Pass the (genetically engineered) stuffing!
By Mary MinetteELCA Director for Environmental Advocacy and Education
You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.The pastures of the wilderness overflow,the hills gird themselves with joy,the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,the valleys deck themselves with grain,they shout and sing together with joy.- Psalm 65:11-13
Did you know that 68 percent of all corn and 91 percent of all soybeans planted in the United States in 2009 were varieties that have been genetically modified to survive the application of certain commercial herbicides (mostly Monsanto's Roundup) so that farmers can more easily control weeds?
And that 63 percent of corn planted in the U.S. in 2009 contained a gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, that produces a protein toxic to certain types of insects, so farmers can use fewer pesticides?
Given those numbers, it is likely that the cornbread that you use to make stuffing this Thanksgiving or the grain that your turkey ate on its way to your table contain genetically engineered (GE) crops.
What does this mean for you, and for the food supply of our country and the rest of the world?
The companies that have developed these seeds argue that they allow farmers to greatly increase their yield per acre and will be needed as the earth's population grows larger. Farmers say that they are able to apply fewer chemicals to their fields, helping the environment and saving them money, time and fuel. Proponents argue that in the future GE crops will help to manage agricultural risk from drought, pests and disease to make the world's food supply more secure, and that genetic modification holds the promise of developing more nutritious crops. And because farmers do not have to till their fields to remove weeds each year the carbon in the soil stays put rather than being released into the atmosphere, helping to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
However, not everyone is thrilled by increasing acreage planted in genetically modified seed. Some worry that GE crops may not be safe for humans and animals to eat. Thus far, studies of the most common genetically modified food crops have failed to show that they pose any such health risk; however, the massive growth in their use has taken place over a relatively short time period and the long term impacts are not yet known.
Others argue that pollen from genetically modified crops can easily become commingled with pollen from conventional crops. Pollen drift has already led to disputes between organic farmers and their neighbors growing GE crops. Pollen drift from GE crops tolerant of herbicides could potentially lead to "super weeds" resistant to commonly used herbicides and "super bugs" resistant to Bt. If this occurs, farmers will have to return to using more toxic herbicides and pesticides at the expense of the environment.
Some say that the promise that genetically modified crops will help to feed the world ignores structural problems with the world's food supply. They argue that overall supply is not the problem; other factors including unequal distribution of food and international trade policies that favor wealthy countries over poor countries are the root causes of global hunger.
Still others argue that the increasing use of GE crops in agriculture is assisting in the consolidation of our food system and the decline of small farms, as the influence of large agricultural corporations grows through the use of their genetically modified seed and related products.
These are all things to ponder this Thanksgiving, as we enjoy the fruits of the harvest and remember in our prayers those around the world who continue to live with chronic hunger.
Learn More and Speak Out
The ELCA has a social policy resolution on genetically modified organisms and is developing a social statement on genetics. A draft of the social statement will be available in mid-March 2010 and the ELCA Task Force on Genetics will be asking for your input and comments in hearings around the country from March through November of next year. Keep an eye on the ELCA’s website (www.elca.org/socialstatements) for the draft social statement and opportunities to comment!
A Prayer for the Journey
O Lord, maker of all things, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. We praise you for crowning the fields with your blessings and enabling us once more to gather in the fruits of the earth. Teach us to use your gifts carefully, that our land may continue to yield its increase, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.- Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 62 (Augsburg Fortress 2006)
Showing posts with label Action Alert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Action Alert. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
ACTION ALERT- Living Earth: Reconciliation
Keeping Our Promise
by Mary Minette
ELCA Director of Environmental Education and Advocacy
“[T]he LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and winter, day and night,shall not cease.”
God makes this promise to Noah in the aftermath of the worst natural disaster the earth had ever experienced. I encountered this passage from Genesis in two very different places recently.
The first time was during a trip to Nicaragua to learn how people living in poor communities, mostly small farmers, were experiencing changes in their climate.
These farmers and their families may know little about the politics surrounding the issue of climate change here in the United States, but they do understand that rainfall patterns, which used to allow them to plant and harvest two crops each year during the rainy season, have become far less predictable.
Where they once could grow enough to feed and support their families, they now experience droughts and flooding, hunger and hardship. They see that God’s promise of enduring “seedtime and harvest” has somehow been disrupted, but the strong faith of these farmers that God promises a better life for them and their children endures.
