The Yes Vote

GMO labeling has been a hot topic in the polls lately. Here in Oregon the fight is getting ugly with measure 92 to be decided in a few weeks. Thanks to Monsanto, the side fighting against the labeling is getting vicious. My mail box is always full with flyers telling me to vote no. My phone will not stop ringing with robocallers telling me to vote no. And the commercials, the commercials are everywhere.

So why am I voting yes? After all I will admit my diet is not 100% organic. I am voting yes because it is my body and I have the right to know what I am putting into it. If I am deciding between two jars of peanut butter, I want decide on more than nutritional labels and taste. With the news that some organic foods might have GMO ingredients in them after all, I want to know now even more. I am human and like all humans my body isn't perfect. If I get ill, I want to know was it the food or something else. If it was the food, I want to know what was in it. More than the current labels tell you.

The arguments against the labeling claim it is the cost of relabeling. How is that a factor? Every holiday season, food is relabeled with seasonal pictures. I call foul on that argument. The cost of putting a Christmas tree on a box of cookies is not passed down to the farmers or shoppers.

Someone asked me why I was concerned about GMOs when foods have been mixed for ages. Well GMO's is not hybriding. It is not crossbreeding natural wheat to grow the strongest. It is altering it on a DNA level to be the strongest. The following quote is from Frankenfood = Genetically Modified Foods  : "A genetically modified organism is one in which the genetic composition of that organism has been altered — meaning that specific elements of the DNA have been removed or added to achieve certain ostensibly desirable traits."

In a nut shell, I am voting yes because things need to be labeled to help one stay educated, stay informed and stay healthy.

For more info see: Oregon Right to Know  :