California's Prop 37: Monsanto, GMO labelling and the public Interest
Over half of the staggering sum spent on defeating the measure of labelling comes from pesticide and biotech firms.
Last Modified: 26 Sep 2012 06:39
If Proposition 37 passes, California will be the first state to require GMO labelling[EPA]
In this November's election, California voters will decide if they have a right to know what is in the food they are eating. Proposition 37, dubbed, "The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act", would require manufacturers to label all food items that contain genetically engineered ingredients as such.
While the initiative merely seeks to add a few words to nutrition labels, it has incurred the wrath and moneyed opposition of biotech and food giants - no doubt because they fear the initiative might herald actual regulations on an industry that has long been allowed to experiment willy-nilly with the food people consume in the United States.
Nationwide polls have indicated a bipartisan, nearly unanimous support for labelling GMOs (genetically modified organisms). At the end of August, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and the California Business Roundtable released the most recent survey assessing the viability of California’s ballot initiatives. The poll showed 65 per cent in favour of Proposition 37 compared to 24 per cent in opposition.
Faced with those bleak odds, Monsanto, the biotech Goliath, threw in another $2.89 million on September 14 in an effort to defeat the measure - nearly doubling its total contributions heading into the homestretch of the election.
Monsanto, the single largest contributor to the effort to defeat the measure, was one of the first producers of the toxic pest control substances, DDT and PCB, both now banned in the US.
However, over the past two decades, Monsanto has attempted to transform its image from a purveyor of poisons to that of a food producer and bioengineering champion -being required to label their products threatens to undo the corporation’s careful PR work.
Monsanto seems determined to quash the Right to Know campaign, already successfully intimidating the very progressive state of Vermont from even proposing similar legislation to Prop 37.
Proposition 37 is one of 11 sundry measures that will appear on California’s November 6 ballot, but it leads the pack in attracting financial heavyweights determined to defeat it. As of mid-September, opponents to the proposition had contributed a total of $32 million.
Voting in California is a tad more complicated but I've heard that some other states are just as bad ... this particular one for me was easy .. BUT, I watch this stuff all the time way before it comes on the ballot ... as I told you .. I follow Calitics ...it's a great progressive California Blog ... they know what's happening .. .
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