The second time I heard this passage was in a Congressional hearing room, far from the dusty roads of rural Nicaragua. The hearing was about the need to provide help to people living in poverty, like those farmers in Nicaragua, who are already struggling with the impacts of a changing climate. The panel included scientists, policy experts, an ELCA bishop, and a couple of witnesses who were characterized by one member of the committee as “expert skeptics” on climate change. In other words, the room hosted a microcosm of the political debate that is ongoing in our country between people who deny that climate change is real or human-caused, and the climate scientists and policy experts who understand that climate change is real and argue that we must define how to approach the future of our country and our planet. The ELCA has listened to both sides of the climate change debate, and as a church we stand with the majority of climate scientists: God’s creation is in peril because humanity’s use of carbon-based energy sources like oil and coal is causing the earth to grow warmer and changing the climate around the world.
One of the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee quoted the above passage from Genesis during the hearing. He stated that because God has promised never again to destroy the earth, he believes that nothing humanity can invent or do can destroy creation.
The passage is clear: the earth shall endure, and the seasons, and day and night. God promises not to destroy that cycle. But what about us—where do we fit in? Does God’s promise mean that we have no responsibilities?God pledges that the earth will endure, but earlier on, he also tells us that we are to be stewards of all creation, charged with caring for the earth and our fellow creatures. This would seem to imply that we have some promises to keep as well.Are we keeping our promise, not only to God but to all of creation—to polar bears in the Arctic, to farmers in Nicaragua, to communities on small islands in the Pacific who are watching their land disappear under rising seas? The mounting evidence presented by climate scientists indicates that we are not.
Take Action
Currently the House Energy and Commerce committee is considering a bill, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454), that would require reductions in U.S. emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. Find out more about the bill here, and consider making a call or sending a letter to your member of Congress about the bill.
A Prayer for the Journey
Creator God, you have never failed in your promise to us: day follows night; winter’s cold yields to the new growth of spring; seeds are planted, sprout and produce food. Grant us the vision and strength to honor our promises to you, to change our ways, to choose a new path, and to tend and keep your garden, the earth. AMEN
by Mary Minette
ELCA Director of Environmental Education and Advocacy
“[T]he LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and winter, day and night,shall not cease.”
-Genesis 8:21-22
God makes this promise to Noah in the aftermath of the worst natural disaster the earth had ever experienced. I encountered this passage from Genesis in two very different places recently.
The first time was during a trip to Nicaragua to learn how people living in poor communities, mostly small farmers, were experiencing changes in their climate.
These farmers and their families may know little about the politics surrounding the issue of climate change here in the United States, but they do understand that rainfall patterns, which used to allow them to plant and harvest two crops each year during the rainy season, have become far less predictable.
Where they once could grow enough to feed and support their families, they now experience droughts and flooding, hunger and hardship. They see that God’s promise of enduring “seedtime and harvest” has somehow been disrupted, but the strong faith of these farmers that God promises a better life for them and their children endures.
The second time I heard this passage was in a Congressional hearing room, far from the dusty roads of rural Nicaragua. The hearing was about the need to provide help to people living in poverty, like those farmers in Nicaragua, who are already struggling with the impacts of a changing climate. The panel included scientists, policy experts, an ELCA bishop, and a couple of witnesses who were characterized by one member of the committee as “expert skeptics” on climate change. In other words, the room hosted a microcosm of the political debate that is ongoing in our country between people who deny that climate change is real or human-caused, and the climate scientists and policy experts who understand that climate change is real and argue that we must define how to approach the future of our country and our planet. The ELCA has listened to both sides of the climate change debate, and as a church we stand with the majority of climate scientists: God’s creation is in peril because humanity’s use of carbon-based energy sources like oil and coal is causing the earth to grow warmer and changing the climate around the world.
One of the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee quoted the above passage from Genesis during the hearing. He stated that because God has promised never again to destroy the earth, he believes that nothing humanity can invent or do can destroy creation.
