GMO food labeling lets Rhode Islanders decide

By Donna M. Nesselbush
I don't know about you, but I like "choice," and so do an increasing number of
Rhode Islanders who care deeply about what they eat. Whether it is parents looking for
the best food for their children or our top chefs interested in the freshest ingredients, buy
local appears to be gaining traction. Great organizations like Farm Fresh RI and the RI
Food Policy Council are working to make local food sources more prevalent, more
sustainable and more affordable. We are proud of our reputation as a leader in this area.
I feel strongly that "you are what you eat." Knowing this truism, people across
Rhode Island are telling us they want more information about the food they put in their
shopping carts. One of the most spirited issues right now surrounds genetically modified
foods. Are they good for us or bad for us? The problem is that we really don't know.
In an average grocery store, roughly 75 percent of processed foods contain
"genetically modified organisms" or GMOs. Unfortunately, Rhode Islanders shopping at
their neighborhood Shaws or Stop & Shop or Daves dont know if the food they are
buying contains GMOs, because there is no labeling requirement. This needs to change.
In the spirit of Roger Williams, Rhode Islanders have a "right to know" what we are
eating, and we, as a state, should join the growing coalition of states requiring labeling of
GMO foods. Vermont, Maine and Connecticut have already passed GMO labeling
legislation, and a similar bill in Massachusetts has the support of 75 percent of the
legislature. Additionally, over 60 countries, from Russia to Italy (and almost all of the
developed world) have enacted similar legislation. The European Union has required
GMO labeling since 1997.

Genetically engineered food is prevalent in grocery stores, yet the U.S.

government does not perform or require independent safety testing. Perhaps this is
because the biotech industry allegedly, according to the Food and Water Watch, has spent
$547 Million lobbying Congress from 1999-2009. To make matters worse, according to
the same organization, over 300 former Congressional and White House staff members
are now employed by biotech firms as lobbyists. This doesn't smell right, alongside a
growing body of evidence linking GMOs to personal health risks and environmental
impacts. While further research is needed, public opinion polls repeatedly show more
than 90% of Americans want to be able to make informed decisions about whether or not
they purchase and consume GMOs.
Despite the overwhelming support of the American people, the Grocery
Manufacturers Association, representing the largest chemical and food processing
companies, are fighting labeling requirements here and in other states, because they
would prefer to keep consumers in the dark about what they are eating. So much for
"you are what you eat" and the customer is always right. They claim that providing
factual information about our food will confuse consumers and raise food prices.
Fortunately, we don't have to rely on industry-funded assertions of impossibility
and impracticality. Dozens of countries have labeled GMOs without increasing food
costs, and state after state is considering jumping on the bandwagon. I believe that every
Rhode Islander deserves to know whether food contains GMOs, and the time is now for
our state government to step in.
I have filed legislation in the Senate that would create a GMO labeling
requirement in Rhode Island, and I thank Representatives Raymond Hull, Dennis Canario

and Blake Fillippi who have also filed GMO bills in the House. There are differences in
the various pieces of legislation, but the point is to require that products containing
GMOs be plainly labeled, so that consumers can simply decide for themselves whether or
not to buy them and eat them. I have nothing personally "against" GMOs, I just think
people have a right to know if they are eating them.
Lets make Rhode Island the next state to join the trend toward a transparent food
supply for all Rhode Islanders where the ingredients are not masked by the huge
corporations that, not surprisingly, may be motivated more by money than by health.
Donna M. Nesselbush is a Democratic Rhode Island state senator representing
District 15, which includes portions of Pawtucket and North Providence. She introduced
legislation this week to require labeling of food containing genetically modified
organisms.