Congress Passes Controversial GMO Food Labeling Bill

On Thursday Congress sent legislation to President Obama that would require most packaged foods to provide a text label, a symbol or an electronic code readable by smartphones that will indicate whether the food contains GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

​The US Agriculture Department will be writing the rules if this bill is signed into law. They will have two years to do so.

The White House has indicated that Obama will sign the bill. Many people will consider this a win in gaining access to much requested information about the quality of the food they are purchasing. While, the people of Vermont, and MYSELF feel that this bill carries too much compromise. I do understand that it is helpful for the multi-billion dollar food industry to have uniform labeling rules across the states, but the Vermont law passed earlier this month would have required labeling to clearly state “produced with genetic engineering”. This would make it plan and TRANSPARENT for a consumer, instead of needing to have a smart phone at the ready to scan some code to find this information.

​Representative Peter Welch asked on the House floor “if there is an acknowledgement about the right of a consumer to have access to information, why not give them the information in plain and simple English?” Sentiment, I strongly agree with. We have a right to know what we are purchasing and putting into our bodies and our families bodies.

“if there is an acknowledgement about the right of a consumer to have access to information, why not give them the information in plain and simple English?” 

There is little scientific information to date about the safety of GMOs on the market. The food industry argues the safety of GMOs, advocates for the labeling argue that there is unknown risk with little research on the healthfulness of GMOs providing all the more reason to help people choose if they want to accept that risk and consume.

GMO foods are plants or animals that have had genes copied from other animals or plants and inserted into their DNA. One striking example is putting fish genes into strawberries to avoid frost (AMAZING), and scary. Farmers have been selectively cross breeding plants for centuries, but this manipulation is now done predominately in labs, with greater selection than was ever available before.  ​

75-80% of the foods in the American market contain GMOs of some kind.

75-80% of the foods in the American market contain GMOs of some kind (an estimate provided by the food industry). Most of these are in some way corn or soy-based. Some derivative of corn or soy is in almost every processed food in grocery stores. While only a handful of GMO fruit and vegetables are available in produce sections.
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This is most certainly a step in the right direction, but it is also decidedly a great compromise. In my own humble opinion, to great of one. ​