Once upon a time, a system was designed in which “the people” elected delegates to go to Washington DC. These members of Congress had the specific duty of representing the wishes of their constituencies when laws were being voted upon.
The success of last weekend’s March Against Monsanto should have made it very clear that a great many people wish to see, at the very least, labels on toxic GMO foods. The fact that this success was covered up by the media does NOT mean that the members of Congress were unaware of it – just the opposite. Our success was frightening, and that is why it was covered up.
Despite that, the day before the event, an amendment to the farm bill that would have allowed the individual states to pass laws protecting consumers from unlabeled GMOs was quietly shot down in the Senate with a vote of 71-27 against this right. The timing of this betrayal, right before a long weekend, goes along with the general modus operandi of sliding through things that will meet with objections from the public when they are otherwise distracted.
The failure to pass this amendment was due in part to Monsanto mouthpiece Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chair of the Agriculture Committee. Stabenow, incidentally, received over three quarters of a million dollars from agribusiness interests ($739,926 to be exact) in agribusiness donations. Stabenow utilized the propaganda that is being dispersed by the likes of Monsanto and the Gates Foundation to argue her point:
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chair of the Agriculture Committee, spoke on behalf of the biotech giant seizing the opportunity to focus primarily on the myth that genetically modified ingredients feed the hungry people of the world, ignoring the fact that 64 countries now require GMO labeling.
“This particular amendment would interfere with the FDA’s science-based process to determine what food labeling is necessary for consumers,” Stabenow said. ...CONTINUE READING HERE!
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