My Letter: No On Prop 37

My letter to the editor of the Times- Standard was published yesterday, much to my chagrin...kinda. I wrote last Monday how I'd sent it in and got a confirmation call just a couple hours later. I assumed that meant it would be published in the next few days.

By Saturday I still hadn't seen it and figured they decided against publishing. I wrote up a nasty blog post about the T-S and how they wouldn't publish my letter. I almost posted it Sunday but decided to wait for a full week (today) before publicly bashing them.  Then it showed up. Whew! Close one.

So here it is. Don't know that it will change many minds but I still pointed out what wasn't being said. Let the flaming begin!

I was undecided on Proposition 37, the genetically modified organism labeling initiative. Now I'm voting against it. 

70 percent to 80 percent of our food contains at least some genetically modified ingredients. Since the vast majority contains GMOs, we can assume they're GMOs unless told otherwise.

Isn't it backwards to label the majority of foods with something we should already know? Makes more sense to label foods that are different. Some producers already label their products “GMO free.” Let them expand that practice and let what's already working, work. 

Proposition 37 is also ripe for lawsuit abuse. Grocers would have to know where their products came from, what's in them and have paperwork to back it up. You can bet certain lawyers are taking a close look at how to make a fast buck with this. 

Proponents' arguments usually include an attack on companies that produce GMO ingredients and that's what this is really about: a slap at big business. They cite many issues with GMOs -- some real, some imagined -- but this initiative does nothing to address those. It's simply to harass businesses. Vote NO on Prop 37.