Although getting labels on food made with GMOs won't solve most of the
really serious problems with our food and agricultural systems, this is an
important opportunity for consumers and citizens to begin to regain the power
and control they should have.
People in 64 other countries know if their food contains GMOs. One recent poll showed that 93 percent of
Americans favor labeling GMOs. Polls going back nearly two decades found more
than 80 percent favor labeling. Yet
despite incredible efforts by citizens and legislators over many years to pass
laws or referendums, the closest we have gotten to actual labeling is Vermont's
GMO labeling law which is scheduled to go into effect in a matter of months on
July 1, 2016. Laws in Connecticut (the nation's first) and in Maine require
other states to pass similar laws (called a trigger clause) before they take
effect.
Principles of democracy are at stake in this election year. Who has power and the role of money in
legislation are hot issues, thanks especially to presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders.
The continuing struggle to get clear and honest labels on foods that
contain GMOs is a perfect example of the difficulty of democratic control in
the face of enormous power and wealth. In this case, the wealthy power is the
industrial food and agricultural system: Ag biotech giants, agricultural
chemical makers (often one and the same), some farming, commodity and growers
associations, industrial food producers, the Grocery Manufacturers Association,
the Snack Food Association and more. You get the idea. All of these industries have become more
concentrated, wealthy and powerful in the last few decades. Find a list of those who don't want you to
know what's in your food here.
The powers that be have two major arguments against labeling. One is that it will cost consumers a
lot. This despite the fact that there
are already extensive labeling requirements. Additionally, companies frequently
print personalized labels with names, events or activities on them for
marketing purposes. If most customers ask for it, companies should provide the
requested information. Respectable studies say any cost for labeling would be
minimal.
The other argument is against a "patchwork" of different
state laws. This is actually an argument
for a strong Federal GMO Labeling Law, not for the voluntary program which is
proposed currently in the Senate. The folks working on state labeling laws attempt
to make them similar
Ag and Food Establishment in a Tizzy
The Vermont law is the first crack in the veil of secrecy these rascals
have been able to maintain. The imminent effective date of the Vermont law has
this food and ag establishment in a frenzy.
The Grocery Manufacturers and friends lost their lawsuit against
Vermont's law. Now this establishment is
desperate to get Congress to overturn the will of the people through what is
known as the DARK Act (Denying Americans the Right to Know). This act would
overturn current (and prohibit future) state or local labeling laws and
establish a voluntary GMO labeling program at USDA. The DARK act was approved
by the House last year and is now being pushed by the Ag establishment a second
time in the Senate. Only the vigorous opposition of the labeling advocates
stopped the DARK act in the Senate last fall. We can thank our Connecticut
Senators for their strong support of labeling.
The industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence
legislation through lobbying and political donations, to mislead voters leading
up to referenda and in legal fees to overturn the will of the people.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Feed Industry
Association, the National Potato Council and the National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) issued strong support for the DARK act, although they call
it the Safe and Affordable Food Act.
Corn is the most widely grown GMO in this country so it is fitting that
NCGA President Chip Bowling repeated often told lies about this technology.
“The introduction of Roberts’s proposal (the current Senate version of the DARK
act) is an important first step to restoring sanity to America’s food labeling
laws,” said Bowling, a farmer from Maryland. “GMOs are perfectly safe and
America’s farmers rely on this proven technology to protect our crops from
insects, weeds and drought."
If any of this were true, it might be an argument to keep using GMOs,
but none of it is true! There is no way to know if or prove GMOs are safe, at
least not without long-term feeding trials and labeling. And far from being a proven technology, it is
a failed one. Insects are becoming
resistant to the Bt pesticide that some GMO crops produce in every cell. The
herbicide tolerant strategy for controlling weeds is failing so badly that
superweeds are a widespread problem and now our food crops are being designed
to be sprayed with a mix of two herbicides, glyphosate and 2,4-D. So far none
of the genetic engineering in use is for drought resistance.
The People's View
The seven state NOFA chapters and the NOFA Interstate Council have been
concerned about GMOs since the mid 1990s when the first set of National Organic
Standards allowed them. NOFA and its
allies produced about a quarter of a million comments protesting that allowance
and GMOs were and still are prohibited in organic agriculture. All of the NOFA
chapters are working for GMO Labeling at the state level. The Chapters and the
Council just signed on to a letter to the leaders of the Senate Agriculture
Committee protesting the DARK Act.
The Environmental Working Group produced this fact sheet on GMO
Labeling and the DARK Act and these ten reasons to oppose the DARK Act.
A statement from Lisa Archer, food and technology program director for
Friends of the Earth called the bill a “desperate attempt by the junk food and
chemical industries to keep Americans in the dark." She added "Any member of Congress that fails to
see the writing on the wall and chooses to support this antiquated and
undemocratic bill will find that they are on the wrong side of history.”
Chef, food advocate and Food Policy Action co-founder Tom Colicchio
said “Consumers should be trusted to decide their own food choices, but Senator
Roberts apparently thinks Washington knows best. This is exactly the sort of
crony capitalism that voters across the country are rejecting.” A petition for
chefs is available here.
Even the New York Times called on the Senate to reject the DARK act.
There is enough resistance, at least in the Agriculture Committee, that
a hearing on the bill originally scheduled for February 25 was postponed in a
partisan conflict between those who support the industry's position and the
other side which is listening more to the people and is concerned about state's
rights.
Action Steps
GMO labeling is right now a very hot button issue in the Senate, for
Connecticut's Legislature and in neighboring states, especially Massachusetts
and New York. If it isn't stalled, legislative movement will be swift, with
high priced lobbyists in the background trying to pull the right strings to
thwart the people's will. You need to
stay informed in order to know when and how to act. If you want to be up to date, sign on to
relevant mailing lists. However, you can let your elected representatives know
any time how you feel, that you want to know what is in your food.
You can send a letter to your Senators from this site. Sign up for
email alerts from Citizens for GMO Labeling here. (Scroll down for state
contacts. For the Northeast, go here.)
In Connecticut, sign on to CT NOFA's alerts and Gleanings newsletter
here.
To help get Connecticut's trigger clause removed, tell your state
representative and senator that you want GMO labeling soon. HB 5300 has been introduced in the Children's
Committee to do just that. If you can,
attend the hearing on March 3 to show support.
Here is the schedule for events at the Legislative Office Building:
11:00 1B Press Conference
11:30 2B Hearing begins
11:30 Atrium Ice Cream etc. (Ben
& Jerry's is supplying the ice cream again and we're hoping Jerry will be
able to come as well.
Whether you can attend or not, you can easily submit written testimony
electronically by Thursday morning. Find
out more here. Many things relating to GMOs, herbicides and labeling have
changed in the past three years.
Only with continued activism will we regain the control of our food
system to help create a healthy future. Speak up today!
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