Cows should be eating grass, not GE corn, soy, cotton and alfafa! Tell Land O’Lakes you know they’re spending millions against your right to know here: https://www.facebook.com/LandOLakes. View anti-GMO labeling funding here: http://bit.ly/1CIQDXO. Then take action: http://gmoinside.org/take-action/tell-dean-foods-use-non-gmo-feed-cows.
It would be difficult to credibly argue that GMO foods are a good thing…but are they a BAD thing? Sure, there are questions and studies and anecdotal evidence. I honestly can’t tell you what side of the fence I come down on, except to ask why are GMO foods sold to the public by Big Agribusiness without a solid knowledge of the possible impacts and side effects? And if GMO foods are harmless to consumers, why the willingness to expend untold millions in opposition to labeling requirements?
Here in Oregon, voters narrowly defeated a ballot measure, Measure 92, that would have required GMO foods to be labelled as such. It was the most expensive election in the state’s history, with most of the anti-Measure 92 funding coming from a few agribusiness conglomerates. I voted against the measure, not because I was swayed by the propaganda purchased by business interests- I most certainly was not- but because I wasn’t convinced the measure would do what proponents claimed it would. It was a poor, simplistic solution to a complex problem, and I’m glad it was defeated…though not because I don’t believe GMOs aren’t a significant health concern. I just want a solution based on solid, empirical science instead of rumor, fear-mongering, propaganda, half-truths, and reliably Liberal talking points. Common sense shouldn’t be so hard to come by…but when the subject is GMO foods, it seems as if emotion, fear, and money rule…and that’s a recipe for damned poor public policy.
I firmly believe that dealing effectively with GMO foods isn’t going to happen through a political solution, because something like that is prone to be corrupted by money, propaganda, and fear-mongering. No, the best- and really only- way for this issue to be addressed by consumers and their buying habits. Those who oppose GMO foods are unlikely to achieve their goals through the political process- there’s imply too much corruption endemic in politics for that to happen. What they CAN do is to vote with their wallets and convince others to do the same. If enough consumers refuse to purchase GMO foods, you can bet producers and manufacturers will take notice.
Whole Foods has announced they will no longer sell GMO foods, and here in the Portland area, New Seasons Markets is moving in the same direction. For the anti-GMO foods movement to have any hope of real success, they’ll need to educate consumers and convincingly make the case that avoiding foods produced with GMOs is in their best interest. No company will continue a business practice that’s roundly and decisively rejected by consumers. Yes, it’s a lot of work, and it requires commitment and organization, but so does doing anything through our political process. Why not try to accomplish your goals through education so that people are making sound decisions based on supportable, truthful, empirical information? A victory achieved that way will be more effective, longer lasting, and virtually guaranteed to defeat business interests who’d throw millions at creating propaganda designed primarily and only to protect their bottom line.
Vote with your wallet; it’s the only way to effect real, lasting, meaningful change. Companies will change their behavior when they realize consumers are changing theirs. Efforts like Measure 92 will result only in meaningless compromises and half-steps that will ultimately satisfy no one.
We deserve better…and it should take millions spent on advertising and propaganda to get it.
