Never wanting to be unfair, and always being a person who likes to look at both sides of the story, I searched online to see if anyone at Monsanto had seen fit to respond to any of the serious allegations that you can read about on the Wikipedia page about the company.
I was not surprised at the amount of Newspeak that I saw on the page, but I certainly was disgusted. Rather than waste my time and yours complaining about what large companies get away with, and the sad part about the people who work for them who really believe they are doing the right thing, I will just get on to the main point of contention, and the one most relevant to the topic of this blog: Monsanto's "official" position on the mandatory labeling of GMO foods.
Basically, I would have expected at least the same amount of energy devoted to developing a defensive posture and logical sounding argument as I saw with the other allegations. But, to my surprise, they seem to be willing to settle for the collective ignorance they assume everyone is comfortable with. Their argument against the mandatory labeling of GMO's amounted to this:
(I am not paraphrasing, this is coming directly from Monsanto's official blog.)
"U.S. labeling laws are based on health and safety. Requiring
labeling for ingredients that don’t pose a health issue would undermine
both our labeling laws and consumer confidence. Ensuring that such labeling is accurate would also put a huge burden on regulatory agencies."
So because an agency that is thought by many to be corrupt (the FDA) and is widely considered to be for sale to the highest bidder has not found any conclusive evidence of health effects of a technology that is younger than I am (I was born in 1978 - the first GMO plants did not grow to maturity in US soil until the late 80's), we should not label GMO foods. Because that would, like, you know, lower consumer confidence in the whole labeling procedure.
This almost qualifies as circular reasoning. They almost just said, "We shouldn't label GMO's because we shouldn't."
Anyways, I hope this will help to fuel the fire within anyone reading this to get the word out between now and November.
A lot of folks I talk to feel dispassionate and hopeless about politics, with the presidential pissing contest in full swing. So many of us have become disillusioned about being able to make a difference in a world where rather than carefully choosing a candidate that aligns most closely with our core values, we are forced to choose the lesser of two evils.
Here is one issue that we can really make a difference on. Join us in the fight for food sovereignty.
Now that we have achieved the preliminary victory of over a million petitions signed, we need to double down and educate everyone of voting age we talk to about this initiative, and keep our wits about us. The Biotech industry is not going to go down without a fight. Let us not repeat the mistakes of others who thought they had this thing in the hole and got thwarted by PR campaigns at the last minute.
On Wednesday May 2, we
will be turning in enough signatures to put the California Right to Know
GMO labeling initiative on the ballot! This massive achievement
represents the work of thousands of volunteers who are demanding the
right to know what's in the food we eat and feed our families.
We’ll unveil the number of signatures and hear from local leaders,
farmers, concerned moms, sustainable businesses and supporters who are
among the 90% of Californians who want to know if their food contains
genetically engineered ingredients. We’ll wheel the petitions into
county offices in baby carriages to represent the importance of this
issue to children and future generations.
Events will take place in four cities. All events begin promptly at 11 a.m.; please arrive in advance.
SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco City Hall steps, 1 Dr.
Carlton B. Goodlett Place, near Civic Center BART. Speakers: Pamm Larry
of Label GMOs, Albert Straus of Straus Family Creamery, local leaders.
Organic, non-GMO verified ice cream will be served! Contact: Rachel
Pachivas, labelgmosbayareasignatures@gmail.com
LOS ANGELES: Board of Elections office at 12400
Imperial Highway, Norwalk. Speakers: Zuri Allen Star, special guests
TBA. Treats and giveaways too! Contact Stacey Hall gmofreesocal@gmail.com
SACRAMENTO: Board of Elections office at 7000 65th Street, Sacramento. Speakers: Grant Lundberg of Lundberg Family Farms, local leaders and special guests. Contact Susan Lang, happymommy41@yahoo.com
SAN DIEGO: Board of Elections office at 5201 Ruffin
Road, San Diego. Speakers: author Lisa Bronner, local leaders and
special guests. Contact Elizabeth Lambe ejlambe@verizon.net