Washington state voters reject labeling of GMO foods

The initiative would have required labels on foods containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled.

The vote was 54.8% opposed to labeling and 45.2% in favor of it.

Washington state voters reject labeling of GMO foods

Another close vote and another win for Monsanto. Initiative 522 was opposed almost entirely from outside of the State resources.

The top five contributors were the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences and Bayer CropScience

The argument was the same, it will raise the cost of food and enough people believed it. Frankly I don't care if you believe GMO food are harmful or not, but why not label everything and let people make a decision on their own?

I just wish the people in ONE State would vote for this and then see what happens.

reply to post by Carreau


They must have had some persuasive ads, because I can't think of one reason to oppose this.

If you examine the contributors, you notice a few things. The grocery association is worried about the profits that they would lose if the food doesn't sell and they are still forced to stock it because of demand of others. The other companies all have ties to making medicine to treat ailments. The little that this campaign costs is dwarfed by future prediction drug sales to treat ailments that will show up. These ailments will be slow forthcoming so there will never be any undeniable proof that their products cause them.

S&F for bringing this depressing news. I guess we should all quit eating processed food that is not organic. Maybe we should quit eating all commercially produced foods altogether. The problem with this is that the organic chemicals used on organic foods to extend their shelflife can also cause problems. As we all know, this organic chemistry needs to be approved by the FDA to be certified organic. The FDA is under the direct influence of these companies. For this reason, I do not always trust certified organic food completely. They still use organic chemicals that may be bad for us. Some of them may actually be worse for us than the nonorganic chemistry.

There is a lot of reaction going on against GMOs worldwide right now.

I'd like to see the U.S. join in against Monsanto and friends, finally breaking them into submission.

Evil must be fought against and kept at bay.

MichiganSwampBuck
There is a lot of reaction going on against GMOs worldwide right now.

I'd like to see the U.S. join in against Monsanto and friends, finally breaking them into submission.

Evil must be fought against and kept at bay.

You should have said Monsonto and Fiends.

I wonder how much they had to pay for the votes?

reply to post by ObjectZero


22 million, it's in the article I linked.

For those unfamiliar with 80% of Washington let me illuminate you:

Seattle is to Washington what Austin is to Texas. Simply put most of the the liberals and progressives live in Seattle. The rest of the states residents pretty much belong somewhere much more conservative than anywhere else on the West Coast.

Will never forget riding my red Ducati through Eastern Washington this summer. Got flipped off by more 60 year old grumpy faced Republican tea party types than is believable.

i recommend people read the bill that was proposed.

I am very pro gmo-labelling, but there were a lot of holes in this bill.

I guess they wan't to end up looking like those tumor ridden rats fed gmo corn. When you play with nature,you disregard your own health. I would pay more, if it meant that my food wasn't tampered with. I don't see why people would vote against this measure.

reply to post by Carreau


As of this morning Wednesday November 6, 2013 the (yes votes are leading on 522); by tonight we will know more.

It ain't over...till it's over...

Ah...my mistake people...I was just looking at one county...It looks like it is not going to pass...very dissapointing.

According to Politico.com, it's too early to tell since Washington is a mail-in ballot state. It is saying that a recent poll shows those opposed to the labeling leading by about 536,000 (54.8 percent) to 442,000 (45.2 percent), which is only about one-quarter of the state's registered voters. The AP isn't predicting a winner since the vote can almost double by the mail-ins. Let's just hope...

Politico.com

They can rig presidential elections.... They can rig this vote too.

I, for one, don't trust any vote that is not done by paper ballots, hand-counted in PUBLIC. I do not for one minute believe that people don't want GMO labeling. That's not been my experience... I call BS.

I defend genetically engineered products as I see the great forward momentum in science. However, I still believe it should all be labeled, the same as nutrition facts must be in many places. It should be a customer right to know what they are eating.

Unfortunately, the GMO players are far beyond where they should be with power, and while most everything in science is about discovery, improving our way of life, the people who wield our knowledge often do so with a heavy hand.

Food costs rising? Really? GMO has lowered the cost of food, that is the argument. Hell, I argue that point defending it often…

reply to post by Mamatus


I'm a conservative, but I am pro-GMO labeling. So don't assume this is a black and white issue with conservatives on one side and liberals on the other. I'm sure there are low-income Democrats in Washington state who voted against the measure because they don't want their food prices to go up.
Sal

Competition raises the price of food? Really? I thought the entire reason for competition was to get a better deal as a consumer. Seems to me the only thing labeling would do would be to create competition. Companies would compete with products that do not have GMO in them. The consumers would then choose.

I never saw a problem with GMO until as part of my uni course for my genetics module I had to try and genetically engineer a carrot.

O boy did that get weird. The thing sorta half died. Most of it was dead but it carried on growing and eating. For 3 months until me and my lab partner burned it

After that? Well it would just take some idiot in a lab like me to at best turn a whole species of plant extinct or cause a uprising of zoombie carrots to go round feasting on the brains of vegetarians (ok that last part may be abit extreme).

What is GMO?

I mean I understand hybridization...and I hope that is not what we are calling GMO

Is GMO when you make a chimera?
Inter-species cross genetics?

or are we just talking about selectie breeding to get desired results?

This issue has had me confused for years....usually when I hear someone ranting about GMO's and I try getting them to narrow it down...the best argument I get is Monsanto is evil

What does that have to do with anything

Answer please clearly for me...what is GMO a chimera made in a lab, or hybridization (breeding desired results)

Thank you
X

So...I was trying to find a wiki leak to post up to explain what I understand a chimera to be.

I guess that is the wrong word for what I am trying to express.

So I will simplify the question.

Is GMO a result from selective breeding or cutting and splicing cells interspecies?

Is the difference clear, and provable?

Thanks

X