Keep irradiated food out of your childs' lunch

(please forward far and wide!)
AB 1988 Passed through the California Legislature and Awaits Governor
Schwarzenegger's Signature -
Urge the Governor to Sign AB 1988 into Law!

AB 1988, the landmark California legislation requiring school board
approval and parental notification before a school can serve irradiated
foods has miraculously PASSED the California Legislature and now
patiently awaits the Governor's signature. If this bill becomes law, it
will be the first of its kind in the nation, and will protect millions
of parents' basic right to know what their children eat while at school.
This legislation will serve as a model for other states to ensure that
school districts are accountable to parents when making controversial
decisions.

If you can do ONE THING to help this bill become law:
Contact the Governor and urge him to sign AB 1988 into law.
Call 916-445-2841 or send a FREE FAX to Governor Schwarzenegger at this
link:
http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=364&source=38

Sample Phone Rap: Hi, my name is _________ and I am a California
resident. I am calling to urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 1988
into law. This bill simply protects parents basic right to know if
their children are eating irradiated foods in schools, and ensures that
school districts remain accountable to parents on this controversial
issue.

If you can do TWO THINGS to help this bill become law:
Do the above, and forward this email out to everyone you know in
California.

If you can do THREE THINGS to help this bill become law:
Do the above and get friends, neighbors and other members of your
community to sign postcards to the Governor. Public Citizen will
provide the free pre-printed postcards and even pay for the postage.
Contact Megan Garcia for more info mgarcia [at] citizen.org or call
510-663-0888.

To read the text of the bill, visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov
To learn more about the California Stop Food Irradiation Campaign,
visit http://www.citizen.org/california/food

Below is Public Citizen's statement on the passage of AB 1988 through
the California Legislature:

Aug. 26, 2004
Contact: Tracy Lerman (510) 663-0888 x. 103, c: (650) 867-0389
Anna Blackshaw (510) 663-0888 x. 102

Victory for California Families: Governor Should Sign New Bill to
Protect Parents' Right to Know

Statement of Anna Blackshaw, Director of Public Citizen's California
Office

OAKLAND, Calif. -The California Legislature has served up a big win to
parents and students by passing a bill requiring school board approval,
public disclosure and parental notification before irradiated foods can
be purchased for school lunch programs.

Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) is largely to thank for
authoring the legislation (AB 1988), which protects parents' right to
know what their children eat at school and provides a democratic
decision-making process for a highly controversial issue that has
concerned parents across the state. Given the scientific uncertainty
over the safety of irradiated foods and their wide-scale rejection by
consumers, it is important to involve parents in decisions regarding
food their children will be served.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture included irradiated foods in the
National School Lunch Program in May 2003, despite overwhelming
opposition from parents and the public. Under federal law, schools have
no obligation to inform parents that their children are eating
irradiated foods. This lack of accountability to parents is
particularly egregious because the National School Lunch Program serves
27 million children annually nationwide, most of whom are from
low-income families and may be undernourished at home. More than three
million children are served by the program in California.

Six California school districts have banned irradiated food from their
cafeterias: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Ukiah, Point Arena and
the Grant Elementary School District in Redding. While no school in the
state will serve irradiated meat in the upcoming school year, doing so
will remain an option for California school districts for the
foreseeable future. By passing this bill, lawmakers have ensured that
California remains accountable to both parents and disadvantaged
schoolchildren, who are among the most vulnerable of our state's
residents.

Irradiation exposes food to high doses of ionizing radiation to kill
bacteria. In the process, nutrients are destroyed and new toxic
chemicals are formed. Recent research has shown that one class of these
chemicals, cyclobutanones, promotes cancer development and causes
genetic damage to human cells. No long-term studies have been conducted
on how children's health is affected by eating irradiated food.

This bill will now head to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. We urge him to
sign it to preserve parents' and students' right to know what is served
in school meals. To learn more about irradiated foods and their
inclusion in the National School Lunch Program, visit
http://www.safelunch.org.
###
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
wish an office in Oakland, Calif.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy Lerman
Senior Organizer
Public Citizen, California Office
1615 Broadway, 9th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
ph: 510-663-0888 x 103 f: 510-663-8569
tlerman [at] citizen.org
http://www.citizen.org/california

Keep irradiated food out of your child's lunch!
Visit http://www.safelunch.org to find out more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~