What is in this article?:
- Prop 37 supporters blame defeat on several wrong reasons
- Where it went wrong
- Agriculture should feel relieved that Prop. 37 went down by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin. However, this is no time to gloat.
- Anti-GMO crusaders are now promising to take their campaign to other states, earmarking the state of Washington as their next drive, and attempting to get a draft into the U.S. farm bill at the federal level.
As the dust continues to settle after the defeat of California’s Prop. 37, the deceptive genetically engineered food labeling initiative, the recriminations endlessly abound among those on the losing side.
They give many reasons for the defeat of Prop. 37, namely the $45 million barrage of TV ads, mailers, and Internet pop-ups “nearly all of which were outright dishonest and misleading,” with the giant agchem companies leading the charge, if you believe Ken Cook. Cook is president of the Environmental Working Group, a green organization responsible for its own “Dirty Dozen list” of misinformation that has scared off consumers from eating healthy fruits and vegetables – but I digress.
Agriculture should feel relieved that Prop. 37 went down by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin. However, this is no time to gloat. Any hint at celebration will merely serve to stiffen the resolve of anti-GMO proponents. In fact, Prop. 37’s defeat seems to have re-energized their commitment to label all GMO (genetically modified organisms) grocery products. This despite the fact that federal food agencies, medical groups and the scientific community assure us GMO foods – that we have been eating for years – are safe and healthy and no different from conventionally grown crops.
(For more, see: Proposition 37 defeat great victory for agriculture, truth)
Anti-GMO crusaders are now promising to take their campaign to other states, earmarking the state of Washington as their next drive, and attempting to get a draft into the U.S. farm bill at the federal level. “People must know what they are eating,” their mantra goes.
The reason the measure was doomed from the get-go was because of the simple truth it contained a list of secondary language that involved: the “natural” designation of processed foods; restaurant food was exempt from labels while the exact same store-bought food had to be tagged; created a cottage industry for lawyers seeking to line their own pockets from frivolous lawsuits; and placed the monkey squarely on the back of innocent grocers and retailers who would have been forced to check each food item delivery for GMO ingredients – and in many cases could very well have been sued for nothing having to do with genetically engineered ingredients.
