Washington state voters reject labeling of GMO foods

OK..
so I finally took the time to do my own research.

So as I understand it....a GMO an organism that has been altered in a lab via cross species trait inclusion/exlusion

NOT THROUGH SELECTIVE BREEDING

So...then, I wonder...can there be lab testing to tell the difference between animals that are the result of breeding/natural mutation/adaption vs chemichal/surgical trait implanting?

?

And Monsanto is in the process of a $400 million expansion to its Chesterfield, Missouri plant ... mostly for GMO research/greenhouses.

Monsanto expansion

On another note, do you think that's that lady's real name??

Although, it looks like Pioneer Hi-Bred is trying to close rank on it. In late 2011, it also expanded its Missouri plant.

Dupont

So, what's up, Missouri?? Please don't "Show Me" this.....

Isn't a vote to reject these labeling requirements essentially a vote to have less access to information about the food you are putting in your body? A vote for your own ignorance?

"Do you want to know what you're eating?"

"No thanks."

What kind of propaganda were these people being plied with?

WA state voter here and I voted YES on I-522.

Pretty easy to defeat though, $20+ million in donations came in to the NO campaign (All but $500 of which was from corporations and groups) and all they had to do was put commercials on TV every 10 seconds brainwashing people into believing that their food costs would go up $500 a year and it would hurt local farmers (neither of which is true)

Xcouncil=wisdom
OK..
so I finally took the time to do my own research.

So as I understand it....a GMO an organism that has been altered in a lab via cross species trait inclusion/exlusion

NOT THROUGH SELECTIVE BREEDING

So...then, I wonder...can there be lab testing to tell the difference between animals that are the result of breeding/natural mutation/adaption vs chemichal/surgical trait implanting?

?

A genetically modified organism has had its genetic characteristics altered via genetic engineering rather than selective breeding. GMO detection methods do exist. The Wikipedia page on this subject gives a basic overview. Generally, you would extract DNA from the organism in question, try to amplify a certain region of its genome using PCR, and then examine the results.

reply to post by Carreau


They got up and voted for smoking weed but not this?! I hope they all get stuck with genetically modified weed.

If GMOs are really as harmless as proponents would like consumers to believe, then why would these companies try to conceal the fact that products contain GMO ingredients? Why don't marketers even attempt to tell us that GMOs are actually better than organic? There are studies that unequivocally indicate that some GMO foods actually have more nutrients than their organic counterparts. Could a marketer ask for any more of a slam-dunk than that? GMOs can come cheaper and with more nutrients! Wow! Monsanto is saving the world! So why don't they market it like that instead of the ninja strategy? To me the answer is seems obvious: marketers do not believe enough consumers are gullible enough to buy it, so all they can do is try to keep consumers in the dark.

Whether the vote was rigged or not... I have my suspicions. As someone else commented earlier, I really only trust voting that is done in a way that allows voters to confirm the veracity of the votes and the accuracy of the counting, ie paper ballots being publicly counted. Either way GMO companies are fighting a losing battle by trying to conceal information in the information age, so this strategy is almost guaranteed to fail very soon.

reply to post by Aleister


I live in Oregon and all you saw were anti 522 ads full of half truths and lies. They spent like 22 million to the pro 522 7 million...real fair.

DaRAGE
They can rig presidential elections.... They can rig this vote too.

Yep, that's my guess.

We are looked upon as lab rats for all testing purposes, and lab rats don't ask questions. The best thing we can do is visciously bite our handlers, a lot.

Aleister
reply to post by Carreau

 

They must have had some persuasive ads, because I can't think of one reason to oppose this.

It's because most people really are that uncaring about their health.
They'd rather get 5% cheaper food that makes them sick and then pay hundreds or thousands more on healthcare for the rest of their lives.

Most people really are just that intellectually lazy.

reply to post by Carreau


I don't think corporations should have the right to vote.

Or to lobby for candidates.

reply to post by pvtjoker75


There should be a remedy for openly lying to the public in that manner, other than pitchforks, a wooden rail, hot tar, and feathers. Is there one?

GMO is a complex thing. Just like everything else, it can be good or it can be bad. We wouldn't be able to feed our current populations without gmos and pesticides. An unpleasant fact but truth none the less. The more the world population grows, the more gmo we will need.

I want to add that I am not a fan of Monsanto by any stretch of the imagination. But some gmo is harmless, others not so much.

Many may have seen the high citrus prices lately, but what many people don't know is that a bacteria is destroying orange groves in Florida. A gmo tree has been created using dna from spinache.

Its not going to hurt you, and the Florida orange industry may be saved.

