A Million a Day in TV ads can buy lots of confusion
by Stacy Malkan/ Yes on 37 / October 15, 2012
The world’s largest pesticide companies are spending One Million Dollars a Day to confuse California voters about Proposition 37 — a simple label that will give us the right to know what’s in our food.
A Million a Day in TV ads can buy lots of confusion, but it can’t buy facts.
Here are the facts about Prop 37:
- No cost to consumers: Adding a few words to labels costs nothing. Labeling didn’t raise costs in 50 other countries and won’t raise costs here. It won’t add red tape or bureaucracy either, and the only independent study on Prop 37 confirms these facts. Read the Truth about Cost.
- No incentives for lawsuits: With no incentives for lawyers to sue, the opposition’s stories about “shakedown lawsuits” make no sense whatsoever. Prop 37 is straightforward and easy for businesses to follow; there will be no need for lawsuits. Companies will label for genetic engineering just like they label calories and fat. Retailers have special protections under the law. Read the Truth about Lawsuits.
- Exemptions are common sense: Prop 37 exempts products that have no ingredient labels, such as restaurant food and alcohol. But it will cover meat from genetically engineered animals. The opposition is trying to confuse voters about exemptions — and to do it, they are running ads featuring a fringe radical scientist who think nuclear radiation is good for our health — all because they don’t want to label genetically engineered foods. Read the Truth about Exemptions.
- California farmers are FOR Prop 37: Thousands of California farmers, all the leading businesses in the natural and sustainable food sector, and all the leading labor groups — United Farm Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and California Labor Federation — are saying YES ON 37.
Stand with the leading HEALTH, FAITH, LABOR and CONSUMER groups. Stand up against the PESTICIDE COMPANIES that are trying to buy your vote! VOTE YES ON 37
Meeting Thursday Oct 18th at People’s for Volunteers For Prop 37
Work to “get genetically engineered foods” labeled in California. Meet upstairs in dining room. For more info : sjsedgwick808@gmail.com.
When: Thursday, October 18, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Additional date(s): Thursday, November 1, 2012, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Where: Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market, 4765 Voltaire Street, San Diego, 92107
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Don’t take the corporation’s word for it and don’t assume the noble intentions of Prop 37 are worth the costs. Read the bill and skip to the enforcement section, its a quick read. Rebuttal to the points:
-No cost to consumers – The someone else will pay for it argument is specious because retailers will pass the cost of labeling to consumers. 70% of food is GM, none of it carries the label “on the front and back off the package.”Each package. Farmers and producers will be required to maintain records that demonstrate an absence of GM ingredients. The cost of farmers employing an “independent certification organization” with “approved sampling and testing procedure” will not be cheap.
-No incentive for lawsuits: Prop 37 legalese states plaintiffs are not required to show damages. The incentive for GM troll lawsuits is this text: ” (a), the court may award to that person, organization, or entity reasonable attorney’s fees and all reasonable costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting the action.” This will create a cottage industry of individuals suing gas stations who forget to label a bag of doritos and bill the gas station.
-Exemptions are common sense: Restaurants that serve takeout food need to be prepared to demonstrate compliance because Prop 37 only exempts prepared food, “intended for IMMEDIATE human consumption.” Takeout and displayed desert items would not meet this criteria and must be labeled. Not common sense.
Everyone can avoid GM foods by shopping at retailers like Wholefoods and Trader Joes. Foods at most national chain supermarkets are likely all GE and they will have to relabel or repackage all store items and get sued if they miss one. In my view the public would be better served by dedicating resources to the prevention of food borne illness than to Prop 37 compliance. Besides, the anti-GM movement has a lot in common with the anti-vaccine movement: scary speculation but no facts.
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