On the very slim chance that any of my (Oregon) friends want to know what I think about Measure 92 on the ballot, read on (but promise youll read to the end). Otherwise, skip this post. First, lets get one thing out of the way: there is no scientific evidence that GM foods are bad for people, or for animals fed them and then fed to people. Supporters of this measure have been spreading lots of disinformation, as have the (much better funded) opponents. Terms like franken-foods are, at this point in time, unsupported by scientific evidence. However, what is true is that so-called RoundUp-Ready GM seeds appear to encourage heavy- (or over-) use of herbicides on crops, and the weeds they intended to kill are increasingly becoming immune to standard herbicides (because of the good ol fashioned kind of natural genetic selection). The knock-on effect of those chemicals on groundwater, on insects (like bees), and on the environment in general is not well-studied, but there is some cause for concern. The Measure, as it is written, is a mess. It will likely require a GM label on far too many products, for (you may or may not know) about 94% of US-grown soy and 85% of US-grown corn is GM. If someone walks through a store and slaps a GM label on 90% of packages, that tells you virtually nothing you didnt know already. Whats more, if enacted the Measure will end up in court, and the strong likelihood is that it will need to be dramatically reworked before it can possibly be implemented. There are many other reasons to oppose GM crops that are unrelated to this Measure: opposition to the patenting and restriction from planting of seeds by small farmers, concern about the comparative lack of health safety study of these crops and food, and much more -- but those arent directly addressed by the measure. Given what Ive written above, you might think I oppose the measure -- after all, its not based in science, it is poorly written, and likely unenforceable. But youd be wrong. Im going to vote Yes on this, somewhat reluctantly. While both sides are spouting bad science, it is nonetheless time (or past time) for us to have a national discussion on this topic, and a Yes vote will ensure that. The scare tactics on both sides are mostly wrong -- your food prices wont go up with a Yes, and your health wont go down with a No. No small farmer will be driven out of business. But enough of America is being controlled by business right now, and Agribusiness has been too strong for too long. We need a reasoned dialog on how to change course. I wish this was a better law, but Im voting for it, and I hope you will too.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:21:53 +0000
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