Death blow to GMOs? California ballot initiative calls for mandatory labeling of all genetically engineered foods

Monday, October 03, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)

(NaturalNews) In what is perhaps the most significant breaking news we've heard on the GMO front in a long time, an effort has just been announced in California that seeks to gather enough signatures to put an historical initiative on the ballot which would require the labeling of GMOs in foods.

I interviewed Ronnie Cummins from the Organic Consumers Association (www.OrganicConsumers.org), who is a key leader in advocating mandatory GMO labeling. His organization is playing a significant role in helping to get this initiative on the ballot in California.

This is the pathway to victory against GMOs! With this initiative on the ballot, we have a very achievable strategy to deal a death blow to GMOs and restore sanity and integrity to our seeds and food crops.

Listen to the full interview with Ronnie Cummins on SoundCloud:

http://snd.sc/qPBFJk

Highlights from the announcement for mandatory GMO labeling

• This labeling initiative is effectively a "ban" on GMOs, because most consumers simply won't buy genetically engineered ingredients once they know they are present in conventional foods.

• GMOs are only continuing to be grown and sold today because consumers have been prevented from knowing about the GMO ingredients in their foods.

• 75% of all non-organic processed foods in grocery stores today contain genetically engineered ingredients.

• 90% - 95% of Americans want to know which foods contain GMOs.

• The GMO industry is already gearing up to fight this ballot initiative and plans to spread lies about GMOs such as "GMOs are necessary to feed the world" or "genetically engineered crops are perfectly safe!" (The quack scientists who push GMOs are no doubt gearing up to spread their lies and disinformation as part of the effort to confuse consumers and thereby protect their GMO profits.)

• This initiative, if approved, would force health food retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to reformulate their own products and inventory to remove GMOs. "There's gonna be panic in the boardrooms of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's," says Cummins.

• 700,000 signatures are needed in California to put this initiative on the ballot. This will require an army of volunteers with clipboards to gather the signatures. See below for how you can contribute to this effort.

• Go to www.OrganicConsumers.org and click on the "Millions Against Monsanto" campaign page to see where you can sign up to be a volunteer.

• Significant funding providers for this campaign include: Dr. Bronner's - $1 million, Nature's Path - $500k, Mercola.com - $500k, Organic Consumers Association - $250k and others.