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Towards a just & healthy democracy in the Commonwealth... and beyond!
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Wed Aug 18, 2010 at 14:47:53 PM EDT
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(Great to see connections like this happening at a Green-Rainbow convention. That's what it's all about! - promoted by eli_beckerman)
The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) recently sent my campaign a candidate questionnaire. There were nine questions on the subjects of raw milk, GMO labeling, and poultry processing.
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| scott_laugenour :: NOFA Questionnaire - A Candidate's Response |
Here is the cover letter that I enclosed with the questionnaire. For more information on NOFA in Massachusetts, please visit:
http://www.nofamass.org
NOFA first educated me about raw milk when it tabled at the Green-Rainbow Party convention in Leominster in November, 2008... It was the NOFA brochure on raw milk that pointed me to a farm in Alford, Berkshire County where I was able to obtain it. I am now a regular customer of that farm and a healthy consumer of raw milk, along with the yogurt and cheese that I make from it.
I am a friend to many local farmers, a customer of farmers markets, and will be a staunch advocate for NOFA's mission when I am elected as the first Green-Rainbow legislator in the commonwealth, representing the 4th Berkshire District. I have worked with the Lenox farmers market and the Lenox Environment Committee - helping to launch community-sponsored free bus service within Lenox on farmers' market days - and I will continue such active promotion, particularly in markets that specifically position themselves to serving broader segments of the population, including schools and hospitals, by affording more people the healthy choice of eating local foods.
I also take a firm stand on GMO labeling--regulations that prevent labeling the presence or absence of Genetically Modified Organisms in foods need to be repealed. This issue is an example of agriculture policies serving corporate needs above consumer health, an example that repeats itself too frequently in public policies. While I encourage fair federal regulations around GMO labeling, I also strongly support legislation that was introduced in Massachusetts during the last session regarding labeling genetically modified produce, pharmaceutical crops, and seed.
Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to share my position on raw milk, GMO food labeling, and other issues that are important to the health of local farms, local economies, communities and people. I look forward to learning more about NOFA during my campaign and as a legislator after November 2. |
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Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
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"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
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Then and Now
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Then...
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
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