Kimberly Roberson / Change.org – 2016-03-12 00:01:27
https://www.change.org/p/urgent-fukushima-radioactive-fallout-food-safety-petition
URGENT! Fukushima Radioactive Fallout Food Safety Petition
Kimberly Roberson / Change.org
SAN FRANCISCO (March 9, 2016) – We are in the midst of an ongoing and seemingly incomprehensible radiation crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex in Japan. Some are saying “this is not Chernobyl” and for that matter it may turn out to be worse.
Greenpeace released a report on March 25, 2011, which ranks the radiation leaking from Fukushima to date to be at Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) which is the highest level and the same as Chernobyl after that catastrophe. We must remember that this crisis is far from over and will have serious health effects for many innocent people, with young children and the elderly being particularly vulnerable.
The National Academies of Science issued a 2006 report on radiation exposure that concluded that even low levels of radiation can cause human health problems, including cancer and heart disease. And 25 years after Chernobyl, the United Kingdom still maintains restrictions on sheep production in parts of Wales because radioactive cesium continues to contaminate grazing lands.
Now we are learning that the water pumped in from the ocean to cool the Fukushima reactors is flowing back to sea mixed with deadly plutonium, endangering sea life too. Until workers can find a way to somehow stop, contain and store it, dangerous levels of radioactivity will continue to spread to the ocean and the biosphere.
Particulates in the form of radioactiive iodine and other radioisotopes from Fukushima have traveled across the United States as far as Massachusetts. Increased radiation is now being detected in cows milk in Washington, Vermont, and other states.
While we continue to send our prayers and support to the people of Japan, it is clearly time to understand that this is a global crisis which will affect many nations, including the United States. Citizens in India, China, France and other countries are being told to carefully handle or not to eat large leafy green vegetables and some dairy products.
Here in the US, closer downwind on the jetstream from Japan, we are STILL not receiving honest, accurate and consistent information from our government agencies. The FDA has announced that there is no need to test north Pacific fish for radioactivity, and the EPA announced scaling back monitoring of water and milk to quarterly testing only.
First, tell Congress and President Obama that we need to monitor all food and water imports from Japan, including the estimated annual 5 million gallons of bottled water, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages containing water. Seafood shipments and other food products also are still being imported by the US.and they must be monitored immediately.
Next, tell Congress and President Obama that the Environmental Protection Agency must significantly expand the monitoring of air particulates, rain water, drinking water, and milk and to make the findings readily transparent and immediately available to the public.
Last, tell Congress and President Obama that the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration should receive adequate funding for expanded food and water inspection both here and overseas and to communicate those findings immediately to the public.
Congress must rethink our agricultural policies as well as international trade policies as they effect imports from other countries also trading with Japan.
Letter to
US House of Representatives
US Senate
President of the United States
Dear President Obama and Members of Congress,
As the humanitarian and environmental crisis of the Fukushima nuclear reactors continues to unfold, we in the United States are at risk for the continuation of increased radiation exposure in our air, food and water.
Young children and the elderly are particularly at risk. Citizens of France, India, China and other countries are being told that the radioactivity from Fukushima is no longer negligible and to carefully handle or avoid certain foods. Yet we here in the United States are being told by the Environmental Protection Agency that the radiation is “to be expected” and “within safe limits”, nothing more.
Tokyo Electric and Power Co. issued a statement on April 20 that it will take NINE MONTHS to stop their radioactive fallout. However TEPCO’s reactors are still in criticality stage which undermines their projection, while the FDA announced that they do not plan on testing North Pacific fish for radioactivity from Fukushima Daiichi, and the EPA has scaled back testing of milk and water to quarterly monitoring.
The time for action to protect citizens is now. We are asking that the following steps be taken immediately:
Please monitor all food and water imports from Japan, including the estimated annual 5 million gallons of bottled water, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages containing water. Seafood and other food products are still coming into the US.and they must also be monitored immediately.
Also, the Environmental Protection Agency must significantly expand monitoring of air particulates, rain water, drinking water, and milk. and to make the findings available as immediately as possible and readily transparent to the public.
It is also urgent that the United States Department of Agiculture and the Food and Drug Administration be provided with adequate funding for food and water inspection as it pertains to the nuclear crisis both here and overseas and to communicate those findings immediately to the public.
Our elected officials must rethink our agricultural policies and trade policies as they effect imports from other countries also trading with Japan.
