Julie Kelly explains for National Review Online readers why recent federal action might mean the beginning of the end for “hysteria” surrounding genetically modified organisms.
The GMO-labeling movement — the latest cause célèbre of liberal elites — was dealt a major blow last week when Congress passed HR 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. The bill, sponsored by Representative Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), prohibits states from mandating labels on products with genetically modified ingredients and creates a voluntary certification system at the USDA. “This bill, supported by over 400 groups that provide safe and affordable food for our world, will eliminate the state-by-state labeling patchwork that would serve to confuse consumers, stigmatize GMO crops, and raise food costs,” Pompeo said after the 275–150 vote on July 23.
Forty-five Democrats voted in favor of the bill — including Marcia Fudge, Sheila Jackson Lee, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus — over concerns that labeling would mean higher costs to their constituents. The bill now needs a Democratic co-sponsor in the Senate.
Culinary crusaders boiled over. Opponents of the bill referred to it as the DARK Act, Denying Americans the Right to Know. Organic-industry leaders, who would hugely profit from the scarlet letters of a GMO label on non-organic products, lobbied heavily against the bill. “We are disappointed but not surprised that the majority of House members have sided with large chemical and food companies to protect corporate interests,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield Organic and a major funder for various anti-GMO front groups. Celebrity chef and left-wing activist Tom Colicchio wrote that members of Congress were “actively trying to deny us the basic right to know what we are putting in our bodies.”
They also howled that Republicans were denying states’ rights, even though the bill will preempt a labeling law in only one state (Vermont, home to Democratic presidential candidate and ardent GM foe Bernie Sanders) while preventing a labyrinth of 50 different labeling requirements.
You really can’t blame anti-GMO folks for being a bit cranky lately; it’s been a rough stretch for them. Labeling referenda failed last year in Oregon and Colorado, following the defeat of a similar initiative in California in 2012. State lawmakers across the country aren’t too keen on the idea, either, and “most state GMO-labeling laws did not get far in 2015” according to Food Safety News.