As the debate over genetically modified foods heats up in anticipation of a labeling initiative on the November ballot, PCC has made one definitive stand. Along with several national food outlets, the locally based cooperative announced last week that it will not sell what might be the first genetically engineered animal to reach the market: salmon.
In a way, that’s not surprising. PCC is a major backer of Initiative 522, which would require most GMOs (genetically modified organisms) or products containing GMOs to be labeled. “There are few issues that threaten so fundamentally our core values as the hidden presence of genetically engineered ingredients in our food supply,” said PCC Tracy Wolpert last fall as the organization contributed $100,000 to the campaign.
Talking with Seattle Weekly, PCC public affairs director Trudy Bialic says the decision about genetically engineered salmon, which is awaiting FDA approval, was a no-brainer. “Our customers just don’t want it,” she says, adding that there is a paucity of independent research on the safety of such fish. Yet Bialic is less sure about how PCC might handle GMO products should I-522 pass. “I just don’t know,” she says.
PCC already takes some steps to make sure its shelves are free of products made with GMOs. Recently the cooperative contacted all its deli vendors to ask whether they use such products. Forty of the 43 vendors either did not, or revised their recipes to exclude GMOs. “We’re still talking about what to do about the remaining three,” she says.
Bialic says PCC also asks about GMO ingredients when considering new products, veering away from goods with genetically modified corn or soy. At the same time, she says that some of the cooperative’s existing products, like corn chips, are bound to incorporate GMOs.
This is where things get complicated, as reinforced by other stands the cooperative has already taken. Bialic points to a ban the organization recently enacted on candy produced with child labor. “But how far do we take that—down to the chocolate chips?” she asks.
Ultimately, Bialic suggests that the organization would let market forces decide—looking at “what sells and what doesn’t.” She suspects consumers won’t want to buy goods that are themselves a GMO, like corn, papaya, or squash. But nobody knows exactly how consumers will respond if the initiative passes, and Bialic says the results “will be interesting.” NINA SHAPIRO
No Gun for You!
The uproar was predictable when New York legislators in January passed strict new gun laws in the wake of last December’s Newtown, Conn., school shootings. Gun owners genuflected to the Second Amendment and took verbal aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, riled by a seven-bullet restriction on semiautomatic weapon clips. That effectively outlawed what are commonly called assault rifles such as the AR-15, whose manufacturers include Olympic Arms of Olympia.
Olympic Arms President Brian Schuetz—a man who likes to hunt elk with his AR-15—fired back with a press release in February. It got play on conservative and gun websites, but was mostly overlooked elsewhere. We came across it while researching SW’s March 20 cover story on black-market gun-running by a rogue cop. In his corporate edict, Schuetz laid down his own law against N.Y.’s cops and other first responders in “Soup Nazi” fashion: No gun for you!
“Due to the passing of this legislation,” Schuetz wrote on the company’s Facebook page, “Olympic Arms would like to announce that the State of New York, any Law Enforcement Departments, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders within the State of New York, or any New York State government entity or employee of such an entity—will no longer be served as customers.”
Olympic was founded in 1956 and has been producing arms in the Olympia area since 1975—its offices are located just outside Lacey. The gunmaker is one of the few manufacturers to make every major AR-15 part in-house.
Schuetz invited other firearms manufacturers, distributors, and dealers to join his boycott, and at least a half-dozen have followed. The press release has drawn more than 700 Facebook comments and gotten 11,000 likes. Some N.Y. legislators are reportedly rethinking the changes, and the NRA filed a lawsuit last week seeking to have the law thrown out.
Olympic has also announced that it is refusing to advertise in the FOP Journal, the official magazine of the Fraternal Order of Police: “It is well known that the FOP is a staunch supporter of Gun Control, had backed the AWB [assault weapons ban] under Bill Clinton, and supports the current AWB under consideration that was introduced by Dianne Feinstein.”
Such a stand is “reprehensible and shameful,” says Olympic, calling the police group “a rogue organization supporting tyranny, not an organization sworn to uphold the laws of the land, to protect, serve, and defend their constituencies.” RICK ANDERSON
Taking Aim at Pimps
It’s no secret that Seattle Democrat Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles has dedicated herself to fighting human trafficking and child prostitution. It’s a battle she’s in for the long haul. So it should come as no surprise that after watching federal courts shoot down the legislation targeting Backpage.com and other sites linked to the exploitation of child prostitutes that she championed last session, she’s back at it. This year she is sponsoring a handful of bills designed to protect kids from getting pimped on the Internet.
The most interesting is Senate Bill 5488, which according to the official report on the bill would impose “an additional $5,000 fee when a person is convicted of Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Promoting Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor, or Promoting Travel for Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor if an Internet advertisement was instrumental in facilitating the offense.”
The main reason the effort is intriguing is because—unlike the effort, struck down in federal court, that specifically targeted Backpage.com—SB 5488 shifts the focus to the user, in essence leaving Backpage alone but making the penalties stiffer for those who use the website for nefarious ends.
“It was very unfortunate. Many people wanted to fight it,” says Kohl-Welles of last year’s Senate Bill 6251, which was passed unanimously but met its demise at the hand of a federal judge. “We’ve really spent a lot of time trying to come up with a better approach to this. [SB 5488] was just a way we could try to get at the same concern . . . No one has raised a constitutional concern with this legislation.”
Kohl-Welles’ SB 5488 also passed unanimously out of the Senate earlier this session, and received a “Do Pass” recommendation out of the House Committee on Public Safety last week. Kohl-Welles says she expects the bill to eventually pass out of the House this session.
The real question is: Will a $5,000 fine, on top of existing penalties, be enough to persuade someone already risking jail time from pimping kids on the Internet? It’s a concern that’s been raised by those who’ve spoken against the bill.
“I think money’s a strong motivator,” says Kohl-Welles, who is also quick to note that such a bill isn’t “the whole solution.”
As part of the multipronged approach that Kohl-Welles says is vital to battling human trafficking, she says she’s considering introducing legislation next year that would decriminalize prostitution for minors—placing the jurisdiction with DSHS instead of the criminal-justice system when a minor gets popped. MATT DRISCOLL
Bumpy Ride
Keep a lid on that coffee when driving, Washingtonians, because those roads you’re navigating have more pockmarks than a sixth-grader with a bad case of chicken pox.
Some 67 percent of the roads in this state are in poor or mediocre condition, according to the 2013 report of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Overall, Washington roads earned a solid D grade.
Our bridges are no great shakes, either. Nearly 5 percent of the state’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient by this organization of civil engineers, and almost 21.6 percent were rated functionally obsolete. Again, a D was meted out.
We can take some solace that Oregon is nearly as bad, with 65 percent of its highways and byways in mediocre or poor condition. California is even a trifle worse, with 68 percent of its roads in crummy condition.
Best in the nation: Nevada, with only 20 percent of its roads not making the cut.
Worst: the other Washington; an astonishing 99 percent of its roads are considered barely passable.
The ASCE report card is compiled every four years and rates 16 infrastructure categories, including drinking water, hazardous waste, levees, dams, and ports.
The obvious recommendations: Invest more in infrastructure improvements and raise the gas tax, something the state hasn’t done in four years.
As the late, great George McGovern themed his 1972 presidential race, “Come home, America.” ELLIS E. CONKLIN
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