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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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Senate Passes GMO Labeling Compromise Bill – A Recap

July 9, 2016

Late on Thursday, July 7, 2016, the United States Senate passed their version of the labeling GMO compromise bill. The bill is a compromise in that mandates labels for all products with genetically engineered ingredients, but allows companies to comply with the law by simply adding a QR code, website, or phone number.

The final vote was 63 to 30, with 41 Republicans and 22 Democrats supporting the legislation.

Senator Debbie Stabenow stressed in her comments on the Senate floor that there is no question as to the safety of genetically modified foods, citing the recent study done by the National Academy of Sciences. You can watch the full day of debate and voting here.

The “rush” to pass a labeling law comes after Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law went into effect on July 1st. Unfortunately, Vermont’s law is confusing and misleading to consumers. So far, several companies have decided to stop shipping thousands of products into the state, which reduces consumer choice and will eventually raise prices. There is also a concern that other states will now follow suit, creating mismatching laws that make it difficult for companies to comply with all of them.

As one might imagine, Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy from Vermont were both very critical of the compromise bill. They held a press conference outside of the Senate during debate, complaining that they didn’t have the opportunity to make comments on the Senate floor.

Although not everyone on the pro-GMO side is happy about the compromise bill (sentiments I can certainly understand!), many are satisfied with the bill. Personally, while I hate the idea of mandatory labeling, I think that some type of labeling is inevitable, and this is definitely a great compromise in our favor. If someone really cares about such meaningless information, then they can take the steps necessary to fulfill their “right to know.”

The Senate bill has not yet been taken up in the House. Although the House passed a voluntary GMO labeling bill last summer, it remains to be seen how it will handle this legislation. If the House does pass the bill, it will have to be signed by President Obama. It is unclear whether the President would sign the bill, though he had previously made promises to label GMOs.

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Filed Under: Biotechnology, Labeling Tagged With: congress, federal government, gmos, labeling, labels, legal, legislation, update

Comments

  1. Jim Harris says

    July 9, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks for this news, Amanda. I sent an email to my Senators, OR, asking them to support the bill. Sen. Merkley replied and I noticed he was testifying against the bill on the floor. It is unfortunate. One of his points is that oil or sugar derived from genetically modified plants should be labeled.

    So sad. So difficult to break through ignorance.

    • Amanda says

      July 10, 2016 at 10:42 pm

      He apparently doesn’t realize that GMO sugar cannot be distinguished, even in a lab, from non-GMO sugar. Really disappointing.

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

Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. 🫣

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23🌾
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. 🤣

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. 💜💜 It's true. My puppy. 💜💜
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
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