Opponents of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, plants that have had their genetic material altered to resist heavy applications of toxic pesticides, finally have an ace in the hole: Connecticut has just become the first state in the nation to pass a bill that would require food companies to label products containing them, a significant step towards eliminating these lab-created ingredients from our food supply.
"It's a huge victory for the GMO-labeling movement and for consumers," says Rebecca Spector, West Coast director for the nonprofit Center for Food Safety, which is actively involved in pushing for GMO-labeling legislation at both the state and federal levels. "States have been trying to do this for several years," she adds, but are often outfoxed by big biotech firms that don't want labels to go through. The most expensive effort to date was against California's Proposition 37, a ballot initiative that was voted down in November 2012 after big food and biotech corporations spent a collective $40 million to defeat it.
Why GMO Labeling Is Important
Unfortunately, the Connecticut bill comes with a few caveats. Although the labeling bill will be signed into law, Connecticut residents won't see GMO labels on food until at least four other Northeastern states with a combined population of 20 million people pass similar bills. "We're disappointed in that clause," says Spector, "but strategically, it makes sense." Connecticut came close to passing a GMO labeling bill in 2012, but the governor vetoed it out of fear that the cash-strapped state wouldn't be able to fend off legal challenges to the bill brought by the biotech industry. "But if there are five states that have this law, if there is a legal challenge, they can combine their resources," Spector adds.
7 Things You Need to Know about GMOs
Still, two of those states either need to border Connecticut or be New York and New Jersey, and that could spell the bill's downfall, at least for the foreseeable future. Forty New York state legislators sponsored a GMO labeling bill that was being voted on in committee on the same day as Connecticut's. "The staff had the votes prior to Connecticut's bill passing," says Spector. "Then, once Connecticut's bill passed, a number of committee members changed their vote." According to Spector and other independent news reports, many of those members had received phone calls from a lobbyist for the Council on Biotechnology Information, a pesticide- and seed-company trade group. Some of the bill's original sponsors even rescinded their support after biotech lobbyists paid them a visit. "It's clear that [industry players] are going to do everything they can to squash these bills," Spector says.
Massachussetts and Rhode Island, the only other two states that border Connecticut, are both debating GMO labeling bills, however, so there is hope, says Spector. You can find out whether your state has a GMO-labeling initiative moving through its legislature at the Center for Food Safety's website. Then contact your local reps and ask for their support. In the meantime, demand organic food—it's currently the only 100-percent guarantee you aren't unknowingly ingesting GMOs.
