In case you haven’t noticed, I am in FULL SUPPORT of Proposition 37 in California. Even if you aren’t in CA, you can be praying this passes because it will set a precedent for every other state in the United States.
I am very conservative, and I typically vote Republican. Prop 37 is supported by the CA Democratic party, which means every Republican voter guide is saying NO to it, which drives me INSANE! If you understand the issue with Monsanto squashing competition by patenting seeds and suing farmers who innocently are in possession of “their” seeds because the wind blew them onto their farms…then any true capistalim-supporting Republican should see that supporting Monsanto means destroying the free market economy and American small business farmers. (You MUST watch Food Inc. to learn more about this.)
I want to scream every time I hear my favorite radio stations playing the deceiving “No on Prop 37” ads. My biggest fear is that you have been deceived, too, and think that you are going to support farmers and food suppliers by voting No on Prop 37. I was at the organic farm stand yesterday and was suddenly answering questions and educating everyone in line about Prop 37 because they didn’t know anything about it and assumed they’d vote NO because of the ad they saw or heard- and they’ve never heard any information to consider voting YES. (The guy in front of me asked the girl at the counter and I wanted to help her answer…that turned into a full small group discussion with everyone in line.)
THIS SCARED ME! I totally expected that everyone shopping here would totally know about it! If these people are going out of their way to shop at a tiny family organic farm stand don’t even know about Prop 37, then I need to work harder to get the word out…and you need to help me!
So let’s get some of the basic info and FAQ’s taken care of. If, after reading this, you have more questions or concerns after reading this, head over to www.carighttoknow.org for more info. You must also promise to share this post or that website with everyone you know. (As I write this, my grandparents are telling me that they’ve proudly voted “NO” in their early mail-in ballots because they don’t want to cost anyone more money. UHHHHH the misinformation and the LIES!!!! I’m also reading a poll right now that is saying Prop 37 is losing. We MUST change this, and we still have a chance if we get the word out!)
First, let’s understand what this is all about:
Prop 37 Means Simple, Clear Labels That Won’t Cost You a Dime.
Prop 37 gives us the right to know if our food has been genetically engineered. It helps us make the right food choices for our families by putting a simple label on the groceries we buy and telling us if our food has been genetically engineered.
This is not a food regulation law. This is not a tax. This is simply a requirement for food companies to properly label packaged food.
Most people believe the ads that say this proposition will cost families $400 per year. This is simply not true.
Basically this $400 is an incorrectly assumed accumulative increase in food costs because companies regularly using GMO’s in their products will not want to label their products, so they will choose better ingredients, which will cost more. The Sacramento Bee investigated this false advertising from the “No on 37” camp and wrote a good explanation for you here.
Here are a few more questions from my facebook readers, followed by wonderful answers provided by Mona of Vibrant Wellness Now, who is also the North Orange County Chapter Leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Here’s how it all went down:
Question 1: I’m wondering why it excludes meats/dairy fed GMOs?
Answer: First you must understand that these companies have been deceiving the public for decades! They are very good at it. As for excluding meats derived from animals fed GMO’s: Legally animals that are fed GMO’s are, themselves, not GMO derived. So all of what is written in Prop 37 must comply with California law. It would be illegal for the proposition to require animal meats to be labeled GMO if they are not. Next year when GMO salmon is released for public consumption it will be labeled if we have prop 37 in place!
Question 2: I’ve been hearing a lot about the lawsuit thing. Any good ideas to rebuttal that?
Answer: Lawsuits: The opposition likes to bring this up and compare it to Prop 65 which is a completely different proposition. It is true that the proposition was turned into the state by a lawyer who has had experience with propositions, but he didn’t write this and it is not the same as Prop 65. Prop 65 is for injured parties to re-coop damages from companies that have knowingly caused harm from toxic contamination. First, Prop 37 was written by lawyers from Lundberg Family Farms, Natures Path, Center for Food Safely, Organic Consumers Association and Food Democracy Now!. These people have the interest of food companies (since some of them are) and consumers. Second, there is no incentive to sue. Companies have over a year to comply. If an issue arrives that a company did not label a GMO containing product they are given 30 days to comply. Only the state will benefit if the company still refuses to comply. Companies are good at labeling now. They fought to not have to label calories, then they fought to not have to label trans-fat separately. It isn’t difficult to comply.
Most of the companies ALREADY label the exact same products for export to the European Union and 61 other countries that already have GMO labeling requirements.
Question 3: Won’t Prop 37 make it harder for small farms and businesses to sell locally, legally? They don’t necessarily have the means to submit all their products for government approval… Small business owners will struggle, no?
Answer: No one has to submit any product for government approval. They simply need to have a sworn statement from their supplier that the product is derived from a non GMO source. (GMO animal products are milk and milk products derived from cows that are injected with rBGH, GMO seeds or crops, or animals who’s DNA has been genetically modified.) Again they have over a year to obtain the information. They then need to either label a package accordingly or they need to put out a sign for the fresh produce like Hawaiian papaya, zucchini, crock neck squash, sweet corn. Remember, most GMO’s are in processed foods with the big 4 commodity crops like corn-high fructose corn syrup, corn flour, corn meal, etc., sugar beet- labeled as “sugar” NOT sugar cane, soy-anything soy including baby formula, and canola.
You might be interested to know who has supported this proposition, and who has supported the effort to shut down this proposition:
Finally, if you don’t really understand why we care so much about NOT eating GMO foods, you might want to check out this movie, “Genetic Roulette”. This video is streaming FREE for the rest of October, so catch it while you can. Basically, I don’t want my children to be a science experiment. GMO’s have not been researched for long-term OR short-term safety. (The rapid tumors and death in rats aren’t promising.) I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time believing that eating meat from cloned animals will be beneficial to our health in any way, let alone “safe”. I want plants that have been developed with Roundup in their DNA so that the stomachs of insects EXPLODE if they consume the plant to be LABELED! I want meat from genetically modified or CLONED animals to be LABELED!
Don’t be an uneducated voter!!! Go to www.carighttoknow.org to get the FACTS! This is about the future and health of your children and grandchildren. Make a difference in the health of our future. Vote YES ON 37!
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