October 2012 Issue - Natural Awakenings Magazine Charlotte

14 Greater Charlotte AwakeningCharlotte.com
globalbriefs
Food Fight
No More Hidden GMOs
California voters face a
food-protection milestone
this November when
Proposition 37, a citizens’
initiative, appears on their
ballots. If it passes, California
will be the first state to
require labeling of a wide
range of foods containing
genetically engineered (GE)
ingredients.
Determined to defeat
this first-ever initiative,
some of the nation’s largest
biotech and agribusiness
companies have
poured millions of dollars
into negative advertising.
Even more alarming is that
much of the money comes
from sources most shoppers would not suspect. “Consumers
might be surprised to find out that brands hiding under
‘natural’ façades are in fact owned by multi-billion-dollar
corporations that are contributing bushel baskets of cash
to defeating Proposition 37,” says Charlotte Vallaeys, director
of Farm and Food Policy at The Cornucopia Institute,
a nonprofit dedicated to supporting sustainable, organic
agriculture via research, investigation and education.
According to Cornucopia, recent polls indicate that
nearly 70 percent of California citizens support informational
labeling. Proponents of Proposition 37 have contributed
$3 million—a number dwarfed by the $23 million
bursting from biotech and food manufacturer coffers to
fight the measure.
The California vote is crucial because many companies
will find it more expensive to produce foods with
GE labels for California while creating a different product
line of foods for the rest of the nation. “Just as we’ve
observed in Europe, where labeling of food containing
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is mandatory, we
fully expect that when given a choice, consumers will
choose organic or non-GMO products,” said Cornucopia
Co-Director Mark A. Kastel.
To help consumers identify and support organic
brands whose corporate owners have contributed to
Proposition 37 and avoid product lines committed to its
defeat, Cornucopia has compiled an online guide and is
sponsoring a petition.
Learn more and take action at Cornucopia.org/2012/08/
prop37.