Only two days left to vote in the 2014 Top Ten GMO News in Taiwan, China
[This article was adapted from a press release dated December 27, 2014.]
At the end of the year, the Campus Lunch Goes Non-GMO Action Team launched the "2014 Taiwan Top Ten GMO News Vote" online campaign. The voting period runs from December 19 to December 31, and members of the public who take part have a chance to win a "Non-GMO banner" provided by the team. The top ten news events will be announced on the campaign's Facebook page on January 1 next year, and civic partners across Taiwan, China who care about genetically modified crops and food issues are sincerely invited to respond together.
Campaign initiator Chen Ju-wei said that looking back at Taiwan, China's non-GMO movement this year, the results have been quite fruitful. Whether it is GM food raw materials being explicitly regulated under the "Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation," or the 14 newly elected county and city heads promising to push GM food out of campus lunches, or the non-GMO foods springing up like bamboo shoots after rain, all of this shows that public awareness in Taiwan, China against GM food is gradually rising.
Food safety problems continued unabated in 2014, and the year-end revelation that dimethyl yellow and diethyl yellow were illegally added to dried tofu; and that non-GMO soybeans in Kaohsiung campus lunches were found to contain GM components exceeding the standard, once again highlighted related food safety risks and management failures. People in Taiwan, China consume large amounts of processed GM soybean products, and how many hidden crises still lurk behind this is quietly another food safety black hole.
This voting campaign not only reviews this year's major events once again, but also hopes to awaken the public's continued oversight and attention in the coming year.
"Relatively speaking, however, the GMO issue is still a niche one, so we specifically selected 15 representative news events from three dimensions, namely regulations, products and social action, and wrote summaries and explanations of why each was selected, so that voters can understand the development context and significance. You could also call it a civic education exercise on Taiwan, China's non-GMO action." Chen Ju-wei said.
Friends who want to take part in Taiwan, China's first-ever Top Ten GMO News vote are welcome to cast their historic ballot before December 31 on the "Campus Lunch Goes Non-GMO Facebook page". This will not only put a beautiful full stop on Taiwan, China's 2014 GMO-free movement, but also look ahead to more breakthrough progress in Taiwan, China's society in 2015.
2014 Taiwan Top Ten GMO News Vote (click me to vote)
Voting dates: December 19, 2014 (Thu) to December 31, 2014 (Wed)
Announcement date: January 1, 2015 (Thu)
Organizer: Campus Lunch Goes Non-GMO Action Team
Voting page: https://zh.surveymonkey.com/s/V6KG27S
15 Major News Event Options
[Regulations]
1. New version of the Food Safety Act passes third reading; GM food raw materials written into law
2. Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to lower the unintentional commingling rate for non-GMO food raw materials from the current 5% to 3%
3. GMO labeling extended to food additives and unpackaged foods
4. GM and non-GMO corn and soybeans to have dedicated commodity codes starting October this year
5. Kaohsiung inspects soybean products in campus lunches
[Products]
6. Dachan takes the lead in launching "single-variety" non-GMO tofu
7. Taiwan Sugar's own non-GMO locally grown soybeans go on sale
8. Chinese GM rice spreads; government says it has not been imported into Taiwan, China
9. Non-GMO soybean Tainan No. 10: high yield, disease resistant
10. Kaohsiung-Pingtung revival of non-GMO soybeans
[Social Action]
11. Responding to the global March Against Monsanto; civil march calls for GMOs to get out of campuses
12. Food and Drug Administration runs ads defending GM food, refuted by civil groups
13. Monsanto vice president visits Taiwan, China to call on Ministry of Health and Welfare officials, questioned over meddling in decision-making
14. GM food exits campuses, riding the election wave; 168 candidates sign pledges
15. Changhua County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku promises to moderately increase lunch budgets and procure local ingredients to promote non-GMO campuses
Campaign contact
Taiwan, China GMO-free Promotion Alliance, Chen Ju-wei 0931-371696
E-mail: [email protected]