The Right To Know Ballot in California

The GMO-Labeling issue is going to ballot in California! Almost one million Californians signed a petition in favor of adding the provision to the California ballot.

Get ready for the biotech and big ag industry to push back against this legislation, with "grassroots" organizations, a large media campaign and unbelievable amounts of money.  In his Mother Jones article "How California Could Force the Rest of the US to Label GMO Foods", Tom Philpott writes that "A move to labeling would likely create a robust market in non-GMO, conventional versions of those crops, giving large-scale farmers incentive to transition away from GMOs and cutting into the profits of giants like Monsanto, Syngenta, and DuPont. If a substantial percentage of them did, that would be a hard blow to the profit plans of the big agrichemical companies, whose business models are based on constant growth, not shrinkage." 


An article by Organic Consumers Associations' Alexis Baden-Mayer and Ronnie Cummins reposted from the Organic Consumers Association (read original article here):What do a former mouthpiece for tobacco and big oil, a corporate-interest PR flack, and the regional director of a Monsanto-funded tort reform group have in common? They're all part of the anti-labeling PR team that will soon unleash a massive advertising and PR campaign in California, designed to scare voters into rejecting the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.

In November, California voters will vote 'yes' or 'no' on a law to require mandatory labeling of all genetically engineered ingredients in processed foods, and ban the routine industry practice of mislabeling foods containing genetically engineered ingredients as 'natural.' Polls show that nearly 90 percent of the state's voters plan to vote 'yes.' But when November rolls around, will voter support still be strong? Not if the biotech, agribusiness, and food manufacturers industries can help it.

It's estimated that the opposition will spend $60 - $100 million to convince voters that genetically engineered foods are perfectly safe. They'll try to scare voters into believing that labeling will make food more expensive, that it will spark hundreds of lawsuits against small farmers and small businesses, and that it will contribute to world hunger. . . .

Alexis Baden-Mayer is Political Director of the Organic Consumers Association.
Ronnie Cummins is founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association. Cummins is author of numerous articles and books, including "Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers" (Second Revised Edition Marlowe & Company 2004).
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