Does it matter to you whether genetically engineered ingredients are in your food?
California voters are being asked this very question on Election Day when they will decide whether to pass Proposition 37, otherwise known as The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. If passed by voters, the measure would require producers to label for consumers the list of any genetically engineered ingredients in foods being sold.
“The purpose of this measure is to create and enforce the fundamental right of the people of California to be fully informed about whether the food they purchase and eat is genetically engineered and not misbranded as natural so that they can choose for themselves whether to purchase and eat such foods,” the text of the proposition states.
Prop. 37 has been getting much attention as the Nov. 6 Election nears, in part because big campaign donors are throwing massive amounts of money in advertising behind the No on 37 effort.
According to the Secretary of State's public access Campaign Finance Activity, millions have been raised on both sides of the issue. More than $32,000,000 has poured into the No On 37 side, with the largest donors being those with a big bottom-line-stake in the issue, including Monsanto, E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., Dow Agrisciences, Bayer Cropscience, BASF Plant Science, Pepsico, Nestle USA, Coca-Cola, Conagra Foods and others.
Coffers for the Yes on 37 folks pale in comparison, with just $3,900,000 donated at press time. Major contributors include Mercola Health Resources, Organic Consumers Fund and others.
Despite the statewide attention, local growers and producers don’t seem to be too concerned about Prop. 37. Patch has not spotted any aggressive campaigning for or against the measure in Southwest Riverside County, and Peggy Evans, who heads the Temecula Wine Growers Association, said the group is not taking a position on Prop. 37.
Local growers such as Eco-Farms in Temecula isn’t campaigning for or against the proposition on its website, nor is the Inland Empire CSA. Spokespeople for the organizations were not immediately available for comment.
Arguably, the research for or against genetically engineered foods is still lacking, despite the fact that many countries around the world prohibit genetically engineered products from entering the food chain in their respective nations.
A recent controversial study published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, led by Gilles-Eric Séralini at the University of Caen in France, has helped fuel the argument over genetically engineered foods and has put more attention on Prop. 37.
The study followed 200 rats for two years, and concluded that the rodents fed either genetically engineered corn or the herbicide Roundup had an increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage and dying prematurely.
But some have said criticized the study because it was conducted by an opponent of genetically engineered crops, and the findings have been disputed by some scientists who claim the research methods were flawed.
So how will you vote on this controversial issue? Does it matter to you? Where do you stand on the research?
You want sounds, this is what people are hearing in Temecula: http://temecula.patch.com/articles/citizen-reader-shares-mining-sounds#comment_4892629
LOL
Your article is another reason that I simply LOVE Patch! One of my fellow sharers on the inaugural Tedxtemecula (www.tedxtemecula.com) event is a young girl (Gigi). She is sharing passionately about local schools providing GMO free lunches. At one of our meetings she shared that last year she felt a little odd bringing her "live food", non GMO lunches to school. Now, she is totally comfortable and says she simply wants the opportunity to offer an alternative. She is a little dynamo! I believe that applied knowledge is power. Thanks again Toni for empowering us!!!
The fact is, if we don't engineer our food, we'll die. There are too many people chasing not enough food as it is. The mind is very powerful, and if you *think* you are getting "poisoned", then, unfortunately, you are. This argument notwithstanding, I think that you should know what goes into making your food, as long as you remember that engineering of our food is the reason we are alive today. Before you assume that you are being poisoned, remember that there is was no such thing as a banana before we came along, and growing corn is pretty damned difficult.
University of Illinois Professor Emeritus Dr. Bruce Chassy is an expert in food science and human nutrition. He says there's little question but that the lab rats did - indeed - develop tumors at the rate the French claimed. He says that's what the rats are supposed to do. "They're used as lab rats because they do develop tumors at an alarmingly high rate and so they're a great model for studying tumor formation and carcinogenesis." Dr. Chassy said the rat study would have had the same results no matter what the rodents ate. That, he says, is a deception that proponents of Prop 37 has been using to sway an ingorant California electorate to vote for the measure. And it appears to be working. The latest Field Poll shows Prop 37 passing by a wide 2 to 1 margin.