California Rejects Labeling Of Genetically Modified Food; Supporters Vow To Fight On

What a difference $46 million in TV ad spending can make.

At least that was the consensus in the wee hours of the morning at the Yes on Proposition 37 party, held at a performance art space in San Francisco's Mission District, even before the final votes were tallied.

Supporters of genetically modified food labeling rally last month at Los Angeles City Hall.

i

Supporters of genetically modified food labeling rally last month at Los Angeles City Hall.

Outspent many times over, "we couldn't get up on the air," organizer Stacy Malkan told The Salt when it appeared the measure was going down. "You need a certain saturation to have an impact."

All eyes in the food world have been on California's hotly contested genetically modified (GMO) food labeling proposal, which was defeated this morning by a significant margin 53 percent of the state's voters opposed and 47 percent in favor.

It would have required that most foods containing genetically modified ingredients carry a "Made with GMO" label on the box. Given the prevalence of genetically engineered corn and soy in processed foods, those labels would have been nearly ubiquitous in the middle aisles of the grocery store. And, given the size of California's market, and manufacturers' opposition to distribute two versions of packaging, the California law could have morphed into de facto national policy as well.

The news was well-received in the No camp, which had argued that the proposal would be expensive and confusing. "We said from the beginning that people should take a close look at 37, that it's not as simple as it seems from the surface," Kathy Fairbanks with the No on 37 campaign, which didn't hold a public party, told us last night when it appeared the measure would be defeated. "The more voters learned about 37, the more they realized they didn't like it."

But supporters were unbowed. In fact, they say, even though Proposition 37 lost, a grass-roots movement came together with a clear purpose (unlike the Occupy movement, Grist snarks) to focus on what's on our plates. "Don't mourn, organize!" is a popular Twitter update from supporters today.

"Californians and all Americans deserve the right to know what's in their food," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, in a statement released this morning. "Unfortunately, Proposition 37 was defeated by a wildly deceptive smear campaign financed by Monsanto, DuPont and other industry opponents of the public's right to know," she said.

So about that campaign. The No on 37 camp, which opposed GMO labeling, raised $45.9 million, thanks in large part to biotech giant Monsanto, along with a familiar roster of big-supermarket brands: Kraft, Heinz, Sara Lee, Pepsico, etc. The main message? Your groceries will cost more.

Meanwhile, Yes on 37 brought in $9.4 million from a far crunchier lineup, including tiny-print soap makers Dr. Bronner's, Whole Foods and the Illinois-based nutritional supplement maker Joseph Mercola. Oh, and Hollywood: Gwyneth Paltrow single-handedly raised $80,000 for the Yes camp after endorsing the campaign on her Facebook page. Danny DeVito and Dave Matthews pitched in for a TV ad. And, said Malkan, "Sting's people were calling us last night, asking what they could do to help."

But it was too little, too late, she added. Despite an initially hefty lead by the pro-labeling folks, Proposition 37 support took a dive soon after the No on 37 ads hit the airwaves. Within two weeks, support for 37 dropped 9 percentage points, according to one poll from Pepperdine University and the California Business Roundtable.

The No camp also got a boost from a series of high-profile endorsements, including one from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the country's largest science organization.

Proposition 37 and other labeling propositions "are not driven by evidence that GM foods are actually dangerous," wrote the AAAS board of directors. "Indeed, the science is quite clear: Crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe."

As we reported earlier this summer, some legal experts raised concerns about how the proposal was written and suggested that it would add confusion not clarity to food labels. And, several of the state's big newspapers the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News all came out against the labeling proposal for similar reasons.

Other states have proposed similar labeling measures.

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California Rejects Genetically Modified Food Labels; Supporters Vow To Fight On

What a difference $46 million in TV ad spending can make.

At least that was the consensus in the wee hours of the morning at the Yes on Proposition 37 party, held at a performance art space in San Francisco's Mission District, even before the final votes were tallied.

Supporters of genetically modified food labeling rally last month at Los Angeles City Hall.

i

Supporters of genetically modified food labeling rally last month at Los Angeles City Hall.

Outspent many times over, "we couldn't get up on the air," organizer Stacy Malkan told The Salt when it appeared the measure was going down. "You need a certain saturation to have an impact."

All eyes in the food world have been on California's hotly contested genetically modified (GMO) food labeling proposal, which was defeated this morning by a significant margin 53 percent of the state's voters opposed and 47 percent in favor.

It would have required that most foods containing genetically modified ingredients carry a "Made with GMO" label on the box. Given the prevalence of genetically engineered corn and soy in processed foods, those labels would have been nearly ubiquitous in the middle aisles of the grocery store. And, given the size of California's market, and manufacturers' opposition to distribute two versions of packaging, the California law could have morphed into de facto national policy as well.

