We live in a consumer-focused culture. On our farm we strive to produce high-quality vegetables and meat products for our customers. Some of the families who support our farm have done so for over 23 years, because they want to know where their food comes from and how it is grown. We are and always have been completely transparent with our customers about our farming practices.
In our capitalist economy, we take it for granted that markets are the best way to get products to consumers. But markets only work when people have all the relevant information about a product. When a car manufacturer hides safety problems or tobacco companies hide the carcinogenic effects of cigarettes or food manufacturers hide what's in their food, consumers are denied the right to make informed decisions about their purchases.
This is especially true of the food we choose to eat and feed our families. The FDA doesn't require labeling for food that has been genetically modified to survive being doused in herbicides or to manufacture its own pesticide. It doesn't matter if you want to avoid this type of food — for whatever reason — or even if you want to purchase more of it. You're left in the dark.
Yet a simple bill that would require foods containing genetically modified organisms ("GMOs") to be labeled as such is being held hostage by companies like Monsanto, Kraft and PepsiCo—all desperate to protect their profits. Rather than let the marketplace do its work and let consumers make educated choices, these highly profitable, well-connected chemical and junk food corporations are prowling the halls in Albany, pulling out all the stops to make sure our legislators keep those blindfolds tightly wrapped around our eyes.
Sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and state Sen. Kenneth LaValle, bill A.3525/S.3835 would mandate the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering. This would provide New Yorkers with the right to choose whether to purchase these products. It would put the power of choice back in the hands of consumers, which is where it belongs.
What does it say about a company or its products when its business model is to keep its customers ignorant? What kind of trust can you have in the companies that make GMO seeds, such as Monsanto, Dupont, DowAgro, and the companies that use GMO ingredients, such as Coca-Cola, Gerbers and Kellogg's, when they have collectively spent in excess of $70 million dollars to kill GMO labeling ballot initiatives and bills in other states? They must be afraid that an educated consumer is their worst customer.
New York won't be alone if it passes this bill. The entire European Union, China, Russia, India and dozens of other countries already require GMO labeling. Maine and Connecticut recently passed laws, and there is active legislation in at least half the states.
Voting for this bill would be a huge step forward for families who want to be better informed about the food we put on our tables. It's time for our government to place a higher priority on our right to basic consumer information than on the profit margins of corporations.
Jody Bolluyt is a Kinderhook farmer.
