Colorado Moves Toward Mandatory Labeling For GMO Foods

Colorado's corporate-aware citizens are  also well informed of the recent finding that GMO foods contain glyphosate, "a horrifically destructive chemical that saps nutrients from foods and quite literally makes them toxic to consume" - in the words of bio-chemical researcher John Phillips.


The worst part is that GMO foods are everywhere…so if something is not explicitly labeled as organic and GMO-free, you should assume that it contains glyphosate. The most damnable shame is that our own Neoliberal government refuses to justify labeling these foods - so consumers have no way of knowing. Their absurd reason is "there is no basis to believe the foods are any different from those already available". According to Karen Batra, a spokesperson for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, "hundreds of studies have shown no nutritional difference between GMO foods and traditionally produced foods."

Which is patent hogwash - given the glyphosate effect. Further, it's clear that Ms. Batra doesn't grasp that 'nutritional difference" is not at issue - but rather piggybacking toxins onto the (GMO) foods to deliver nutrition. ('Would ya like some arsenic with that arugala?')

Now another state, Colorado, is prepared to do something about it and in November voters could be asked to decide whether genetically modified foods (GMOs) should be subject to mandatory labeling. This should not be an issue given a New York Times poll a year ago found that 93 percent of Americans want them labeled - and the rest of the industrialized world demands GMO labeling.

Again, the labeling is not to assure nutritional quality, but rather that people are aware - when they  purchase the GMO foods - that glyphosate presence essentially reduces the foods to a toxic state. Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide) is present in all genetically engineered foods. And it’s not something that can be washed off or taken out of the food by cooking or purification – it’s integrated into the plant on a fundamental level.  

Monsanto- the maker-  was also a manufacturer of the pesticide DDT, which now has been conclusively linked to the development of Alzheimer’s, as well as many other degenerative diseases in humans.   Nutrition experts like Mr. Phillips now believe that glyphosate is even worse than DDT. It decimates beneficial bacteria in the gut, disrupts immune function, and has been correlated with shocking precision to the rise in autism and other cognitive diseases and conditions.  The moral of the story is that you should stop eating GMO foods at all costs.

But only proper labeling can ensure this GMO  avoidance is possible! Besides, 64 countries already require labeling of GMO foods or ban them outright. Why is the U.S. different? Or better, why is the U.S. the exceptional dumb nation here? Could it be the corporate state has our gov't by the balls, lock, stock and barrel?

Recognizing the citizen's right to know, Colorado Initiative 48 is underway and has already collected $70,000 in donations. The driving force, 'Colorado Right to Know', is also well on its way to collecting 86,105 signatures as noted by an article in The Colorado Springs Independent ('Oh no, GMO!',  July 5)

Meanwhile, Colorado may have to become more aware of flack from special interests if the Initiative succeeds at the ballot box. Already, as also reported in the Indy, the Grocery Manufacturer's Association, plans to sue Vermont over its own GMO labeling law - as incredible as that seems. The Indy article notes:

"The organization contends Vermont can't regulate corporate speech on the issue under the First Amendment, unless it can show a true governmental interest in doing so."

Which is nonsense, because there is no such thing as "corporate speech" that falls under the First Amendment's free speech protections. That Amendment was written BY and intended for  flesh and blood human persons - not legal artifacts called corporations. This insanity is of a piece with the same mode of bullshit as "corporate personhood" and "money as speech" - which is another reason this nation is descending into insanity as it has lost the ability to reason clearly.

Most laughably, the grocer's group offers "science" as the prime reason to oppose labeling (again, despite the fact 64 other nations demand it or ban GMOs altogether - so what: We have more science than 64 other nations combined? I seriously doubt it!) According to the group, quoted in the article:

"GMOs have been widely and rigorously evaluated by every major medical and scientific body in the world, and none of them have ever concluded that GMOs are harmful to humans or the environment."

Oh REALLY? Then how come 64 other nations making up the same world  in  which these bozos claim the studies were conducted, have banned the GMOs or demanded labels? What's amiss here? I'll tell you - not all medical or scientific groups agree with the American fraudulent "science" - with research mostly done by the GMO foods manufacturers themselves.

At least the Grocery Manufacturer's Association finally gets more truthful (from its own distorted perspective, not objectively) at the end of its statement, whining that:  "labeling would be confusing and costly".

Which is more hogwash, since on average labeling will raise the cost of the typical labeled GMO food by about a nickel - according to one anti-GMO group (the same one that backed the California initiative which was shot down a couple years ago).

As for "confusing", why? Either a food is GMO-based or it isn't. Give the citizen the right to make his choice, which is allowed in every other sphere - from toothpastes to deodorants. The only reason not to allow the choice is that Monsanto and the other GMO makers have too much profit at stake to remove their toxic-bearing junk from the shelves.

Let's hope that come November, Colorado can join Vermont and beat back the food corporatists and their interests - finally enabling a flood tide in other states.