Gucciardi writes: "Activists and concerned citizens around the world have had enough with corrupt corporations censoring their right to know what's in their food, and frankly they're beyond upset. And if the government will not side with the 90 plus percentage of consumers who are in favor of GMO labeling, then they're going to do it themselves."
Consumers are taking food labeling into their own hands. (photo: Label It Yourself.org)
After GMO Labeling Shot Down, Citizens Start Labeling Themselves
17 November 12
ctivists and concerned citizens around the world have had enough with corrupt corporations censoring their right to know what's in their food, and frankly they're beyond upset. And if the government will not side with the 90 plus percentage of consumers who are in favor of GMO labeling, then they are going to do it themselves.
As it turns out, many are doing just that through the 'DIY' GMO labeling campaign known as 'The Label It Yourself Campaign'. Sporting a skull with cornstalks for crossbones, the DIY labels inform customers as to whether or not a product 'may' include GMO ingredients or most certainly does.
Below is one label taken from the campaign website that activists are now placing on products found in grocery stores, homes of friends and family (to incite discussion), and just about everywhere else:
People Will Not Stand for Corporate Food Lies Any Longer
With 80% or more of many staple crops like corn and soybeans already genetically modified, there is a large chance that most products containing these ingredients (or deriviatives) does indeed contain GMOs. Even more so for highly processed high-fructose corn syrup and other harmful ingredients which are arguably modified 100% of the time. You can print out the labels from the campaign website and stick them on products for yourself.
With a lack of real GMO labeling thanks to dirty tricks by pro-GMO groups like No on 37, grassroots initiatives are the only methods of alerting the public to what they are putting into their mouths. Pro-GMO campaigns have impersonated and illegally used the FDA seal, posed as phony cop and democrat groups, and poured more than $45 million into keeping consumers into the dark.
Now, citizens are fighting back through peaceful grassroots initiatives. As a picture from one Treehugger blog shows, consumers are honestly labeling processed foods across the shelves of international grocers.
As for the legal aspect? The Label It Yourself Campaign states:
"At the moment, the law protects misinformation and private property above truth-telling, and public well-being…"
Meanwhile, corporations like Monsanto continue to pump out GMOs that have been time and time again linked to disease, environmental disaster, and even the center of 'slave labor' issues. When government legislation is shot down through corruption, it becomes a grassroots responsibility to take action and make a real change.
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Comments
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Think about it: The Berkeley Free Speech Movement made PRESIDENT Ronald Reagan possible, whereas before then, the very concept was a joke. Talk about unintended consequences.
If you don't want to buy GMO, that's fine: There ought to be a GMO label. But it's not your right to scare other people or essentially vandalize shopkeepers by marking up products that they are selling to willing customers. You're applying pressure on the wrong people.
This is just like banning all abortions because you yourself don't want one.
The right response to the GMO situation: Go back propose a law that is pro-labeling, and learn to run a proper election campaign to get it passed.
FWIW: My position on GMO foods:
- I'm not particularly concerned, personally; but
- People have a right to know what they are eating.
(But they DON'T have a right to terrify other people about what they are eating.)
So, yes: "damaged goods".
As long as GMOs are not PROVEN harmful scientifically, your opinion that they are harmful is just your opinion: You are entitled to avoid GMO food, but you are not allowed to damage other people's property (see above) to enforce your opinion upon them. That's why we have real scientists in addition to people who just believe what they read on the internet.
Actually, I'd try to figure out what the purpose of the sticker was, and then either ignore it or remove it.
" Likely you would demand that a normal "unstickered" container be provided."
No, if the sticker bothered me, I'd Just pull it off.
"The merchant is going to have to dump all that stickered stuff."
Or pull the stickers off. Or leave them on if she thinks her customers have a right to know what they are eating.
"As long as GMOs are not PROVEN harmful scientifically, your opinion that they are harmful is just your opinion: You are entitled to avoid GMO food, but you are not allowed to damage other people's property (see above) to enforce your opinion upon them"
The stickers don't tell people that GMO's are harmful, just that they are in the food. Just like labels don't tell you that MSG or artificial sweeteners are harmful (they are, but u are welcome to eat them). Nothing's being damaged, and no one is forcing opinions on anyone, other than the opinion that we have a right to know what we are eating.
You're slightly lacking in common sense: If the container has been stickered by someone not associated with the manufacturer, particularly by someone YOU DON'T KNOW, you have no reason to believe what the sticker says. Remember the arsenic that some unknown jerk put into bottles of Tylenol? You know as much about that container as those victims did about their Tylenol.
The stickers are ONLY meaningful if the original vendor puts them on, such that they are an integral part of the product packaging. Otherwise, they are just prima facie evidence that the product has been tampered with and cannot be considered safe by sensible people. If you can't trust the vendor, who has a name and brand and CAN BE SUED, how can you trust an unknown stickerer, who has no name, no brand, and CANNOT BE SUED? {Oh, he put his name on the sticker? Never heard of forging a name?]
So if you want vendors to identify GMO food, go do a proper job of passing a law that requires it. DON'T damage other people's legitimate rights.
I want to know what is in the food I buy. GMO companies have the public relations $$$ advantage in trying to convince people that there is no harm in GMO's. The potential risk in GMO's is cause for alarm. I'm lucky to have $ to buy food that is labeled Non-GMO. I also care for the health of people who can't afford or don't care about the ingredients in food. Some people believe that if food is on the market, then it must be safe.
I care enough about life that the Precautionary Principle (PP) is what guides me in making purchases. If you don't know about PP, I urge you to look into it. It is about taking a compassionate position in the products we use.
There is no shortage of studies that scientifically proven the dangers of GMOs. Start here(below),and follow some links here or just google gmo dangers and you'll find plenty of reputable studies that prove the dangers of GMOs.
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers
Unlike safety evaluations for drugs, there are no human clinical trials of GM foods. The only published human feeding experiment revealed that the genetic material inserted into GM soy transfers into bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GM foods, we may still have their GM proteins produced continuously inside us.
If the gene that creates Bt-toxin in GM corn were to transfer, it might turn our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories.
It seems like we both agree foods containing GMOs should be labeled. Let's work together to make the manufacturer label their foods that contain GMOs and let the consumer decide...
www.nongmoproject.org
Warning: Food Safety Alert!
This food may be genetically modified (GMO) and may be dangerous to your health.
GMO companies want to privatize our food sources!
They want you to be dependent on them to make $$$ off you. Like real estate agents, they are not your friend.
GMO's are enemies of small farmers.
GMO's may be harmful to your mind and body.
GMO companies are predatory and have a lot of lawyers.
Too much for a label? Maybe all shop owners will someday refuse to gamble on destructive risks.
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