The passage is clear: the earth shall endure, and the seasons, and day and night. God promises not to destroy that cycle. But what about us—where do we fit in? Does God’s promise mean that we have no responsibilities?God pledges that the earth will endure, but earlier on, he also tells us that we are to be stewards of all creation, charged with caring for the earth and our fellow creatures. This would seem to imply that we have some promises to keep as well.Are we keeping our promise, not only to God but to all of creation—to polar bears in the Arctic, to farmers in Nicaragua, to communities on small islands in the Pacific who are watching their land disappear under rising seas? The mounting evidence presented by climate scientists indicates that we are not.
Take Action
Currently the House Energy and Commerce committee is considering a bill, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454), that would require reductions in U.S. emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. Find out more about the bill here, and consider making a call or sending a letter to your member of Congress about the bill.
A Prayer for the Journey
Creator God, you have never failed in your promise to us: day follows night; winter’s cold yields to the new growth of spring; seeds are planted, sprout and produce food. Grant us the vision and strength to honor our promises to you, to change our ways, to choose a new path, and to tend and keep your garden, the earth. AMEN
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Climate Action in D.C. – Time to make your voices heard!
This week members of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee will consider a bill to address the most pressing issue facing God’s creation - our changing climate and the emissions that are causing our planet to grow warmer. This bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454), is sponsored by Committee chairman Henry Waxman of California and Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts (a sample call script is provided at the end of this article).This is a critical moment, and we are working hard to ensure that the Committee’s bill is strong and protects people living in poverty in the U.S. and around the world, but we need your help and your voice! This is a moment of opportunity and great urgency - please take a few minutes to call Representative Peterson and urge the congressperson to support strong climate change legislation!
Climate change’s impact already falls, and will continue to fall, most heavily on the people around the world who are least able to mitigate the impacts - people living in poverty in the U.S. and in developing countries. As a leading industrialized nation that has disproportionately contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, it is incumbent upon us to rectify this injustice through national legislation to reduce global warming.Please tell Representative Peterson to support strong climate change legislation that:
- Follows the recommendations of the scientific community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently this means legislation must ensure that we do not increase the Earth’s temperature by more than two degrees Celsius by reducing emissions by between 20 and 40 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050.
- Protects those living in or near poverty in the U.S. from the impacts of climate change and climate legislation. Legislation must ensure that low income Americans do not bear the disproportionate burden of increases in energy costs, must ensure that any increased costs do not push more people into poverty, and must provide for those whose jobs are impacted by climate legislation.
- Provides adaptation assistance for those living in poverty abroad. Those living in the most vulnerable developing nations around the world bear little responsibility for global warming and are already feeling the burden of climate change, with little ability to adapt. Through adaptation assistance, the U.S. can prevent the worst impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities around the world while helping them continue to lift people out of poverty. Climate change is a moral issue that elected officials are beginning to address on a national and international level. It is important that they hear the voice of the faith community as they make decisions that will affect the well being of God’s people and God’s Creation.
To call Representative Peterson:
Dial 888-784-0527 (toll-free, thanks to National Council of Churches) to reach the Capitol Switchboard. Ask the operator to connect you to Representative Peterson's office.
Sample Script for call:
"My name is [your name] and I am calling from [your town], Minnesota. I hope that Representative Peterson will support the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454) and work to strengthen it. As a constituent and a person of faith, I am concerned that people living in poverty around the world will suffer first and most if we do not aggressively reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. I also urge you to support efforts to protect those living in or near poverty in the U.S. from the impacts of rising energy costs and to provide assistance to those living in poverty around the globe as they adapt to a changing climate."
Thank you for your advocacy work!
ELCA Washington Office
Monday, May 18, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Your Voice Needed as Legislative Session Ends Monday
The decisions being made in St. Paul in the next few days will have a very real and lasting effect on the most vulnerable among us.
LCPPM Intern Pastor Janel Kuester opened the Minnesota Senate Session on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 with these words, “God of guidance, help us all realize that the situation of our beautiful State is one that we cannot forge through without your assistance. Calm our minds, open our ears, follow our hearts as we all continue to reconcile together”. Full text of prayer.
The session ends at midnight on Monday, May 18. As our six Minnesota ELCA bishops said in a March letter addressed to our elected leaders, “The measure of our moral fiber as a people is how we treat those who need help the most. We ask that you enlist all of us in this effort. Churches and community agencies have increased efforts to serve those in need, but only government has the reach and power to affect us all. Invite us to invest in this state, tighten our belts, and contribute our time and resources. We’re not afraid of tax increases if it means poor people who are sick can get health care, families who lose their homes find shelter, and children are cared for.” Full text of bishop's letter.
