We recommend Oregonians follow residents in California and Washington and vote down a ballot measure that would require the labeling of food containing genetically modified crops.
In November Oregonians will vote on Measure 92, a ballot initiative that requires the labeling of packaged or raw foods containing genetically modified crops.
Food prepared by restaurants would not be required to be labeled.
Californians voted against a similar measure. So did voters in Washington. A 20-member citizens review panel convened by the Citizens Initiative Review Commission voted 11-9 to not recommend passage. That recommendation will appear in the Officials Voters’ Guide this fall.
We don’t see the need for labeling, particularly since there are already two alternatives for people who don’t want GMOs in their food — certified organic, and certified GMO free. …
…[A]s written, Measure 92 doesn’t really tell consumers much of anything about what’s in the food, only that it contains an ingredient that was genetically modified. Which ingredient, and what modification, aren’t part of the labeling. …
The most dangerous assumption that can be drawn from the label is that things that contain GMOs are bad for you, while things that don’t contain GMOs are somehow more wholesome.
That’s because what most people don’t know about genetic modification is probably equal to what they don’t know about how conventional, non-GMO crops are produced. Farming techniques are much more complicated than a simple label can convey.
Eighty-five percent or more of the products on the market contain ingredients produced with genetically modified crops. It’s far easier for consumers to assume that any processed food that contains corn, soy and their byproducts also contains a genetically modified ingredient. The same with sugar.
Unless, of course, the product is certified organic, or is certified non-GMO — voluntary, nationwide labeling alternatives already available to producers who want to cater to customers who want to avoid genetically modified crops.
If all of this really matters to Oregonians as much as supporters of Measure 92 say, the real vote on labeling could then be made with the pocket book.
