The GMO labeling battle is before Congress. This is a fight agriculture needs to be in on and one we need to win.
Here is just a sample of the rhetoric
Statement by Bob Stallman, President,
American Farm Bureau Federation,
Regarding the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015
“State-led mandatory food labeling initiatives mislead consumers about the safety of GM foods, even though there is no credible evidence linking a food-safety or health risk to the consumption of GM foods. These state labeling initiatives mask the benefits of biotechnology in food production and can lead to decreased food supplies. Creating a national labeling standard will give consumers the information they need while avoiding the unnecessary confusion and added cost of a patchwork of state laws.
“The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 would clarify the FDA as the nation’s foremost authority on food safety and create a voluntary labeling program run by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, the same agency that administers the USDA Organic Program. We applaud the bipartisan leadership of Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) in reintroducing this bill.
“Consumers have a right to know what’s in their food, but they shouldn’t be misinformed about what’s safe, or forced to pay higher prices unnecessarily. Thanks to innovation, farmers and ranchers have new and improved methods to increase their efficiency while preserving farm land for generations to come. Farmers benefit from choice and so should consumers.”
Statement from Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Assoc., on Reintroduction of Federal Bill
to Kill States’ Rights to GMO Labeling Laws
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) issued the following statement today in response to Rep. Mike Pompeo’s (R-Kan) plans to reintroduce a federal bill today to preempt states’ rights to enact GMO labeling laws, and create a voluntary non-GMO labeling scheme.
International Director Ronnie Cummins said:
“The Pompeo bill, aptly dubbed the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, is not only anti-consumer, but anti-democracy and anti-state’s rights as well.
“The bill will take away the right of states to require GMO labeling and will legalize the routine industry practice of labeling genetically engineered (GE) foods as ‘natural’ or ‘all natural.’ It also includes a complicated scheme for voluntary labeling of non-GMO foods.
“The DARK Act overturns the century-old balance of power between the federal government and the states, whereby states have exercised their right to pass numerous laws regarding food safety or food labels when the federal government failed to act.
“Since 1994, when controversial GE foods were forced onto the market, with no labeling nor independent safety testing required, consumers have demanded mandatory labeling of GE foods and food ingredients. After 20 years of waiting for the federal government to heed the people’s will, citizens have begun lobbying in every state and organizing ballot initiatives to pass mandatory GE food labeling at the state level. Vermont passed the nation’s first mandatory labeling law in 2014, prompting Big Food and the chemical industry to try to reverse the law in federal court.
“Understanding that they are losing the battle at the state level to keep consumers in the dark about whether or not their food is genetically engineered, Monsanto and its minions are now prepared to abolish consumer choice and overturn state’s constitutional rights so that they can continued to force feed us their GMO foods—foods often routinely sprayed with the toxic herbicide, glyphosate, which just last week the World Health Organization declared a ‘probable human carcinogen.’
“More than 90 percent of consumers want the same basic right that consumers in more than 60 other countries already have—a simple label stating whether or not a product contains GMOs. Research has shown that GMO labels will not increase food prices, contrary to industry claims. The sole reason to pass this bill is to keep consumers in the dark about what’s in their food.
“We must the stop the Pompeo Bill dead in its tracks. This is a fight, not just for consumer rights, but for democracy as well.”