The University of Iowa Libraries

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.

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.

Access: The papers are open for research.

Use: Copyright has been retained by the donor.

Acquisition: The papers (donor no. 711) were donated by Laura Ticciati in 1998 and 2001.

Preferred Citation: Mothers for Natural Law records, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

Repository:	Iowa Women's Archives
Address:	100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5068
Curator:	Kären Mason
Email:	lib-women@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Personal Names:
Ticciati, Laura
Ticciati, Robin

Corporate Names:
Mothers for Natural Law (Fairfield, Iowa)

Dates:
1990-1999
2000-2009

Topics:
Genetically modified foods
Transgenic organisms
Health
Children
Lobbying
Mothers

Geographic Names:
Fairfield (Iowa)

Genre/Form of Materials:
Archives
Administrative records

Browse:
Women's Clubs and Organizations