Tuesday, November 6, 2012

California Proposition 37 (GMO Food Labeling) Heading for Defeat


As Obama wins, Monsanto and its coalition of large ag and food companies look set to win in defeating Proposition 37 in California.

Yes, the proposition has many flaws and exemptions. But the argument often used that it would hurt small farmers and small grocers (as if Monsanto cares about small farmers) if they have to comply started to smell to me like the same argument to support Fukushima produce: "Farmers are hurting, we must help them by eating food produced in Fukushima, even if it contains radioactive cesium. It's safe anyway, because the government says so. We're in this together, aren't we?"

From NBC San Diego (11/6/2012):

Early Returns Show Prop 37 Food-Labeling Law Failing

Anywhere between 40 and 70 percent of food products sold in California grocery stores contain some genetically engineered ingredients.

A statewide proposition that would require manufacturers to label all foods made with genetically-modified ingredients was failing in very early returns Tuesday, according to the Secretary of State.

As of 8:45 p.m., Prop 37 was losing 58.3 percent to 41.7 percent.

If Prop 37 passes, California would become the first state in the nation to enforce the GMO labeling requirements.

The potential law was heavily bankrolled by chemical companies and food manufacturers. And the majority of that funding – some 93 percent of the $44 million raised to defeat the proposition – came from out of state.

By comparison, the Yes on 37 camp poured some $7 million into a campaign dubbed the "crusade against Frankenfood."

Genetic engineering involves manipulating the genes of an organism, usually with the goal of improving a plant’s resistance to pests or to allow a plant to withstand the use of pesticides.

While there have been no long-term studies that suggest consuming genetically-modified foods are harmful to humans, supporters of Prop 37 cited a lack of evidence to the contrary in their arguments for the measure.

"Whether you buy genetically engineered food or not, you have a right to know what you are buying and not gamble on your family’s health," supporters said.

(Full article at the link)


The website "No on Prop. 37" has a list of donors to the successful campaign:

Abbott Nutrition
B&G Foods, Inc.
BASF Plant Science
Bayer CropScience
Bimbo Bakeries USA
Bruce Foods Corporation
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Bunge North America, Inc.
C. H. Guenther & Son, Inc.
Campbell Soup Company
Cargill, Inc.
Clement Pappas & Company, Inc.
Clorox Company
Coca-Cola North America
ConAgra Foods
Council for Biotechnology Information
CropLife America
Dole Packaged Foods Company
Dow AgroSciences LLC
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
Faribault Foods, Inc.
Flowers Foods, Inc.
Four K Farms
General Mills, Inc.
Goya de Puerto Rico, Inc.
Goya Foods Great Lakes
Grocery Manufacturers Association
H.J. Heinz Company
Hero North America
Hershey Company
Hillshire Brands Company
Hirzel Canning Company
Hormel Foods Corporation
House-Autry Mills, Inc.
Idahoan Foods, LLC
Inventure Foods, Inc.
JMR Farms, Inc.
Kellogg Company
Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc.
Kraft Food Group
Kraft Foods Global, Inc.
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
McCain Foods USA, Inc.
McCormick & Company, Inc.
Mead Johnson Nutrition Company
Mondelez International
Monsanto Company
Moody Dunbar, Inc.
Nestle USA, Inc.
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
PCS Administration (USA) Inc. (Also Known As “PotashCorp”) PAC (Out of State PAC)
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC
Reily Foods Company
Rich Products Corporation
Richelieu Foods, Inc.
Sara Lee Corporation
Saticoy Foods Corporation
Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Snack Food Association
Solae, LLC
Sunny Delight Beverages Company
Syngenta Corporation
The J.M. Smucker Company
Tree Top, Inc.
Tri-Cal Inc.
Unilever
Welch Foods, Inc.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've got to admire the California referendum system though. At least it is possible to take issues like this directly to the people.

Wish they'd let Japan voters have a say on Japan's energy policy, nuclear decommissioning, TEPCO victim compensation, wide-area radioactive debris burning, there are so many...

