The fight against Monsanto - Seattle natural grocer supporting GMO labeling

The fight against Monsanto - Seattle natural grocer supporting GMO labeling


(NaturalNews) Seattle natural grocer PCC Natural Markets is ready to
stand up against Monsanto and other genetically modified organism (GMO)
food producers. PCC has joined the fight to force food companies to
label products that include genetically modified organisms, a practice
found in much of Europe and in Australia, China and Japan.

The
Seattle-based grocery chain said it will spend $100,000 to help collect
signatures in support of legislative Initiative 522, which would require
labeling in Washington of food with GMOs. The company also has launched
an in-store signature-gathering campaign.

If lawmakers do not
enact the initiative as law in some form - and they usually don't - it
would go before voters in November 2013.

Consumers want to know what's in their food

Polls
consistently show that the vast majority of the public, between 75 and
93 percent, wants to know if their food was produced using genetic
engineering. Without disclosure, consumers of genetically engineered
food unknowingly may violate their own dietary and religious
restrictions.

Genetically engineered foods are not proven safe
and the long-term health risks on humans have not been investigated
adequately. Accumulating research has prompted a growing number of
countries to require mandatory labeling.

Monsanto and others spending "millions" to prevent GMO labeling

Agribusiness
giant Monsanto and others have spent more than $32 million to oppose a
similar measure on the California ballot this fall. That's $10 million
more than Seattle-based Costco Wholesale spent to support a successful
liquor-privatization initiative in Washington in November 2011!

"Don't
make any mistake, this is chemical companies" opposing labeling, said
Trudy Bialic, director of public affairs at PCC. "It's the same people
who brought us Agent Orange, DDT and PCBs, and they're saying now,
'Trust us with your food.' And people are saying, 'No, we want to know
what's in it.'"

Opponents of I-522 say state labeling
requirements are unnecessary and would become expensive for food
companies and ultimately consumers, particularly if states pass varying
laws.

GMOs already in much of the US food supply

Much of the U.S. food supply already contains genetically modified ingredients.
More
than half of the corn and soybeans grown in this country come from
genetically modified seeds. This basically means DNA was taken from one
species and inserted into the DNA of another to create a particular type
of plant, such as higher-yielding corn or a redder tomato.

GMOs
raise health concerns, in part because the inserted DNA sometimes comes
from animals, bacteria and viruses, not plants. They also dislike that GMO
plants can cross-pollinate onto non-GMO farms, creating crops that are
genetically modified even though farmers may not want them to be and may
have trouble marketing them.

At the consumer level, requiring
foods that contain genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as
such is paramount to keeping the consumer informed about what they eat
and affording them the opportunity to make decisions on their own if
they want to avoid GMOs in their food.

Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/040087_GMO_labeling_Monsanto_consumer_awareness.html