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The latest buzz words or health crazes plastered on food products give us a reason to purchase. Savvy advertisers dream up enticing packaging. Or maybe it's just a handwritten "local" sign put up at the co-op. While the sea of labels can be confusing, they also alert us to what may or may not be in our food. And we have every right to know.

So when we're standing in the grocery store ready to buy, why don't we know which foods contain genetically engineered ingredients? Good question. All it takes is a label. And that's where the story gets interesting.

The H. 722 bill (also known as the Vermont Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act) would require labeling of genetically engineered food products sold in Vermont and would give us, Vermont consumers, the ability to make more informed food-purchasing decisions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already requires food manufacturers to list ingredients, nutrition facts and common allergens. Why make an exception for genetically modified ingredients?

Recently, Vermonters filled the Statehouse to show their support for the bill and share their stories with the House Agriculture Committee where the bill currently sits. Health concerns, food in-tolerances and environmental considerations are just a couple of reasons consumers might want to know if the food they buy is genetically modified. VPIRG, NOFA Vermont and Rural Vermont have joined forces to advocate for the passage of the bill and garner public support through the Vermont Right to Know GMOs project.

On the project's website Vermonters can sign a petition in favor of the bill and learn more about the increasing prevalence of genetically engineered foods ranging from bread to baby food (vtrighttoknow.org). Some consumers might find it alarming that the majority of corn and soybeans grown in the United States have been genetically modified - and not for increased nutritional benefits. Rather, these GMO crops have been engineered to withstand pesticides so that broad spraying efforts will kill everything but the modified target crop. In addition to the genetically engineered food, we are eating high doses of weed killer.

Fifty other countries already label genetically engineered foods including the European Union, which has championed consumers' right to choose for more than a decade. I'm proud that Vermonters are leading the charge (along with California and Connecticut) as part of a much larger nationwide campaign to require labels on genetically engineered foods. The nationwide campaign, Just Label It, a partnership of 525 plus organizations, submitted a petition to the FDA last month with more than one million signatures in favor of labeling. All Americans, not just Vermonters, want to know what's in their food. And why shouldn't we?

Even if the bill passes here in Vermont the work will not be over. Corporate giant Monsanto has threatened to sue the state if the bill passes. The Grocery Manufacturers Association and Council for Biotechnology Information are two industry groups shoveling resources - including money - into stopping the bill. Monsanto defends the safety of genetically engineered food, citing its own scientific studies. Scare tactics warn consumers that food labeling costs will hurt them the most.

Though I believe that knowing what's in our food is important, I'm increasingly alarmed by the bullying of the opposition. Maybe the lash-back is less about a label and more about corporate secrecy: Why is Monsanto so concerned about telling us what's in our food?


Comment: The following articles written by Organic Consumer Foundation founder Ronnie Cummins clearly depicts 'Why is Monsanto so concerned about telling us what's in our food?'

The Label Even Monsanto Considers a 'Skull and Crossbones'...
"If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."
- Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994

Monsanto and Food Inc.'s stranglehold over the nation's food and farming system is about to be challenged in a food fight that will largely determine the future of American agriculture.
Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives
Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.
"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."
- Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications, quoted in the New York Times, October 25, 1998

For nearly two decades, Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have exercised near-dictatorial control over American agriculture, aided and abetted by indentured politicians and regulatory agencies, supermarket chains, giant food processors, and the so-called "natural" products industry.