In communities from Berkeley, Petaluma and Sebastopol, California to five townships in Pennsylvania to the City of Boston, Massachusetts coalitions of parents, farmers and environmentalists have gotten local legislators to pass an array of anti-biotech resolutions. Some, like the one passed unanimously by Boston City Council in March, urge the federal government to require labeling of genetically engineered foods. Others, like Sebastopol's, support federal legislation calling a moratorium on genetically modified organisms unless they are proven safe. The resolutions are non-binding, but they are meant to educate the public and send a strong message to the biotech corporations and the federal government. Community activists have been convening town meetings and participating in the local political process, often helping to draft the measures.
Activists say they are reclaiming the political process.
What we're trying to accomplish is local democracy. Berkeley's resolution, passed in December 1999, grew out of an earlier policy by the school board warning against the dangers genetically engineered ingredients used in school lunches. Those guidelines do not commit the FDA to carry out pre-market safety testing or require industry to label GE food. The Biotechnology Industry Organization , which heavily lobbied the FDA, is solidly behind the new guidelines. The resolutions are a way of empowering people and making them feel part of a long term effort.