Apparently the Republicans, who holler and wail about the need for states' rights, are considering passing a bill that would prevent -- that's right, prevent -- states from establishing their own food-labeling requirements.

Farmgirl Fare offers the skinny:

I don't usually mix politics and blogging, but this new bill hits right where it counts--in our stomachs. It will take away local food labeling rights and help keep gene-altered ingredients in our food. Here's the low-down:

Tell your Congressman or Congresswoman to vote "No" on House of Representatives Bill H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act," coming to a vote in Washington, D.C on March 8.

The House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a controversial "national food uniformity" labeling law that will take away local government and states' power to require food safety food labels such as those required in California and other states on foods or beverages that are likely to cause cancer, birth defects, allergic reactions, or mercury poisoning. This bill would also prevent citizens in local municipalities and states from passing laws requiring that genetically engineered foods and ingredients such as Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) be labeled.

Big food corporations and the biotech industry understand that consumers are more and more concerned about food safety, genetic engineering, and chemical-intensive agriculture, and are reading labels more closely. They understand that pesticide and mercury residues and hazardous technologies such as genetic engineering and food irradiation will be rejected if there are truthful labels required on food products.

So, naturally, these multinational corporations don't want Americans knowing what's in their food. And the Republican Congress seems all-too-ready to accommodate the foreign corporations' demands at the expense of the health of Americans. (Hey, so much for their self-reform efforts, eh?)

Farmgirl Fare's post has links to ways to take action, as well as relevant news stories.

Via Alanna Kellogg at BlogHer.

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