There is a lot of labeling on food.
Fresh food products carry information on where it was grown; canned and frozen products list a variety of ingredients; and many products show the amount of ingredients in ratio to your recommended daily allowance.
One item not on the label, and now being fought out in state legislative bodies around the nation, is whether food products that come from genetically engineered seeds should carry a GMO – genetically modified organism – label.
In February 2013, a coalition of 30 consumer, environmental, labor, student, health, farming, faith and business organizations in NJ released a letter calling on NJ legislators to support bill A3192/S1367 which was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of a dozen lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly.
GMOFreeNJ.com is calling on residents to support these groups and demand that labeling laws require GMO food products to carry a GMO label.
According to the press release, “The European Union specifically addresses the new properties and risks of biotech crops by requiring all food, animal feed and processed products with GE contents to bear labels. The EU is among nearly 50 developed countries that require the GE products they import from the United States to be labeled. Furthermore, a 2012 Mellman Group study showed that 91% of US voters favored GE labeling requirements.”
While genetically engineered seeds are manufactured in the laboratory – and have patents that protect them – their proponents argue that the genetic modifications are an improvement on nature. Opponents argue that there have been no long term studies, and once these seeds are released the potential for environment imbalance increases dramatically.
To date, the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds is Monsanto. Their seeds are developed so that plants like soybean, corn, alfalfa, and sugar beets can withstand enough pesticide that would normally kill the plant. The pesticide they are genetically engineered to withstand is Roundup – also developed by Monsanto.
Developed in 1974, Roundup is used nationwide by farmers – and homeowners – to control weeds.
In 1996, Monsanto began the ongoing process of genetically altering seeds beginning with soybeans, and then moved into alfalfa, corn, cotton, spring canola, sugar beets and winter canola…designed to provide “in-plant tolerance to Roundup agricultural herbicides. This means you can spray Roundup agricultural herbicides in-crop from emergence through flowering for unsurpassed weed control, proven crop safety and maximum yield potential.”
The groups demanding GMO labeling include those in the health industries who question the safety of GMO products due to the increased amount of pesticide – as well as broader concerns over how the body processes the genetically altered food.
“Just as we label food with nutritional facts and allergy warnings, we should label foods that are genetically engineered,” said Amanda Nesheiwat, Chair of NJ Sustainable Collegiate Partners. “The environmental and health risks tied to genetically engineered foods are reason enough not to give corporations the power to dictate the decisions that consumers should make on their own.”
Many environmentalists have also lent their voices to the opposition of GMO seeds arguing that the over use of pesticides will eventually lead to more resistant weeds in nature; this would in turn create an imbalance in the ecosystem far beyond the farm fences.
According to Jeff Tittel, Director of NJ Sierra Club, “The public has a right to know what is in their food, just like labeling for whether there is high fructose corn syrup, organic materials or preservatives in our food”.
Monsanto has been accused of operating a monopoly by corporate giants like DuPont to small independent farmers feeling the pressure to purchase the genetically modified seeds. “With absolutely no authority and no consent of the governed, a handful of human beings have claimed the right to re-engineer life, patent their inventions and bully people to accept it without knowledge or consent,”said the Director of Genesis Farms.
LINKS:
http://gmofreenj.com/facts-and-faqs/
http://www.jerseyfresh.nj.gov/index.html
If you think GMO’s are all bad, you need to listen to the National Public Radio story of March 7th regarding GMO “Golden Rice” that has the potential of delivering beta-carotene in the rice accounting for 60% of a child’s vitamin A daily requirements. Billions of people eat rice each day and millions of children suffer from lack of vitamin A.
Listen to the story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/03/07/173611461/in-a-grain-of-golden-rice-a-world-of-controversy-over-gmo-foods