A few people I know who are really into organic and healthy eating have told me they're confused about prop 37 because of the confusing anti-37 propaganda.
Right now there is NOTHING, no requirements, no labeling requirements, no requirement to let consumers know when they're buying and eating genetically engineered foods.
GE = Genetically Engineered
GMO = Genetically Modified Organisms
But if you think you have the right to know if your food have been genetically modified to explode in the digestive tract and reduce the ability to reproduce in the bug-pests, please vote yes on 37.
Did you know anyone with Crohn's disease or gluten intolerance 15 years ago? These things all seem to have increased as GE foods started. Other countries have done studies that link degenerative, gastro-intestinal and reproductive disorders to GE foods, but so far the United States has been big agro-businesses bitch for far too long and the public has remained large in the dark.
The amount of health issues that have increased corresponding with the introduction of GE foods cannot be ignored (please see the movie - free through this link: Genetic Roulette).
Also, agro-business and big corporations have spent 45 million on opposition ads for 37. But the ads say it's poorly written with arbitrary language, and that it might cost families $400 a year and put independent farmers out of business... Think about it - when has agro-business cared about saving families money or independent farmers? Aren't these the same companies that have put countless farmers out of business with bullshit lawsuits involving seed patenting? They're spending 45 million to keep profits up by frankensteining our food and adversely affecting our health.
Do you think you have a right to know when foods have been genetically engineered?
I think you do.
Also, you don't have to take my word for it. See Genetic Roulette or look at the articles and links below.
Get out and vote. YES on 37!
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336242
Agribusiness, food corps. spend $45M in effort to defeat Prop 37
6
Sacramento - As election days draws near, a collection of agribusiness and food corporations have spent more than $45 million in an effort to defeat a California ballot measure that would require the labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods.
Proposition 37, the 'California Right to Know Act,' would require labeling of many-- but not all-- foods containing genetically modified components and would prohibit marketing such foods as "natural."
Supporters of Prop 37 assert that Californians have a right to know what's in the food they eat, just like consumers in 61 countries already do. Organic farmers, environmentalist groups, health industry groups, labor unions and the state Democratic party are among those who back the initiative.
Opponents argue that Prop 37 is deceptive, deeply flawed, full of special interest exemptions and would cost farmers and consumers billions of additional dollars.
According to MapLight, a "non-partisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics," the top 10 contributors to the 'No on Prop 37' campaign have given more than $29 million towards defeating the measure.
These are: Monsanto ($8.1 million), E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. ($5.4 million), Pepsico ($2.1 million), Grocery Manufacturers Association ($2.0 million), Syngenta ($2.0 million), Bayer Cropscience ($2.0 million), Dow Agrosciences ($2.0 million), BASF Plant Science ($2.0 million), Kraft Foods Global ($1.95 million) and Coca-Cola ($1.7 million).
Of the top 10 contributors to the 'Yes on Prop 37' campaign, only two-- Mercola.com Health Resources and seed-saving guru Kent Whealy-- have spent a million dollars or more.
The agribusiness and food companies opposed to the measure have outspent the 'Yes on 37' side by about 5-1.
"I think it's a David and Goliath story with the companies that manufacture or benefit from genetically modified food being Goliath," MapLight President David Newman told the Guardian.
"When you see this lopsided spending it indicates that the measure is popular with voters and opponents think they need to spend a lot to defeat it. There is a lot at stake here not just in California but how it will trend in the rest of the country," Newman added.
Indeed, an poll conducted by Zogby earlier this year found that 87 percent of Americans believe that GM foods should be labeled. A separate poll by San Francisco, California TV station KCBS found that 91 percent of Californians backed GM labeling, although recent polls showed greatly diminished supportfor the measure-- currently just below 50 percent. The constant bombardment of 'No on 37' ads, many of them containing deceptive or outright false statements, has helped to erode support for the initiative.
While agribusiness corporations and the US government claim that genetically modified foods are perfectly safe, there have been nearly no long-term scientific studies to determine whether or not they are indeed safe. One recently reported long-term study of rats fed a lifetime diet of Monsanto GM corn found that they suffered from much higher than normal rates of cancer and died significantly earlier than control rats.
There is also compelling evidence that GM foods may cause severe health and environmental problems, and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine has warned the public to avoid GM foods, claiming "there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects, there is causation."
Around 90 percent of the corn and soybean crop grown in the United States is genetically modified.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336242#ixzz2BQYcDVAu
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/27/genetically-engineered-foods-labeling.aspx
Story at-a-glance
- The California ballot initiative – officially known as Proposition 37 – is coming up for vote on November 6. Proposition 37 will require labeling of genetically engineered foods, and end the routine industry practice of labeling and marketing such foods as "natural"
- Polls show Proposition 37 is overwhelmingly popular; about 65 percent for, compared to 20 percent against, with 15 percent still undecided. Nationally, over 90 percent of those polled say they want the FDA to require labeling of genetically engineered foods and ingredients
- Nearly 50 other nations around the world require labeling for genetically engineered foods, yet the US has persistently denied its citizens the right to know whether or not a food is genetically engineered. The industry, led by Monsanto, has even threatened states with costly lawsuits, should they decide to label GE foods
- Besides potential health effects courtesy of the genetic alterations to the crop itself, genetically engineered crops also use more agricultural chemicals, which in turn leads to increased resistance and rapid destruction of soil quality. In this way, GE crops spur the vicious cycle of resistance followed by increasing amounts of chemicals, as well as the use of increasingly toxic chemicals, such as 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid – a main ingredient of Agent Orange
- (For full story, please go to: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/27/genetically-engineered-foods-labeling.aspx)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10402134
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