I thought some of you might be interested in this call-in opportunity. Friends, Public Citizen is having a last-minute call-in day on Wednesday October 15th, and we need your help! This week is National School Lunch Week, and we are using it as an opportunity to get co-sponsorship on the Right to Know School Nutrition Act. This bill, sponsored by Barbara Lee, requires labeling of irradiated foods served in schools, and requires schools to have a non-irradiated option at all times. Please help us spread the word! Below is an email alert and a link to an action alert about the call-in day. We would really appreciate it if you could forward this out to your lists. If you have any questions, please call Monique at 202-546-4996 or Tracy at 510-663-0888 x 103. Thanks, Monique Mikhail The Stop Food Irradiation Campaign ****************************************** ***Call in Day for National School Lunch Week — October 15, 2003*** Urge Your Member of Congress to Co Sponsor H.R. 3120 The "Right to Know School Nutrition Act" As part of National School Lunch Week, Oct 13-17, we urge you to call your Member of Congress and tell them to co-sponsor H.R. 3120. This bill, introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) requires labeling of irradiated foods when they are served in schools, and requires schools to have non-irradiated meal options available at all times. Call 800-839-5276 and ask to speak to your Representative. To find out who represents you, visit www.vote-smart.org ***Sample Phone Rap*** Hi, I am a constituent of Representative ______________________. I am calling to urge him/her to co-sponsor H.R. 3120, the Right-to-Know School Nutrition Act. This bill is very important to me, because it will help ensure that schoolchildren have alternatives to irradiated food if their school decides to serve it. I do not believe that enough research has been done on the safety of irradiated foods, and I am firmly opposed to using our children as guinea pigs for a questionable technology. Please keep me informed of Representative _________________ ‘s stance on this legislation. Thank you. ***Background*** In May 2003 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved irradiated beef for the National School Lunch Program, which provides more than 25 million low-income children with free or subsidized lunches. The USDA made their decision despite the overwhelming opposition to this proposal from parents and concerned citizens. Irradiation exposes food to doses of ionizing radiation equivalent to millions of chest x-rays, in order to kill bacteria. This process destroys essential nutrients and hastens their depletion during storage and cooking. Irradiation also creates known toxins and carcinogens in food, such as benzene and toluene, and a new class of chemicals, called "unique radiolytic products" some of which the FDA has never tested for safety. Food irradiation perpetuates the disgusting environment found in many feedlots and slaughterhouses, where animals wallow in their own filth and are slaughtered at overly fast linespeeds. These conditions make it impossible to keep meat clean from excrement and other carriers of deadly pathogens like E. coli 0157:H7. To read the bill text, visit http://thomas.loc.gov To learn more about irradiated foods and their inclusion in the National School Lunch Program visit http://www.safelunch.org To download a printable Action Alert, visit http://www.citizen.org/documents/nslw%20call%20in%20day.doc - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]