Besha RodellIt seems as though more and more states are becoming willing to demand labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The most recent state to move in that direction is Connecticut: The state's State Senate this week voted 35-to-1 in favor of a GMO labeling bill.
This doesn't mean that food in CT will automatically have to be labeled — the way the law is written, it won't go into effect until 3 other states take up similar measures. Vermont's House voted on a similar measure recently, but the Senate in that state won't take up the measure until 2014.
Meanwhile, in Washington State, voters will get the chance to decide this November whether they want their food labeled for GMOs, in a very similar measure to California's Prop. 37, which was voted down in this state last fall. Because California already rejected the measure, all we can do is wait around until enough other states vote to label for GMOs that it becomes national.
But it's possible none of this will matter. The U.S. Senate just voted against a bill that would make it clear that the states have the right to require labeling. The reason given by legislators: that such laws would preempt the FDA's function as the governing body of what needs to be on food labels. The reason suspected by many: because corporations such as Monsanto buy and sell our politicians unabashedly.
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