Coloradans are proud of our state – and for good reason.
It’s not a particularly well-kept secret that Colorado boasts beautiful mountains, kind and educated people and an incredible local food and beer scene. We are also a health-conscious people. We live for the outdoors, we work out hard and we value healthy food. That means we want to know where our food comes from – many of us look for the “Colorado proud” label and other information about our foods’ origins.
But, we also want to know what’s in our food and how it is produced. We take for granted food labels that clearly list ingredients, but a bill now being considered by the U.S. Senate could block Colorado and every U.S. state from ever being able to require accessible labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs). Thankfully, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Denver, did the right thing this past week when he rejected this legislation when it came before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Sadly, Bennet was in the minority.
That’s no surprise, because the Grocery Manufacturers Association, huge junk food companies and corporations like Monsanto and Dow Chemical are working hard to keep us in the dark about how our food was produced, despite years of polling showing that more than 90 percent of Americans want GMOs labeled.
And it’s working: In July 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 1599), more appropriately coined the Denying Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act. The DARK Act would prohibit all states from requiring labeling of GMOs; it would even block a GMO labeling law passed legally by the legislature in Vermont from taking effect in July.
Now, the DARK Act is casting its menacing shadow over the U.S. Senate, where it passed the Agriculture Committee 14-6. Bennet stood up for Coloradans, voting against this aggressive legislation that would forever take away Colorado’s – and every other state’s right – to label GMOs. Now, we need him to stand strong against the DARK Act – and urge his allies in the Senate to do the same – when it comes up for a vote on the Senate floor later this month.
Bennet must also resist efforts to “compromise” on anything that undermines clear on-package labeling for GMOs. For example, there’s talk of a ludicrous approach that would allow companies to voluntarily use an obscure QR code system instead of requiring on-package labels.
There’s a lot wrong with this picture. People want to be able to require clear on-package labeling for GMOs. But, big food and chemical companies are trying to get away with having the option to provide a bar code that would require shoppers to download an application to a smartphone so they could scan the code in order to be directed to a website that would tell them whether a product they’re considering buying for their family contains GMOs. For those who have smartphones, this process is inconvenient to say the least. What’s worse is that thousands of people – like seniors or people with lower incomes – who don’t have smartphones would be completely unable to access information about their food. That’s unfair and discriminatory.
Labeling GMOs is not complicated. In fact, many Americans companies that export their products internationally already comply with GMO labeling requirements in more than 60 countries. Coloradans and all other Americans deserve ready access to that same information.
By rejecting the DARK Act in committee, Bennet has resisted big out-of-state agri-business interests in favor of protecting transparent food labeling. He must continue to stand with Coloradans by rejecting legislation that prevents states from requiring a clear, on-package label when foods contain GMO ingredients. To keep making Coloradans proud, Bennet must continue to reject the DARK Act and any legislation that threatens ready access to information about the food we eat and feed our families.
Julie Meadows is a Durango resident and local food activist. Reach her at juliecmeadows@gmail.com. Lisa Trope, Colorado Organizer with Food & Water Watch in Denver, also contributed to this piece.