JAnonymous said...

Abbott, BASF, Dow, Dupont, Monsanto, ... all the famous historical "food" companies are up here for you to see in this wondrous hall of shame.

Anonymous said...

I've been involved in the Yes on 37 grassroots campaign. We were just too badly outspent and the NO coalition lied, lied, and lied some more. It's really a heartbreak.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that, anon at 12:25AM. Hope you didn't vote for Obama, but hope is a dirty word, thanks to Obama.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I heard about this. Terrible. You can tell our future is bleak because money and profit eclipses everything else, and lies go a long way while truth gets buried.

Anonymous said...

Sorry but it was a string of Republican presidents who where on the watch until the 2008 Lehman crisis. Too bad they were watching the other way.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone explain how they manged to convince 58% of California voters not to know what they are eating?? It's just a label...
Beppe

Darth 3/11 said...

Don't give up, California! Everyone should know what is in their food. I don't consume anything from that entire list, happy to say.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the list of producers to boycott!

Atomfritz said...

I really hope most of the Californians are still going to vote. GM poisoned food is a danger similar to nuclear poisoned food. People should really be allowed to know what they eat.

OT:
Interesting developments are going on in Korea.

Korea had much problems with some nuclear plants for some time, for example at Yeonggwang.
Frequent automatic reactor trips and scrams due to some strange part failures plagued several reactors. [just a few recent examples: *,**]

Two days ago it was found that thousands of parts supplied by US and Canadian firms had falsified certificates and were substandard.
"The eight suppliers provided 7,682 items worth 830 million won ($760,000) under 60 faked certifications" [***]

Because of this, Yeonggwang 5 and 6 have been shut down now to replace these parts. Three other reactors (Yeonggwang 3+4 and Uljin 3) are also affected, but continue operating.
Korea's electricity reserves are very low now. [****]

*: http://app.yonhapnews.co.kr/YNA/Basic/ArticleEnglish/ArticlePhoto/YIBW_new_showArticlePhotoView.aspx?contents_id=PYH20120730125600341&PAGINGCURRENTPAGE=11
**: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Ec_detail.htm?No=93880
***: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/11/123_123964.html
****: http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=13831

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. If you have the financial support you can do whatever the f*ck you want. Really, I'm all for eating, breathing, and drinking Round-up, chlorpyrifos,and 2,4-D(Agent Orange corn). It did not take long for the worms to become resistant to the program. The bees are dying. Perhaps that can be a new jobs program...hand pollinating all the crops grown in this country.
G.H.W. Bush back in the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLoW-3gaTPo
Sorry for the rant but the blatant disregard for our own well being is appalling.
OT but along the same track.
One can bypass the Clean Water Act with deep pockets and powerless victims.
Go to ~2:00 min. mark and tell me you would live with this running through your town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPmNqdRzMmk

Atomfritz said...

In Europe the bees are dying, too, and researchers begin to find out that the dead bees contain more than ten times more pesticides than the pesticide makers have said in their "studies" they had to provide to the EU and national authorities.
In other ways, most of these studies seem to have been fabricated.

OT update: Korean Electric Power Co president and CEO resigns after the scandal about safety certificate forgeries became public
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/nuclear-korea-idUKL3E8M721C20121107

Anonymous said...

This was written in 2000, although I only discovered it several days ago.

http://www.biotech-info.net/exposed.html

Think how long the silenced prescient scientists have waited for the American people to even become aware of biotech food. 46.9% voted Yes on Prop 37 and the subject is no longer taboo. Huge progress.

Patience.

Anonymous said...

The posted comment that followed Atomfritz @6:28 seems to have vanished.
Any particular reason?

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Yes, Google, which lets in spams and eliminate legit comments. I fished it out and deleted the spams.

Unknown said...

It is our fundamental right to know what we are eating and feeding our families. If they think GMO is good then label them and let the customers decide if they want to eat or not. There are several documentaries available to make you aware of what GMO is? Let's all arm ourself with the right information on hazardous usage of GMO Foods.

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