“Goofy” Sculpture by Hyungkoo Lee
The news this morning: still no definitive answer on Washington’s 522 Initiative. As of this blog writing, the measure is trailing in all but four counties with an overall defeat of 45 to 55 percent looking likely. I am only saddened, not surprised.
Did you have any trouble identifying Hyungkoo Lee’s sculpture of Goofy?
“Huey, Dewey, Louie” by Hyungkoo Lee
The measure would have required genetically modified foods sold in retail establishments to be labeled. The idea was to give consumers some bare bones information so they could make an informed choice about whether or not to buy such foods. Predictably, it was money – more than $22 million – that bought the ‘no’ vote. It was the most money ever spent by one side in an initiative battle in our state.
Or how about Donald Duck’s nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie?
Most of money for the ‘no’ campaign came from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and Bayer CropScience – all corporations heavily invested in genetically engineered crops. I’ve not read anything that lays out the basic reason for their huge expenditure, but it seems to be a no-brainer: it’s all about fear of losing money if we-the-public were informed.
“Sylvester and Tweety Bird” by Hyungkoo Lee
And, even without fur and feathers, it’s easy to tell whether Sylvester or Tweety Bird is the bad guy.
Which is ironic when you think about it. They blitzed the media with commercials and advertisements full of half-truths counting on John and Jane Q. Public to blindly believe. So why do they think giving us a choice through labeling would be a bad thing? Do they think we would suddenly become informed so that we could make intelligent choices? I guess I’m not that optimistic.
This Californian has been following the “issue” and is aware of from whence comes the big bucks that don’t want foods to be labeled, because, why? Because then the foods might not be purchased. Another situation in which the tired but true words prevail: Buyer Beware. The sad aspect for me is that non infused foods cost more and with so many people living on limited funds the need is to buy what is available and affordable is a first priority.My little family of two humans and one furry one can pick and choose (well, we do choose for the cat) what foods are ingested. Organic does cost more. Checking labels does take more time. Cooking from scratch also takes time. Two of the illusive factors in life today are time and money. How can we start the long walk back to sensible living?
Nan, I love it that you follow our State’s issues (and my blog!) even though you are in far off California! As you know, Nyel and I fall into that realm of not easily affording to buy all organic. However, as you also know, there are many non-“organic”foods which are not genetically modified — if we only could know which ones those were! One of the ploys of the “Vote No on 522” campaign was to imply that we already have a choice in the matter because organically grown foods are already being labeled. That’s comparing apples to oranges and is infuriating. It is entirely possible for non-organically grown foods to also be non-genetically modified. If only we knew which ones!
It is particularly sad that Washington state had a very low voter turnout. So much apathy.
People duped again by Big Money and Big Business. I don’t understand why folks would think Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Coke and Pepsi etc would have their interests at heart. It’s mind boggling to me. MIND BOGGLING! A democracy can’t function well unless its citizenry is educated and well-informed on issues. Gah!!!!!!
Agribusiness knows that the more informed the public is about what goes into American food the less likely we are to purchase the processed stuff and Frankenfood that has passed for the American diet for too long. I am heartened by the fact that Kroger is making more and more organic products. Yes, it costs a little more, but how about giving up something else in the name of eating healthfully?