Why dumb people should not vote - Washington votes no to GMO labeling

[Atomic Playboy]

For all those opposed to requiring GMO-related information on food labels:

Are you opposed to ALLOWING a food label to truthfully proclaim something like, "Contains only non-GMO ingredients." Or "Chicken raised entirely on non-GMO feed?"

Surely, a company should be allowed to place truthful information on a product label if the company believes that information will affect the marketability of its product.

And if such "non-GMO" information is allowed, then we'll end up with a de facto GMO labeling law. Because all food free of GMO ingredients (or raised only with non-GMO feed) will be boldly labeled as such. And any product without such information on its label will be assumed to contain GMO ingredients.

Why would anyone be opposed to voluntary labeling? That contention doesn't make any sense. No one is arguing that GMO labeling shouldn't be allowed if producers want to self-report, people are arguing that it shouldn't be mandatory. And your point has been made plenty of times in this thread; people who want non-GMO foods can already find them, as plenty of producers see the benefit in producing and labeling their foods as such.

 

[pcgeek11]

Should companies be allowed to not label the products they produce?

Maybe generic steaks wrapped in a white label? You do not know whether it is pork, beef, horse, sheep, goat, moose, elk, buffalo, kangaroo,,,,,,,.

All of those are perfectly fine to eat. Just like GMO Food. Big deal not found.

 

[pcgeek11]

I think I am going to produce a generic ground meat.

Maybe visit the local animal shelters for dogs and cats, maybe add in a few raccoons and opossums?

When people demand to know what they are eating, I will just accuse them of fear mongering.

Ground meat is ground meat, so what if it comes from rats, dogs, cats, or cows?

Same here people in the world eat all of those things. Some people even used to eat people too. Big deal still not found.

 

[pcgeek11]

You know brisket comes from a cow right?

Why shouldn't that knowledge apply to all of your food?




I just want to know what I am eating.

Nope. Beef Brisket comes from a cow. Other animals have briskets also.

 

[ThinClient]

For all those opposed to requiring GMO-related information on food labels:

Are you opposed to ALLOWING a food label to truthfully proclaim something like, "Contains only non-GMO ingredients." Or "Chicken raised entirely on non-GMO feed?"

I'm up for allowing the manufacturer to make the choice to put that on the label, provided that they're not lying about it and it can be easily verified.

However, more laws and more government are rarely a good idea.

Those laws in place for organic foods are pointless. You can put an organic tag on literally any food product because that's exactly what it is and you won't be liable for false advertising.

 

[Fenixgoon]

considering people don't understand that all food they eat is genetically modified, i am ok with this.

now if they wanted to label certain foods as genetically ENGINEERED, that is something different.

i'm not sure whether GMO is a product of policymakers or the industry (to make it more friendly sounding instead of engineered)...but the fact of the matter is, advances in agricultural science have meant that we can grow crops more efficiently, sometimes in places we could never have yields before, and feed more people on this planet. as much as there's a bleeding heart for "i want foods that aren't produced by science!", ask people if they want to solve world hunger and i bet they'd say yes. and one of the best ways we can do that is through development of better crops.

 

[woolfe9998]

I generally support food labeling requirements for all information more than marginally relevant to the health of the consumer. I think labeling requirements are usually better than taxing something heavily to discourage it's consumption. The idea behind labeling requirements is to arm consumers with knowledge, then let them make the informed choice. More information is almost always better.

All that being said, from everything I have read, GMO foods pose no known health risk. If we require labeling for something with no known health risk, how many other 1000 things with no known health risk are we going to require labeling for?

 

[pcgeek11]

All food is organic:

or·gan·ic (ôr-gnk)
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.

 

[Oldgamer]

A basic human right to know what we are eating has been voted down by the people of Washington state.

Early surveys showed 66 percent of the people were in favor of the law.

After dumping millions of dollars in advertising by the opposition, the approval rate dropped to 46 percent.

