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Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

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Bad Ideas: GMO Labels

September 25, 2013

Again, my proposal for
GMO labeling

California’s Prop 37, which would have required mandatory food labels for products containing GMOs, may have been defeated last November, but the anti-GMOers are still demanding it.

Connecticut and Maine have passed legislation requiring labeling. There is also GMO labeling legislation pending in 20 states alone.

Goodness knows I’ve been called a whole lot of things for opposing the idea of labels (“unethical” being the most civil), but these labels really are a bad idea. They don’t promote consumer choice – they promote consumer fear.

Scientific American recently ran an article about this issue, and here are three of the reasons they (and I) are against labels:
“We have been tinkering with our food’s DNA since the dawn of agriculture.”

In fact, everything you eat today has been either changed by a scientist, a farmer, or just natural processes of selection and breeding. Have you ever stopped to imagine why we have so many varieties of apples? Honey Crisp, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, JonaGold, Fuji, and Granny Smith — just to name a few (according to the Washington Apple Commission, there are currently over 7,500 apple varieties worldwide). The varieties didn’t just randomly pop up over night or breed themselves into existence — we created them. 
The difference between creating a new variety in the field and creating one through scientific processes is obvious — one is being tested and monitored and one isn’t. 
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of either method, but those who are scared of GMOs are missing the bigger picture. The creation of GMOs are heavily regulated and heavily tested. Scientists don’t create them on one day and sell them the next — it can take up to a decade to get a perfectly safe GMO product to commercial markets. 

“Instead of providing people with useful information, mandatory GMO labels would only intensify the misconception that so-called Frankenfoods endanger people’s health.”


This is the main reason we don’t need labels — and the main reason the anti-science types want them. They want to use fear to crush GMO products. Why label something that is perfectly safe? A mandatory label should convey information to consumers that is important and necessary. But that isn’t happening here. 
As the Scientific American points out: “The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the World Health Organization and the exceptionally vigilant European Union agree that GMOs are just as safe as other foods.” In addition, the FDA observes and studies each and every GMO product on the market before it is produced commercially.

“Antagonism toward GMO foods also strengthens the stigma against a technology that has delivered enormous benefits to people in developing countries and promises far more.”

Americans exceptionally lucky to we spend such a small amount of our income on food (in Ukraine, they spend about 40% of their income on food). We have the luxury of eating what we want, too much or too little, and a whole lot we don’t need. But in other parts of the world that isn’t the case. They have to eat to survive and each calorie they consume matters. 
For example: 

To curb vitamin A deficiency—which blinds as many as 500,000 children worldwide every year and kills half of them—researchers have engineered Golden Rice, which produces beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. Approximately three quarters of a cup of Golden Rice provides the recommended daily amount of vitamin A; several tests have concluded that the product is safe. Yet Greenpeace and other anti-GMO organizations have used misinformation and hysteria to delay the introduction of Golden Rice to the Philippines, India and China.

That’s, quite frankly, unethical. This technology could literally be saving lives and the anti-science types want to stop it.

But even here in our own country, California’s Prop 37 would have increased the average family’s food bill by $400.  Maybe the world is different across the country, but right here I don’t see people with an extra $400 to blow because some hysterical person with no evidence or data wants to label a perfectly safe product.

To read the entire Scientific American article, click here.

The labeling issue isn’t going away. It’ll be a fight we have for some time to come. But given the stakes, the science, and the ethics, I think it’s a fight worth having.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ballot measures, California, consumers, FDA, food safety, GMO, labels, science

Comments

  1. Sarah [NurseLovesFar says

    September 25, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    I feel the same was as you and blogged about it myself: <a href="http://www.nurselovesfarmer.com/2013/09/gmo-labeling/http://www.nurselovesfarmer.com/2013/09/gmo-label… />If labeling becomes mandatory it will give the antis specific items to target and get banned. Nothing good will come from labeling.

  2. Anonymous says

    January 18, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    Interesting. So this is Monsanto's new angle – set up pro-GMO propaganda designed to look like it comes from a farmer. Continue to spew the lies, but create a beautiful new cloak for the lies, make it look like it comes from an attractive young farmer.

    • thefarmersdaughter says

      January 18, 2014 at 6:49 pm

      Well, thank you! However, Monsanto does not financially support my page, me, my content, my articles or anything else. Not that I think there is anything wrong with Monsanto, mind you. This page is just me – researching, creating, and writing content based on my experiences. And, I assure you, none of it is a lie – it is all thoroughly researched.

  3. Anonymous says

    January 31, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    If you can't attack the message, atack the messenger. That's because the anti-GMO group is devoid of logic and science.

  4. Anonymous says

    January 31, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    Food labeling laws need to be based on science not fear and ignorance. If we start down this path, there is no limit to the information that could be demanded to be displayed on the label. For example:- may contains crops planted during a full-moon- may contains crops planted on the 13th day of the month- may contains crops harvested on the 13th day of the month- only contains crops planted using no-till techniques- only contains crops planted using conventional tillage- . . . .

  5. Bruce says

    February 13, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    I'm also opposed to labeling but frankly have recently been wondering if it'd be better just to do it. There are so many foods that now have GMO content somewhere that the label would be on pretty near everything, so "label blindness" would happen quite quickly. Besides I really think the majority of people don't give a damn, they just want good food, at a reasonable price. GMO foods deliver that!

    • TheFarmersDaughterUS says

      February 13, 2014 at 11:28 pm

      I understand where you're coming from, but my concern is that the attacks would only ramp up after the label is on there. If people wan to avoid the GMOs, they can currently buy organic. But that obviously isn't what this fight is about.

    • Anonymous says

      March 5, 2014 at 7:50 pm

      Actually, I used to diagreed with Bruce, but I read a post by by Bruce Lynas (a different Bruce?) , http://www.marklynas.org/2013/10/why-we-need-to-l… . If any food that contained even the tiniest amount of GM crop had to be labeled, the label would soon be meaningless and ignored by everyone. People would soon relealize that they have been eating a great deal of GM crops with no negative effects.

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

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thefarmersdaughterusa

I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney by day, and "agvocate" at night.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Things I didn't miss while on vacation: ❌ watch Things I didn't miss while on vacation:

❌ watching the news
❌ hours scrolling on my phone
❌ stress about creating new content
❌ hours in front of the tv
❌ worry about billable hours
❌ always being connected
❌ my to-do list

Isn't it funny how a good vacation can change your perspective? Hoping to keep a few of these things with me until my next adventure.
Whoops! Looks like I missed #NationalAgricultureDa Whoops! Looks like I missed #NationalAgricultureDay.

We're on a family vacation in Florida this week. We hit SeaWorld, Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. My highlight was spending some much-needed time with my favorite people. Headed home to Michigan soon. We're all hoping to bring back some warmer temperatures! 🤞

 I hope you're having a good week! 💜
I bet I'm not the only one with extra coffee on th I bet I'm not the only one with extra coffee on this Monday morning. Just remember: farmers don't like Daylight Savings Time either! 😉

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