The real answer to fight GMO is the same as the others, eat local. The whole world doesn't need to eat mangos and bananas, or other fruit grown year round in the tropics. Eat local, eat seasonally. Then you eliminate much of the need for gmo.

reply to post by Carreau

I don't know why anyone would reject it. Makes no sense to me. People deserve to have this kind of information available and not hidden behind the scenes. I feel people will still get the information, but this just makes it harder. Anyway, I live in Oregon and it's only a matter of time before this issue comes up.

Are GMO foods harmful? Probably not, but I suspect there're things we're missing in the testing and trials and this will inevitably hit us somewhere - whether we're aware of it or not. The whole idea of engineering our food genetically and on almost every other level scares me, but it's not unexpected. We're coming to a time where engineering our planet is not outside our potential actions - ecosystems, the ocean, weather, etc. We're already engineering our mind via therapies and drugs and surgeries. We're fast approaching the time when manmade hands will be attached to peoples arms sort of like how Luke Skywalker had his lost hand replaced. All of this engineering and no mistakes? No way! We -will- make mistakes, knowingly or not.

Life is an experiment, but that doesn't mean we should make Frankenstein. And people should have choices. Look at the Amish - living without technology. That's their choice. To what extent will society allow us to make our own choices?

caseman1967
We are looked upon as lab rats for all testing purposes, and lab rats don't ask questions. The best thing we can do is visciously bite our handlers, a lot.

This is why they have assigned the IRS to have access to all of your medical reports and lab results under the ACA. It makes no sense to put poison into the lab rat if you are not around to collect the data on all of the effects.

The mechanisms that will provide the world's greatest tyranny in the history of mankind is complete. We are now only waiting for the tyrant who will turn it on.

reply to post by dubiousone


I wish. These ads were partially half truths and half outright lies.

I live in Wa. State and voted for I-522.

My Grandfather worked at Monsanto for most of his working life.Retiring from them in 1973.I used to be proud of him working there as he was on the team that helped invent AstroTurf.Only later have I become aware what an evil place this company has become.Were they always that way?I don't know but I`m still proud of Grandpa Bowe.

I was hoping that this measure would get passed.If only as a place to start with products that had GMO`s in their makeup.I was willing to pay higher prices.People deserve a choice in this matter.Hopefully it will get passed at another time some place else.Atleast pot is legal here now.And on that note.......

I'm pissed. I blame the crappy mail-voting as our only option. NOBODY my age signed up to receive a ballot in the mail, or put in the effort to fill it out and send it in. We used to be able to go to my elementary school and meet up with your friends and talk about the issues, now you have this stupid confusing mail-in ballot.

Add to that the ONLY people that put in the effort to send them in were people like my grandparents who live in the same neighborhood as me and are conservative where GRANDMA ALWAYS VOTES THE SAME AS GRANDPA, and it makes sense. ON OUR WAY BACK FROM THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY GRANT EVENT where we watched millions go to young researchers and FOOD was talked about A LOT in studies, my grandma (God Bless Her) was sooo brain washed, on the car ride back she automatically talked about how evil 522 was when she just saw presentations about how food was genetically modified, and how it causes CANCER (like what my Granpa has) down the road. Even when I explained to her that if you look at soup labels you see Na&K Nitrates/ites which are used in EXPLOSIVES as preservatives, and how bad those are for you let alone GMO she just got stubborn and angry...

I knew I should have filled in my sisters mail-in ballot for her and sent it in, I don't care if it was a felony I would just check the box that somebody else filled it out for her and "X" the area where the old invalids do that can't write, nobody would have known.

THE REASON THIS DIDN'T PASS IS BECAUSE OF BRAINWASHED OLD PEOPLE, WOMEN (BECAUSE MOST OF THE TIME THEY FOLLOW THEIR HUSBANDS INSTRUCTIONS ON WHAT TO VOTE FOR), AND MAIL-IN VOTING!!!!

reply to post by Mamatus

Your post wreaks of us vs. them mentality.
Maybe you go see the world outside of Seattle or Austin.

In certain parts of the "hicks", assuming that what you mean by "not Seattle or Austin" we are far from progressive or liberal, true.

We are more than likely Libertarian, or even (gasp!) Tea Party.
And guess what, around my parts, at least, we'll be the first ones to look the other way regardless of what you're doing, unless you're actually hurting someone.

Beyond that, I could care less what you do to get your thrills and fulfill yourself.

My guess is that you put yourself into people's communities with an era about you, probably as a defensive tactic.
Don't think it to deeply, they probably don't care as much as you think they do, trust me.

Oh yeah, my uncle rolls a badass 1199r, and even here in Harley country, he's turning heads left and right.