A republic only works when we have an educated voting populace. If we do not even know what we are eating, there is no hope for anything else.

http://rt.com/usa/washington-no-gmo-labeling-282/

I am a little confused on the whole GMO food stuff. It is genetically engineered food right? I read an article some time back that half the food we buy has already included GMO foods. Is the genetic altering really dangerous to humans? Have there been any studies on this? Does changing the DNA cause more harm to the enviroment in the long run?

 

[DrPizza]

GMO modifies the substances (proteins) produced inside the fruit. If what you eat is not relevant to you, that's fine, you don't speak for everyone. You can just ignore the GMO label anyways, why are you so against it?

The label on a frozen pizza box implies it is bad?

The label on corn dogs implies they are bad?

Have you ever read the labels before you buy something? My wife and I do. We try not buy anything with hydrogenated oils and words we can not pronounce in it.

My wife has high blood pressure so we read the sodium content. I remember when companies fought against labeling sodium on their labels.

Somehow listing hydrogenated oils on butter implies it is bad?

It is not about good or bad, it is about giving the consumer a choice.

You have completely missed the point.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

I am a little confused on the whole GMO food stuff. It is genetically engineered food right? I read an article some time back that half the food we buy has already included GMO foods. Is the genetic altering really dangerous to humans? Have there been any studies on this? Does changing the DNA cause more harm to the enviroment in the long run?

In order:
-Basically, yes it's genetically engineered.
-Almost all corn and soy products have GMO plants in them, so if food has either ingredient then it's likely you're eating some kind of GMO product.
-Multiple studies have indicated that there is no detrimental effects. It's kind of like climate change. You have the bulk of the data saying it's happening because of humans, then you have some data produced that is either cherry picked to present the desired result (i.e. the globe isn't warming from human activity) or wasn't done using proper scientific methods. Anti-GMO is very similar to anti-man made global warming.
-We have changed DNA since the advent of farming (look at the the banana, corn, and any other crop that's been cross bred... even domesticated farm animals have been). GMO's have been around for 10-15 years or so, and as with the human health above the studies have not found issues from GMO's.

 

[glenn1]

In order:
-Basically, yes it's genetically engineered.
-Almost all corn and soy products have GMO plants in them, so if food has either ingredient then it's likely you're eating some kind of GMO product.
-Multiple studies have indicated that there is no detrimental effects. It's kind of like climate change. You have the bulk of the data saying it's happening because of humans, then you have some data produced that is either cherry picked to present the desired result (i.e. the globe isn't warming from human activity) or wasn't done using proper scientific methods. Anti-GMO is very similar to anti-man made global warming.
-We have changed DNA since the advent of farming (look at the the banana, corn, and any other crop that's been cross bred... even domesticated farm animals have been). GMO's have been around for 10-15 years or so, and as with the human health above the studies have not found issues from GMO's.

The anti-GMO argument doesn't even have the scientific rigor of the anti-climate change argument, and that's a really low bar. Indeed, anti-GMO theories are more akin to fan death. Under their theories, those should have labels too.

 

[Texashiker]

I am a little confused on the whole GMO food stuff. It is genetically engineered food right? I read an article some time back that half the food we buy has already included GMO foods. Is the genetic altering really dangerous to humans? Have there been any studies on this?

There have been numerous studies on the safety of GMO food. The vast majority of the studies say it is safe to eat.

There are a few studies that say mice fed GMO corn grow tumors.

My personal opinion on the issue, people are afraid of stuff they do not understand. People do not understand GMO so they are afraid of it.

Then there is the numerous lawsuits and lack of transparency by the companies who develop GMO seeds. This lack of transparency, and numerous lawsuits have allowed the companies to become demonized.

You have completely missed the point.

What is your point then?

My point is, a consumer should be able to decide what products they wish to buy, and know what they are feeding their family.

If someone wishes to boycott gmo foods, just as they boycott veal, boycott chickens raised in battery cages, boycott made in china products,,,, the consumer should be allowed to do so. This is how the free market works.

