On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted against an amendment to the Farm Bill that would have allowed states to decide if they wanted to require labels on genetically modified foods. Senate Amendment 965 was sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Sanders said the amendment was intended to protect states from lawsuits by companies that manufacture the engineered seeds.
Other amendments to mandate labeling of genetically engineered foods are still pending in Congress. Today, Senator Barbara Milkulski (D-MD) said she was cosponsoring the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, that would require the FDA to clearly label GMO foods “so that consumers can make informed choices about what they eat.” That bill was introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and is also cosponsored by Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and others.
More than 90% of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods. The FDA claims that GMO foods are “not materially different” from other foods because people can’t distinguish between engineered foods and natural foods by taste, smell, or other senses.
Three other amendments to the Farm Bill address this issue. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) introduced amendment 934 to ban the sale of genetically engineered salmon until Federal wildlife agencies are consulted and show that the salmon do not pose an environmental risk. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) has introduced an amendment to “reinvigorate public plant and animal breeding”, which is at an all time low because of Monsanto’s dominance in the marketplace.
And Senator Merkley (D-OR) has introduced an amendment to repeal the “Monsanto Protection Act” in the spending bill that removes judicial oversight of GMO crops. That amendment was blocked by the GOP yesterday.
I guess the majority of lawmaker in the Senate panders to the biotech industry. Not surprising at all. Many people prefer real foods, not adulterated GMOs that have built in pesticides and are drenched in herbicides. We can avoid GMOs as much as possible, even if they are not labeled, by avoiding corn, soy, beet sugar, canola and cottonseed oils, and products that contain them. Many processed food products that contain those ingredients are junk, anyway. Read labels and lists of ingredients, and avoid the unhealthy crap. And remember, if GMOs are so safe, why the fight ‘against’ labeling them. What do ‘they’ know, that they don’t want us to know. Think about it.