Europe - GMO's - Prop 37

Owen Paterson is an Environment Secretary in Europe, and he believes that GMO's should be made available in the UK. Frankenstein foods have always had a bad sentiment attached them, but this man believes that farmers could benefit from the biotech. In relation to this article I did some digging and I found something relevant.  Last year in our good old state of California, we had a proposition on the 2012 ballot called prop 37. It would have mandated the labeling of genetically modified organisms or GMO's but lost from a campaign led by Monsanto. They grow genetically modified organisms. If you look at the donations list against the proposition you may be surprised. Monsanto donated over 8 million dollars to the opposition of this proposition. That's not all if you go further down the list you might see some brand names that you recognize. Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Kelloggs, Campbell's, E.I. Dupont, Hershey, and Heinz Foods all donated funds against this proposition. Using basic critical thinking skills and deduction we can assume all of these labels use GMO's in their food, and why wouldn't they? It is a cheaper alternative to regular crops, and they grow faster. But we still don't know the full effects of what they do on the human body, but that hasn't the stopped the EU from banning it. Until now. These companies may have won on prop 37, but the idea that we have a right to know what we are putting in our bodies still stands. At what point do we let corporations dictate our knowledge of food. This rationale is barbaric and I expect more from America.

Works Cited:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291334/Time-Europe-let-British-farmers-grow-GM-food-says-environment-minister.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/prop-37-defeated-californ_n_2088402.html

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_37,_Mandatory_Labeling_of_Genetically_Engineered_Food_(2012)