4.7
October 22, 2012

Bill Maher interviews Stonyfield Farms’ Gary Hirshberg about GMOs in our food & our right to know. {Video}

Photo: California Right to Know

GMO labeling is required in 50 nations—even Russia & China. But not the U.S.

Are we raising a generation of science experiments?

The FDA has received over a million comments from citizens demanding labeling of GMOs. Ninety percent of Americans agree labeling should be required.

In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80 percent of conventional processed food.

This interview explains how GMOs impact more than just food, but the air we breathe and why we should care about labeling.

Genetically engineered foods / GMOs defined:

Plants or animals that have had their genetic makeup altered to exhibit traits that are not naturally theirs.
~ From the glossary on the Monsanto website

Organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.
~ World Health Organization

Click here for the “Five Myths about Genetically Engineered Foods {Infographic}.”

Prop 37 was on the November 2012 ballot in California, meant to give Californians the right to know if their food has been genetically engineered with the use of a simple label. It did not pass.

The world’s largest pesticide companies spent roughly one million dollars a day to confuse California voters about Prop 37.

What happens in California will likely set a precedent for the rest of the country. So… not a great sign. But we can’t give up?

Your Voice Counts!

Tell the FDA we have the right to know if our food has been genetically engineered by signing this petition: Just Label It!

“We’re giving them 18 months to change their labels, and we’re not talking about a giant red X or a skull and cross bones,” says Stacy Malkan, media director for Yes on 37: California Right to Know 2012 ballot initiative. “We’re talking about simple text that says ‘contains’ or ‘may contain’ genetically engineered materials, and they can decide whether to put it on the front or the back.”

Robyn O’Brien, mother and founder of the AllergyKids Foundation shares her story on why she wants the FDA to label genetically engineered foods.

More about genetically engineered foods, from Just Label It!:

“Genetically engineered crops have been credited with an increase of 383 million pounds of herbicide use in the U.S. over the first 13 years of commercial use (1996- 2008). In August of 2011, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that glyphosate (the active ingredient in the herbicide “Roundup”) is now a common component of the air and rain in the Midwest during the spring and summer.

As a direct result of widespread use of genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops, populations of weeds (“superweeds”) have developed resistance to herbicides and are now present in 26 states. Not surprisingly, farmers have increasingly needed to revert to using older and more toxic herbicides like dicamba and 2,4-D (one of the ingredients in the Vietnam War era defoliant Agent Orange). These herbicides are known to cause reproductive problems, birth defects, and increased risk of cancer.”

According to the Non-GMO Project:

“Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In nearly 50 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale.”

Nine GE Crops in the U.S.:

  •    Corn
  •    Soybeans
  •    Canola
  •    Cotton
  •    Sugar Beets
  •    Alfalfa
  •    Hawaiian Papaya
  •    Zucchini
  •    Yellow Crookneck Squash

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