News Release — Regeneration Vermont
September 13, 2016
Contact:
Michael Colby, Regeneration Vermont
(802) 595-0060
Food and Farming Advocacy Work Recognized
East Thetford, VT – Vermont’s own Will Allen joined one other Vermonter today – Bernie Sanders – in being named to the prestigious Politico 50 list of the “thinkers, doers and dreamers reshaping American politics in 2016 — and beyond.” The annual list, compiled and promoted by Politico Magazine, cites Allen’s work as an opponent of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the glue to the Vermont coalition that fought successfully for the short-lived GMO labeling law.
Allen joins an eclectic class of 2016, a Politico 50 that features the odd pairing of Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, but also includes the Flint water whistleblowers, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Apple’s Tim Cook, and the author Thomas Frank.
Ironically, Politico has Allen sharing the number 36 spot with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the legislative architect of the federal law that effectively killed what was a Vermont labeling law victory, at least for the 28 days it was law before Stabenow stabbed it. To say that Stabenow is a pariah to the grassroots food and agriculture movements right now would be kind, having undercut years of effort in her buckling to Monsanto & Co.
“While we are pleased with the recognition of those efforts,” wrote Allen to his Vermont coalition partners, “we are extremely dismayed by Politico’s blindsiding us in pairing me with Debbie Stabenow and concluding that we changed American agriculture. The Vermont bill certainly influenced the debate, but Stabenow’s efforts just prove the power of corporate control. We are not surprised that U.S. journalism pretends to be fair and unbiased without a moral compass. After all, they paired Bernie with Ted Cruz.”
The odd pairing of Allen and Stabenow, and spinning it as if they worked together when, in reality, Stabenow sabotaged Allen’s work, is even more odd when considering Politico’s own reporting of the GMO-labeling battles. It’s as if the award side of Politico never talks to the journalists at Politico, because the reporting at Politico clearly showed that they understood the great chasm between Allen’s call for full disclosure and Stabenow game of labeling hide and seek. Consider, for example, the article published by Politico late last spring that reports on the “…proposal from Sen. Debbie Stabenow on how best to preempt Vermont’s GMO labeling law…” Even the headline from the May 11, 2016 article highlights the divide between the factions: “Senate Working On ‘Middle Ground’ GMO Labeling Bill to Prevent Vermont Law.”
So let us be clear here: Will Allen worked for years to demand full and clear labeling on products containing GMO ingredients, while Stabenow went to work for Monsanto and Big Ag to kill full labeling and, instead, hide the GMO information in QR codes –accessible only via smartphone – not “barcodes,” as the award writers incorrectly report.
Despite the oddities of the award, Allen praised the wide array of people and organizations that worked tirelessly for years to bring the GMO issue front and center to our political consciousness. And he specifically thanked the members of the Vermont Right to Know Coalition and national organizations including Mercola, Organic Consumers Association, Dr. Bronner’s, Center For Food Safety, Joe Sandler and associates, and Emord and associates.
“While the outcome wasn’t what we hoped for in the end,” said Allen, “this award gives us recognition for our collective effort and the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to safe food and the public’s right to know what is in our food. And we also get to say it one more time: Stabenow betrayed us.”
Politico declares that there’s “no question” that Allen “has changed America’s food system.” There’s a lot of truth to that statement. Allen has been a pioneering organic farmer, a prolific author and tenacious advocate for farm justice, giving rise to all kinds of solutions along the way. Allen and his partner, Kate Duesterberg, are the co-managers of Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, Vermont, a thriving regenerative gem, serving the community a full selection of organic vegetables and berries, as well as educational and research programs to raise awareness about the importance of organic, regenerative farming and its relationship to healthy communities and a healthy climate.
And it wasn’t like Allen has been sitting around waiting for the law to take effect and the awards to come in. Last year he helped launch Regeneration Vermont, a new nonprofit that seeks to fundamentally change the way Vermont farms, transitioning away from the toxic and industrial methods and toward solutions-based regenerative techniques that go beyond many current organic practices. The group is in the middle of a campaign to help dairy farmers and dairy processors transition to regenerative organic practices, and develop a market for them, a necessary step if Vermont’s farm traditions are to survive and our lakes and other waterways are to be saved.
“We are doubling our efforts in Vermont to change our toxic and environmentally damaging industrial dairy system and continue to advocate for transparency,” writes Allen. Earlier this summer he published his study of GMO use in Vermont agriculture, “Vermont’s GMO Legacy: Pesticides, Polluted Water & Climate Destruction.”
Allen will be traveling to Washington, DC this week to accept his Politico 50 award, where he’ll be looking forward to a chat with Senator Stabenow.
For more information, visit: www.RegenerationVermont.org and/or www.cedarcirclefarm.org.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermonter Will Allen Honored with Politico 50 Award.