Your voice, your powerful voice, is needed!
Now is the time for people of faith to pray for our elected officials and to advocate for our brothers and sisters in need. Contact your legislators and the Governor and encourage them to support revenue-raising in order to make a balanced solution possible. Tell them that revenue-raising must be a significant part of the solution to resolve the state’s budget deficit and to make the tax system fairer.
To find out how to contact your decisions makers, click here.
And the latest developments...
Late Thursday night, Governor Pawlenty signed the Health & Human Services bill. While this is the action that we advocated for, he regretfully used his line item veto power to strike the entire $381 million appropriation for General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC). While we recognize that times are tough and cuts must be made, this veto undermines some of our core values of the common good, human dignity and compassion for the poor.
GAMC provides basic health coverage for the poorest single adults in our state. Nearly 30,000 men and women, most of whom make about $200 per month in income, lose all health coverage with the Governor's decision. $200 equals $7.15 per day. Imagine living on $7.15 per day, and then being asked to carry an enormous burden in solving the state budget deficit.
When the most vulnerable adults lose their health care safety net, they will wait until a treatable symptom becomes a serious illness or disease, and then local emergency rooms (and tax payers) will foot the bill. Most importantly, some people most likely will die because they will no longer have access to basic health care. This is not rhetoric or empty of real consequence. The decisions being made in St. Paul in the next few days will have a very real and lasting effect on the most vulnerable among us.
Governor Pawlenty has indicated that he will not call a special session. If the budget is not balanced by the beginning of the new fiscal year (July 1st), the Governor will have the authority to reduce spending and cancel programs altogether at his discretion.
LCPPM Intern Pastor Janel Kuester opened the Minnesota Senate Session on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 with these words, “God of guidance, help us all realize that the situation of our beautiful State is one that we cannot forge through without your assistance. Calm our minds, open our ears, follow our hearts as we all continue to reconcile together”. Full text of prayer.
The session ends at midnight on Monday, May 18. As our six Minnesota ELCA bishops said in a March letter addressed to our elected leaders, “The measure of our moral fiber as a people is how we treat those who need help the most. We ask that you enlist all of us in this effort. Churches and community agencies have increased efforts to serve those in need, but only government has the reach and power to affect us all. Invite us to invest in this state, tighten our belts, and contribute our time and resources. We’re not afraid of tax increases if it means poor people who are sick can get health care, families who lose their homes find shelter, and children are cared for.” Full text of bishop's letter.
Your voice, your powerful voice, is needed!
Now is the time for people of faith to pray for our elected officials and to advocate for our brothers and sisters in need. Contact your legislators and the Governor and encourage them to support revenue-raising in order to make a balanced solution possible. Tell them that revenue-raising must be a significant part of the solution to resolve the state’s budget deficit and to make the tax system fairer.
To find out how to contact your decisions makers, click here.
And the latest developments...
Late Thursday night, Governor Pawlenty signed the Health & Human Services bill. While this is the action that we advocated for, he regretfully used his line item veto power to strike the entire $381 million appropriation for General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC). While we recognize that times are tough and cuts must be made, this veto undermines some of our core values of the common good, human dignity and compassion for the poor.
GAMC provides basic health coverage for the poorest single adults in our state. Nearly 30,000 men and women, most of whom make about $200 per month in income, lose all health coverage with the Governor's decision. $200 equals $7.15 per day. Imagine living on $7.15 per day, and then being asked to carry an enormous burden in solving the state budget deficit.
When the most vulnerable adults lose their health care safety net, they will wait until a treatable symptom becomes a serious illness or disease, and then local emergency rooms (and tax payers) will foot the bill. Most importantly, some people most likely will die because they will no longer have access to basic health care. This is not rhetoric or empty of real consequence. The decisions being made in St. Paul in the next few days will have a very real and lasting effect on the most vulnerable among us.
Governor Pawlenty has indicated that he will not call a special session. If the budget is not balanced by the beginning of the new fiscal year (July 1st), the Governor will have the authority to reduce spending and cancel programs altogether at his discretion.
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