirmation to them.
As much as I enjoy your store/products/restaurant, I will not be able to
remain your customer unless I receive from you a clear support on this most
vital issue for our well-being.
Thank you for seriously considering this information. I look forward to
your reply.
Sincerely
name,
address
............................................................................
Note that we are telling them in the letter that we will publish our list
of companies that are committed to not carrying or labelling genetically
engineered foods, and the list of those that do not commit. Once you get a
response, let us know what they say, so that we can keep track of the
information and share it with everyone else.
Best wishes and thank you for your support
Richard
____________________________________________
Richard Wolfson, PhD
Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Food
Natural Law Party, 500 Wilbrod Street, Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2
Tel. 613-565-8517 Fax. 613-565-6546
email: rwolfson@concentric.net
NLP Website: http://www.natural-law.ca
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CHEBUCTO GROUP EXCOMM
Chair (away til Sept.) Paul Falvo 492-1995 pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca
Vice (Acting) Chair Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Conservation Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Cass Elliott 455-3852 au361@chebucto.ns.ca
Outings Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
Programme Jack Devenney 463-0090 jack.devdart@ns.sympatico.ca
Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
Youth Arciris Garay 443-8472 af169@chebucto.ns.ca
Membership Allison Denning425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Derek Fenton 423-6486 derek.fenton@maritimes.dfo.ca
Secretary Allison Denning425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Publicity Heather Breeze 429-5094 aa670@chebucto.ns.ca
Treasurer Jack Devenney 463-0090 jack.devdart@ns.sympatico.ca
Fund Raising vacant
Web Master Ben Tremblay 423-8682 ab006@chebucto.ns.ca
Visit us on the 'Net!
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/Sierra/
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