You Have a Right to Know
This past weekend I attended the GMO labeling event at the Pequot Library and heard from Rep. Tony Hwang, Analiese Paik, founder of the Fairfield Green Food Guide, Tara Cook-Littman, Certified Health Coach and Glen Colello, owner of Catch a Healthy Habit. Lots of good information was shared and the group continues to ask for support of HB 5117, the act that would mandate the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients in our state. Japan, Australia, China and all 15 EU countries already have labeling laws in place for GMO foods.
There are lots of questions and misinformation circulating about this topic, lots of folks who don't think they need to care, and lots and lots of money and influence behind keeping things status quo...meaning no labeling and no real way to tell if your food contains ingredients with genetically modified organisims. Analiese made a really great point that hit home for me as I was walking around Whole Foods today squinting at the ingredient labels, searching the web and using my apps to figure out if the food I wanted to buy contained GMOs. It shouldn't be that hard!!!!
If you care what you eat, it's really hard work to shop. It shouldn't be so hard that we need our iPhone or iPads, printouts and wallet guides to help us navigate our choices. We shouldn't need an advanced degree in science to select our food, even at places like Whole Foods. The burden should be on the manfacturers and producers - not the consumers - to identify what's in our food.
Just label the food, we have a fundamental right to know and a right to make informed choices about what we eat and what we feed our families.
It's really important for you to support this legislation and yes, one letter or one phone call matters. Here's how you can help:
Visit Right to Know CT and you can use their advocacy website to very easily send a letter to your state representatives. It's already written, you just have to go through a few simple clicks. You have no good reason not to do it, even if you aren't sure where you stand on GMOs, you can't argue that we have the right to make informed choices.
And for now, until this law is passed, navigate your food choices with the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, created by the Institute for Responsible Technology. Share it with your friends and family, and post it to your social networks. You can also download a free iPhone application, available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
Download the guide now>
