If you live in New York State you have a great opportunity to make your state both more informed as well as healthier. There are currently two bills in the New York State Legislature which would require all foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to be labeled as such. In the Assembly the bill is listed as A03525 and in the Senate S03835-A. There is no downside to this labeling requirement and a lot of upside. While you may still be on the fence about GMOs, there is no doubt that foods containing GMOs should at least be labeled, giving you the option of purchasing or not purchasing these foods.
I wrote a post last year in support of a similar bill in California which was in the form of a state referendum. (That post can be found on my blog archive dated 11/30/13). While you would think that a progressive state like California should easily pass this referendum you would be wrong. To understand why you would need to see the list of chemical and food companies who spent over $37,000,000 to fight the proposition. (They include Monsanto, DuPont, Council for Biotechnology Information, Grocery Manufacturers Association, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and the Kellogg Company.)
Here in the northeast there is a bit of a “game of chicken” going on. Now is the time to tell your legislative representatives you want the New York State bill passed and this “game” to end. Many of our surrounding states are involved but don’t want to be the first to make this labeling mandatory. You’ll know how close it is to becoming a reality is by how much advertising you see on your TV. As of my writing this post I haven’t seen any. Connecticut was the first state to pass a similar bill earlier this week but with the caveat for implementation being 4 more northeast states must pass similar laws (including one that borders Connecticut) before it becomes mandatory. Other similar bills are being discussed in Massachusetts, where there are hearings this month, Vermont where a similar bill has been pass by a large majority in the houses with no caveat, like Connecticut, thus making it the most likely state to have this labeling requirement become law, although the state senate may not vote until early 2014.
To understand the battle you need look no further than the results in the other sixty-one countries around the world, including China and all of the European Union, that already require labeling of GMO foods. Ninety three countries in total have passed such labeling requirements. Where these labeling requirements exist, the public has made their preference know, that preference being choosing non-gmo products. Just how big is the issue? Seventy percent of all processed foods now have GMOs in them. Why? Just look at the seven largest crops that are now mainly GMO grow. They include (in order of volume) corn, soy, cottonseed, alfalfa, papaya, canola and sugar beets. (It’s not coincidental that the list includes most of the government subsidized crops.)
As far as the science goes both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Medical Association have confirmed that there are no proven negative health consequences associated with consuming genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The real question is what rights do consumers have. Do you, as a consumer, have the right to know what is in your food? An example: 90 percent of all cereal foods include GMOs. As a devout Cheerios eater, I’m not likely to stop buying this food. But that’s not the point. The point is do I have the right to know.
As I write this post one of the big stories of the week is the disclosure about the data the government is keeping on our cell calls, emails and other communications we thought were private. Just a few years ago this story would be gigantic. Instead, most americans failed to get “outraged.” It turns out that most of us are willing to pay the price of losing some privacy in exchange for security. I believe the same is true about the labeling of GMOs. The food companies are afraid that the public will react poorly to finding out what most of us know already, that much of our food has GMOs in it. Some of us in fact may change their food purchasing habits, but most won’t and while we may give up certain rights, the right to know is not one of them. Take some time to let your legislators know this is a right you want to hold on to.
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