Californians to Vote on Food Labeling for GMO Foods

Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, is a clinical medical anthropologist and Dept Chair of Integrative Health Studies and Somatic Psychology.

Do you want to know what is in your food? Or do you blindly trust any food manufacturer or processor to simply deliver the goods, without disclosure of contents, without reference to how it was grown, produced or processed?

Californians will let the government know soon enough how they feel on the issue. A landmark decision will be made by California voters in this November election on proposed statute Proposition 37.

Do you want to know what is in your food?

This statewide initiative would require all food distributors, retailers and manufacturers to add labeling that would identify ingredients from genetically modified sources—the so-called "GMO foods." It's a serious law with real "teeth" that would impact the entire sequence of farm-to-table stakeholders, but most of all, could mean a new era in accountability from Big Food.

For decades, Big Food manufacturers have put pressure on FDA and federal and state legislators to resist any attempts to label foodstuffs out of fear that if consumers knew they were eating genetically-modified ingredients, they may choose something else. Yes, it's likely they would. It's called a basic instinct for health and survival.

Just 10 days ago a damning report was released that presents documentation that advisors at the FDA have known about the deleterious health affects from genetically modified foods for some time, and yet, have done nothing but protect marketers and manufacturers.