Please do not hesitate to act on this extremely urgent issue.
Radiation Awareness Protection Talk
(November 13, 2015) — Hello and thanks again for signing the first food monitoring for radiation petition at Change.org. I’m overdue sending an update, so this one will have quite a bit of information. Thank you so much for being present with it, and for your interest and support of this critical campaign. This email includes a general update, news about the Radiation Awareness Protection Talk program (RAPT), and links with quick info on recent media.
With silence continuing to rage around the health impacts of Fukushima’s ongoing radiation releases both in Japan and throughout the northern hemisphere, I decided to take an additional path to help spread awareness. Petitions and social media are undoubtedly powerful, necessary tools, but there are many more options to help spread awareness.
People want to know what they can be doing, now, to deal with health impacts in an increasingly toxic world. Having worked in the nutrition field for over ten years prior to Fukushima, I struggled to imagine how to return to the work I love.
How to tell people that they need to eat more organic spinach and other vegetables, and to take healthy supplements like fish oil, but never mind the fact that they could quite possibly be contaminated with radiation due to Fukushima.
How to help educate people to be wise consumers, but never mind the fact that the US currently fosters the highest allowable levels for radiation in the world, with a recommendation 12 times higher than Japan’s limits.
This egregious loophole means that food considered to be RADIOACTIVE WASTE in Japan is perfectly legal to export for consumption here in the US
We have no way of knowing for sure what we are feeding our kids because our government isn’t testing for radiation in a responsible, transparent manner. And even testing is happening, protections in the US are in fact the least protective of anywhere in the world at 1,200 Becquerels per kilogram.
This abysmal regulation is in fact only a recommendation, not a binding limit, which is like having no protection whatsoever. This is an outrage that Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network (FFAN) addressed in our Citizen Petition legal document. The FDA is still accepting comments at www.FFAN.us.
Included in the petition is information collected by University of California Berkeley School of Engineers (UCBSNE) beginning in March of 2011, finding one or more of Cesium 134, Cesium 137, Strontium 90, Xenon radionuclides in many of 115 food, milk, rainwater and groundwater samples.
So what to do while FDA stonewalls the petition? I’m still FFAN’s volunteer director, and the FDA is still deciding whether or not to take action. Resources are very limited. With climate change, GMO’s, fracking, and so many important issues on our plates, it’s very hard to find funding.
The work continues, however amidst the frustration I was approached by Libbe HaLevy to help create Radiation Awareness Protection Talk, or RAPT. Many of you already know of her. Libbe is the producer and host of the internationally syndicated podcast Nuclear Hotseat which is downloaded in over 60 countries. She was one mile from Three Mile Island when that nuclear disaster shocked the nation and depicted in her book, “Yes, I Glow in the Dark: One Mile from Three Mile Island to Fukushima and Beyond.”
Eighteen months and many hours of research later, RAPT is available for download online and getting great response. The 6 audio series covers everything from home hygiene, water and air filtration, nutritional supplements, what to do in a nuclear emergency, and caring for pets. RAPT is a concise, comprehensive tool for both personal and professional use.
If you are a parent or caregiver, there’s plenty of information to help best safeguard your family’s health against radiation and toxins in the environment. If you’re a health professional, the protocols featured in RAPT will greatly enhance your clinical practice. You can sign up for our free report at www.RaptAwareness.com .
When you do, you’ll receive email updates going forward. And of course, RAPT has a Facebook page, so please check it out and “like” us at https://www.facebook.com/raptawareness/.
And finally, here are a few more resources. All links may not be live, you may need to cut and paste into your browser:
A 5-minute TV segment on Positive Spin, the news and public affairs television program that promotes positive, innovative and solution oriented news from around the world. The RAPT segment is first up. Special thanks to Bill McCarthy, Robert Manning, and Damon Molloy for their generous assistance and support.
One interview and an article in Natural Awakenings Magazine:
Nov. 2015, Mindfulness Matters http://www.naeastbay.com/EAST/November-2015/Mindfulness-Matters-Simple-Steps-to-Help-Guard-Against-Radiation-Exposure/
July 2015 Fukushima Fallout http://www.naeastbay.com/EAST/July-2015/Fukushima-Fallout/
Take care, and keep the faith!
Kimberly Roberson
Director, Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network
Follow @ffan4u, @radfreefoodie
www.RaptAwareness.com
www.FFAN.us
