On Oct. 8th, the GMO Voter Education Forum was held in Gerlinger Hall on campus. Students and Eugene residents were offered free campaign materials and complimentary Ciao Bella gelato as they filed into room 302. As attendants settled into their seats, panelist Bret Diamond, field organizer for the Oregon Right to Know Campaign, began the forum by discussing the history of GMOs.
According to Diamond, the first genetically modified food was a tomato in 1994. It was labeled as a GMO, which garnered suspicion from consumers, and subsequently there was no demand for it. According to Diamond, the reason chemical companies want to discourage the labeling of GMOs is to sell genetically modified food despite the lack of demand.
“How do you sell something no one wants?” Diamond asked. “Hide it.”
Dr. Ray Seidler, former senior scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, followed Diamond and focused on the dangerous effects of chemicals that these companies have been selling to American farmers. The forum also addressed the business side of the issue with panelist Kim Gibson Clark. Gisbon Clark recounted her experiences as both a mother and as a business owner and their roles in her decision to support GMO labeling. She refuted the claim that labeling GMOs would raise the cost of food to the consumer by speaking about her experiences working for Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss. Gibson Clark explained that label updates at Coconut Bliss cost 3/10 of a penny per unit sold, and would not raise the price to the buyer – refuting the opposition’s claim that passing Measure 92 would be costly to consumers
Julia DeGraw, Northwest organizer for Food & Water Watch, spoke last and highlighted the arguments of those who oppose Measure 92. Opponents of labeling genetically modified food claimed that in addition to being costly, the labels would be confusing. DeGraw denied this, adding that in grocery stores the labels are already confusing and misleading. For example, according to DeGraw the word “natural” can mean “GMO” but without specific labeling there would be no way to know.
Diamond said it best when he emphasized, “I can’t think of a more basic right than to know what is in our food.”
A short Q&A followed, but none of the questions posed to the panel involved any doubts about the facts presented or the benefits of labeling. Attendants asked about which foods would be labeled, how the laws would be upheld, and the specifics of the dangerous chemicals involved. Before leaving, the attendants were encouraged to take home gelato and to get their vote in by Nov. 4.
For more information on genetically engineered crops, attend Dr. Ray Seidler’s “The Truths About Genetically Engineered Crops: An Ecological Perspective” at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Oct. 10 at 7:30pm.