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from the GMO-==-Genetically-Modified-Organism dept.
U.S. senators have reached a deal that would require food companies to disclose which products contain genetically modified ingredients, although not necessarily directly. The plan would allow a variety of different ways to make the disclosure, including a text statement, QR code, phone number, or URL:
Just a week before a Vermont law kicks in requiring labels on food containing genetically modified ingredients, U.S. Senate agriculture leaders announced a deal Thursday that takes the power out of states' hands — and sets a mandatory national system for GM disclosures on food products.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, unveiled the plan that had been negotiated for weeks with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan. Senate Democrats from farm country called it a win for consumers and families, while Roberts said it would end "denigrating biotechnology and causing confusion in the marketplace" brought on by Vermont's state law.
But it was clearly an uneasy compromise, with critics of the plan making for strange bedfellows on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Both Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Democrat who supports his state's mandatory law, and the American Farm Bureau Federation, which wants a voluntary GMO labeling standard, announced their opposition to the Roberts-Stabenow deal.
For those who may not already be aware, a GMO is a Genetically Modified Organism.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 24 2016, @04:00PM
I don't give a squishy shit.
If people won't buy one thing, I'll grow something else. If the market is being tilted in the direction of what I grow, great. If not, I change.
This applies to many factors, not just GMOs. If the market decides that nothing beats the great taste of organic, free range, cruelty free, antibiotic free triffids, then I'll get some goggles and grow triffids.
GMOs help for a lot of things, but I have not seen a single thing that they supposedly do in mass production (i.e. not spidergoat silk) that can't be achieved by altering farming practices. Problem with soil salinity? Change your crops or change your hydrology or both. And so on. Fill in the blanks yourselves.
This is not a farming apocalypse. The media seems to greatly overstate the degree to which we care, or the degree to which companies like Monsanto hold our leashes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 24 2016, @05:22PM
Thank you for the information, though I wonder if most farmers are as flexible. Your point about the media goes to show just how far corporate control has spread. Reminds me of the bacon and maple syrup emergency shortages that were reported, my suspicion is that it was an attempt at viral marketing news for a quick sales boost. Sadly these tactics go unheard of unless someone gets their hands on definitive proof. General trends are not accepted as truth, and get blown away by Occam's razor. While a good logical tool, the razor can sometimes make a harmful cut...
I'm not saying such media tactics are what occurred since I have no proof. Just a sneaking suspicion based on trends.
Oh, and props for the triffid reference :)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 24 2016, @08:22PM
As an organic goat farmer and bee keeper I do give a squishy shit. I don't want to lose my hives to toxic shit being blown in or worry about how much round up my goats and chickens are eating or that all of us are drinking. Labeling GMOs gives consumers the choice to vote with their pocketbooks against farming practices that are too short sighted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 25 2016, @03:32AM
That's a problem with the people around you, not the choices of consumers.
Mind you, the bugs seem to adapt on a quick enough cycle that the benefits of GMOs only seem to last a decade or so, so the extra price doesn't seem worth it.