Do We have A Right To Know What's In Our Food? Or Should We Just Trust Monsanto To Poison Us Slowly?

Every Californian has his or her own ideas about which proposition is the most important. To prisoners convicted on 3 strikes you're out, it's all about Prop 36. To union activists Prop 32 is a like-or-death situation and for anyone on death row... well Prop 34 literally is a life or death situation. And if you happen to be a pimp who makes a living by trafficking in human beings-- something like modern day slavery-- you're worried that Prop 35 will pass.  We'll be talking about all these propositions closer to election day. But I wanted to bring up, once again, one that DWT has been championing all along: Prop 37: the Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling Statute. If it passes-- and according to a  new poll in the L.A. Times it's winning in a landslide with 61% ready to vote yes and only 25% in opposition. Here are the quick reference arguments in the official Voter Guides that arrived at everyone's home this week. First the argument in favor:

Proposition 37 gives us the right to know what is in the food we eat and feed to our families. It simply requires labeling of food produced using genetic engineering, so we can choose whether to buy those products or not. We have a right to know.

So, you wonder what the corporations who oppose this are saying to combat this common sense approach? Here's their statement on the same page of the Voter Guide:

Prop 37 is a deceptive, deeply flawed food labeling scheme, full of special-interest exemptions and loopholes. Prop 37 would: create new government bureaucracy costing taxpayers millions, authorize expensive shakedown lawsuits against farmers and small businesses, and increase family grocery bills by hundreds of dollars per year.

“There has always been a huge outpouring of grassroots support for Proposition 37 and the right to know what’s in our food,” said Gary Ruskin, campaign manager for Yes on 37. “Despite the pesticide industry’s best efforts to confuse and mislead, Californians are standing strong for the right to know what they are eating and feeding their families.” Tom Fendley, his political director, added that "Today's poll s consistent with all previous national and state polling. All polls have shown overwhelming public support for the labeling of genetically engineered foods.”

Pesticide giants Monsanto and DuPont and their allies have raised more than $32 million and they're gearing up to spend it on deceptive advertising to persuade voters to change their minds. Ruskin said explained that "Their upcoming avalanche of attack ads will try to scare voters into believing food costs will go up if Proposition 37 passes, using bogus figures from bogus ‘studies’ funded by their own campaign.”

The USC poll gives reason to believe that California consumers will withstand the barrage of brainwashing cash.

Californians aren’t price sensitive when it comes to genetically modified foods, reveal the latest results of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll. Even when presented with information about how much regulation might cost the cash-strapped state, a majority of voters support a November ballot initiative that would require new labeling for food that contains genetically modified ingredients. If approved by voters, the initiative would become the first of its kind in the United States.

...Younger voters overwhelmingly support the measure: Californians age 18-29 support the initiative by a margin of 73-20 percent. Among voters aged 30 to 39, support for Prop. 37 is 66-19 percent; age 40 to 49 support it by 60-29 percent; age 50 to 64 support it by 60-25 percent; with support slipping for ages 64 and over to 52-30 percent. Men support the initiative by 54-32 percent; women by 67-19 percent.

The poll further showed that support for the initiative is similar across education levels and demographics. Voters without a college degree favor the measure 62-24 percent; those with a college degree favor the measure 60-26 percent.

Registered Democrats favor the initiative by 66-19 percent; Republicans 49-35 percent; and voters with no party preference by a margin of 63-25 percent. Fifty-nine percent of White voters support Prop. 37 while 28 percent are opposed; of Black voters, 69 percent are in favor and 20 percent are opposed; of Latino voters, 67 percent are in favor and 19 percent oppose.

Following on the heels of a French call for an investigation into GMOs with a request that the entire European Union ban them entirely if they are found to be detrimental to human health, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that Russia isn't waiting around and that they have already suspended all imports and uses of Monsanto's genetically engineered corn. Russia took action after a study showed that Monsanto's corn is causing cancer.

The study, conducted by France's University of Caen and published last week, found that rats fed over a two-year period with the U.S. crop-biotechnology company's genetically modified NK603 corn, marketed under the Roundup Ready brand name, developed more tumors and other severe diseases than a test group fed with regular corn.

Don't worry. Monsanto has its own stock of bought off "scientists" who will present absolute proof that brushing your teeth with Roundup will increase your lifespan and cure cancer and toenail fungus.