Kevin Keefe, a 60-year-old retired bicycle messenger, is pedaling more than 3,000 miles from the White House to California beginning June 20, 2012 to raise awareness about the genetically engineered foods that Americans unknowingly consume. These foods, typically developed in a lab to survive application of chemical herbicides or to produce insecticide, are also termed "genetically modified organisms" or "GMOs."
Unlike nearly 50 other countries, including Japan, China, Russia, and all European Union nations, the U.S. does not label GMOs. In a climate of ongoing food safety failures, this lack of transparency is of growing concern to American consumers.
This was the start of the "Right2Know" bicycle ride in front of the White House that will end up in California in mid-September to support California's GMO Right to Know ballot proposition that will go before voters on November 6.
"The Right2Know Ride for GMO labeling is another commendable grassroots effort to raise awareness about our right to know what's in our food, and to choose non-GMO," says Non-GMO Project Executive Director Megan Westgate. The Right2Know Ride will arrive in California in mid-September to support California's GMO Right to Know ballot proposition that will go before voters on November 6.
This is a young mother protesting in front of the White House just before to "Right2Know" bicycle ride to California began.
"I want Americans to know genetically engineered foods are detrimental to our health, just as they are to the environment and farmers' livelihoods," says cyclist Kevin Keefe. "Americans deserve the choice of whether to eat GMOs, just like people in Europe and China already has," says Keefe who kicked off the Right2Know Ride on June 20 in front of the White House at 8:00 am.
It started on the sidewalk in front of the White House, 1600 Penn Ave NW Washington, DC. The ride will pass through numerous major cities including: Washington, DC; Pittsburgh, and end up in San Francisco, Calif.
Keefe was a key planner for last year's Right2Know March that featured hundreds of people who walked from New York City to the White House in the name of GMO Labeling. The 313-mile march ended at the White House on October 16, 2011 with a rally of 500 people calling on President Obama to keep his campaign promise to label GMO foods.