GMO Labeling Focus Turns To Washington with New Celeb Video
The battle to get genetically modified foods labeled is not going away, even despite Proposition 37’s failure in California earlier this month. Focus is now routing back to federal regulations with the Just Label It campaign urging the FDA to take action. The latest support for the campaign comes via an all-star cast of celebs and musicians making the case in a recent Just Label It video.
Celebrity appearances include some rather big names: Chevy Chase, Michael J. Fox, Frances Fisher, and a (modified looking) Darryl Hannah, along with some lesser known actors. They’re paired up with Ziggy Marley (who provides his song “Personal Revolution” as the soundtrack), and brief appearances by other musicians Jack Johnson and James Taylor, all urging Americans to sign the petition to the FDA to enact federal labeling regulations on foods containing genetically modified ingredients.
To date, the campaign has garnered more than 1.2 million signatures, and the support of some high profile organic food brands including Stonyfield Yogurt. CEO Gary Hirshberg is also chairman of the Just Label It campaign. In a recentSustainable Food Newsarticle, Hirshberg said, “I’ll be shocked if we don’t see a rider tied to the farm bill that limits states rights to ban genetically modified foods or require labeling.”
The video, according to Hirshberg will help to remind the FDA of the role of Washington to support the rights and wills of the American people—not just American corporations.
And despite the unexpected failure of Proposition 37, there seems to be an enormous surge of energy around getting GMOs labeled. Not one day after writing this article on DIY GMO labels appearing in California stores, I overheard a couple sitting next to me at a restaurant confessing to their friends that they know it’s illegal and they don’t care, but they’re blitzing their local Ralph’s supermarket right before Thanksgiving with their own GMO labels on packaged stuffing, gravies and other foods that are at a high risk for containing GMOs.
More than 60 countries already have GMO regulations and labeling policies. Approximately 80 percent of the processed foods sold in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients—far more than any other country in the world—yet there are currently no regulations whatsoever that require labeling products containing GMOs. Environmental and human health concerns top the list of reasons why consumers and organizations are seeking regulations to require labeling of GMOs.
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Image: qmnonic
