Mothers for Natural Law records

Collection

Identifier: IWA0395

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Mothers for Natural Law papers measure 1 linear inch and date from 1998 to 2001. This collection includes material that was downloaded from the web site mothers@safe-food.org in 2000 and 2001. It also includes the postings by Robin Ticciati, the spouse of Laura Ticciati, to the ge-news listserv in 2000, and information sheets distributed by Mothers for Natural Law. Publications include Genetically Engineered Foods: Are They Safe? You Decide, by Robin and Laura Ticciati. The materials in this collection present information about the dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and agriculture and demonstrate the ability of individual women to organize effective, national lobbying forces across the internet.

Dates

Creation: 1998-2001

Creator

Mothers for Natural Law (Fairfield, Iowa) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been retained by the donor.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

Mothers for Natural Law was founded in June 1996 for the broad purpose of providing practical action steps for mothers to safeguard the health and well-being of their children in respect to the environment, crime, education, health, and the economy. Its founder, Laura Ticciati, a Fairfield, Iowa, woman, was an activist with the Natural Law Party that ran national presidential campaigns in 1992, 1996, and 2000 as a third party alternative to the Democrat and Republican parties. She and a small group of women decided to organize mothers around issues raised in the 1992 and 1996 Natural Law Party campaigns.

Basing Mothers for Natural Law in Fairfield, Iowa, she dramatically narrowed its focus in July 1996 to an educational and lobbying campaign against genetically engineered foods. Its agenda included rigorous pre-market safety evaluations, mandatory labeling, and a moratorium on genetically engineered food production. By 1997, Mothers for Natural Law became the nationally recognized clearinghouse for information on the issue of genetically engineered foods. It identified for consumers the sources of non-genetically engineered foods and joined a coalition to keep genetically modified organisms (GMOs) out of organic food.

Mothers for Natural Law joined other groups in creating a non-GMO certification procedure and label. In 1998 it circulated a petition signed by nearly 500,000 for mandatory labeling of foods containing GMOs. In 1999 it conjoined scientists, physicians, food industry leaders, farmers, consumers and other public policy experts for a major press conference in Washington, D.C., on GMOs.