 

[sm625]

Haha there's actually people on this thread arguing against GMO labeling. The claws of monsanto dig deep.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

If someone wishes to boycott gmo foods, just as they boycott veal, boycott chickens raised in battery cages, boycott made in china products,,,, the consumer should be allowed to do so. This is how the free market works.

There is no labeling requirement for "chickens raised in battery cages". It's an elective label stating 'free range' or 'cage free' or something like that. Just like non-GMO labeling is done. Why is one okay but the other isn't for you?

 

[Texashiker]

There is no labeling requirement for "chickens raised in battery cages". It's an elective label stating 'free range' or 'cage free' or something like that. Just like non-GMO labeling is done. Why is one okay but the other isn't for you?

If people knew how their food was treated, there would probably be a revolt. In some cases people want to stay ignorant.

As for battery cages, that is how the industry has developed over the past few decades.

GMO is something new. Its not like it has been around for a long time.

 

[nehalem256]

The requirements to be able to call your food "organic" are a joke. Every food is organic. We're not eating rocks, so literally EVERYTHING you buy to eat is organic and can be labeled organic without fear or reprisal, whether or not pesticides and stuff are used on the product.

Organic labeling is a vapid effort just like this stupid GMO label would be.

Actually foods that are labeled as "certified organic" have a laborious process to go through to be labelled as such

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification

And yes I understand how silly it is to call them organic when all foods are organic.

 

[nehalem256]

If people knew how their food was treated, there would probably be a revolt. In some cases people want to stay ignorant.

As for battery cages, that is how the industry has developed over the past few decades.

GMO is something new. Its not like it has been around for a long time.

GMO isn't new. Humans have been modifying the genetics of the foods we eat for millenia. But for some reason now that we have more control over the process its dangerous... seems backward to me.

 

[glenn1]

Haha there's actually people on this thread arguing against GMO labeling. The claws of monsanto dig deep.

Sure, because every crackpot scientific theory should get a label. Why not just expand the GMO labeling to include mandatory labelling disclosure for Lysekno modified content or whether it meets biodynamic agriculture standards.

Hell, why not just go full retard and mandate label disclosure for whether GMO crops were grown inside a hollow Earth. Because "consumers have a right to know where their food comes from."

 

[Texashiker]

GMO isn't new. Humans have been modifying the genetics of the foods we eat for millenia.

You are thinking about hybrids, which is different than gmo.

 

[xBiffx]

But it is not like we need areas to grow crop, nor is it that we do not have the capacity to grow what we need. As the matter of fact we have all but sufficient to sustain the world popuation, but we rather keep stocks in pile or destroy to not ruin the market price.

What a great world.

You are sorely mistaken if you think we have what we need in terms of crops growth to continue feeding the planet. Land is finite. Cultivatable land is even more finite. The population of the planet, at least as it appears today, is going to continue to grow. The population is going to double in the next 50 or so years but the amount of land isn't. Some estimates say 15 billion by 2100.

So its simple. Either stop having children now or science needs to find a way to feed the ever increasing mouths to feed on this planet.

 

[xBiffx]

You are thinking about hybrids, which is different than gmo.

Do tell. What is the difference, in your mind? That is, what is GMO to you?

 

[Texashiker]

Do tell. What is the difference, in your mind? That is, what is GMO to you?

If you plant your squash and your zucchini close together, they will cross pollinate and produce a hybrid.

If you splice the genes of a mold into the genes of a squash, you have a GMO.

GMO can have genes in it that do not occur naturally.

Hybrids carry the genes of the parent plants, or parent animals.

A lot of the plants and farm animals we use today are hybrids. Meaning they have been selectively bred over centuries. But they are still true animals or true plants.

If you breed a donkey and a horse, you get a hybrid called a mule.

My barred rock chicken does not have plant genes spliced in with its genes. But it was selectively bred several hundred years ago for certain traits.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

With the possibility of cross pollination how can you be sure your food doesn't contain a certain percentage of GMO origin?

 

[poofyhairguy]

The only government involvement in this will be to enforce laws that make sure that companies don't falsely claim non-GMO status for a product.

Yeah I would be OK with that. Do what was done with the Organic label.