The news was well-received in the No camp, which had argued that the proposal would be expensive and confusing. "We said from the beginning that people should take a close look at 37, that it's not as simple as it seems from the surface," Kathy Fairbanks with the No on 37 campaign, which didn't hold a public party, told us last night when it appeared the measure would be defeated. "The more voters learned about 37, the more they realized they didn't like it."

But supporters were unbowed. In fact, they say, even though Proposition 37 lost, a grass-roots movement came together with a clear purpose (unlike the Occupy movement, Grist snarks) to focus on what's on our plates. "Don't mourn, organize!" is a popular Twitter update from supporters today.

"Californians and all Americans deserve the right to know what's in their food," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, in a statement released this morning. "Unfortunately, Proposition 37 was defeated by a wildly deceptive smear campaign financed by Monsanto, DuPont and other industry opponents of the public's right to know," she said.

So about that campaign. The No on 37 camp, which opposed GMO labeling, raised $45.9 million, thanks in large part to biotech giant Monsanto, along with a familiar roster of big-supermarket brands: Kraft, Heinz, Sara Lee, Pepsico, etc. The main message? Your groceries will cost more.

Meanwhile, Yes on 37 brought in $9.4 million from a far crunchier lineup, including tiny-print soap makers Dr. Bronner's, Whole Foods and the Illinois-based nutritional supplement maker Joseph Mercola. Oh, and Hollywood: Gwyneth Paltrow single-handedly raised $80,000 for the Yes camp after endorsing the campaign on her Facebook page. Danny DeVito and Dave Matthews pitched in for a TV ad. And, said Malkan, "Sting's people were calling us last night, asking what they could do to help."

But it was too little, too late, she added. Despite an initially hefty lead by the pro-labeling folks, Proposition 37 support took a dive soon after the No on 37 ads hit the airwaves. Within two weeks, support for 37 dropped 9 percentage points, according to one poll from Pepperdine University and the California Business Roundtable.

The No camp also got a boost from a series of high-profile endorsements, including one from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the country's largest science organization.

Proposition 37 and other labeling propositions "are not driven by evidence that GM foods are actually dangerous," wrote the AAAS board of directors. "Indeed, the science is quite clear: Crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe."

As we reported earlier this summer, some legal experts raised concerns about how the proposal was written and suggested that it would add confusion not clarity to food labels. And, several of the state's big newspapers the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News all came out against the labeling proposal for similar reasons.

Other states have proposed similar labeling measures.

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As California Vote Looms, Scientists Say No To Labeling Genetically Modified Foods

This election season, Californians are being served up gargantuan helpings of advertising about a proposal to require food in the Golden State to be labeled if it includes genetically modified ingredients.

On November 6, voters will decide on Proposition 37. Proponents say people simply have a right to know what's in their food. The food and biotechnology industry argues that labeling creates a false impression that there's something amiss about foods that come from engineered crops.

While lots of labels tout their lack of genetically modified ingredients, if California's Prop. 37 succeeds, foods containing GMOs would have to be labeled.

i

While lots of labels tout their lack of genetically modified ingredients, if California's Prop. 37 succeeds, foods containing GMOs would have to be labeled.

And now the world's largest general scientific society is weighing in on the debate.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science says labeling would "mislead and falsely alarm consumers." The AAAS best known for publishing Science magazine says genetically modified foods are fundamentally no different from conventionally bred foods. In fact, the organization says they are tested more extensively than most new crop varieties.

Genetically modified crops are already common. Most of the corn and soy grown in this country is engineered. Proponents say this technology can improve productivity to feed an ever-growing world. Scientists insert or manipulate a few specific genes in these foods, for example adding natural pesticides or making crops resistant to herbicides, which farmers can then spray more easily instead of mechanically tilling the soil. This no-till method decreases soil erosion but increases herbicide use.

Opponents of genetically modified foods have a variety of concerns. Some have a gut feeling that these crops are unwholesome. Others worry that the technology is driven simply by corporate profits for seed companies as well as herbicide producers. Indeed, industry has poured nearly $41 million into advertising to defeat the ballot measure, with "No on 37" TV and radio ads warning that the labels could lead to higher prices at the store, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Check out one of those ads below.)

Sometimes worries about genetically modified foods are expressed as concern over food safety, but the AAAS says that concern isn't supported by the science.

"Civilization rests on people's ability to modify plants to make them more suitable as food, feed and fiber plants and all of these modifications are genetic," the AAAS statement says.

"Modern molecular genetics and the invention of large-scale DNA sequencing methods have fueled rapid advances in our knowledge of how genes work and what they do, permitting the development of new methods that allow the very precise addition of useful traits to crops, such as the ability to resist an insect pest or a viral disease, much as immunizations protect people from disease."

But California voters aren't necessarily driven by the science of this question.

For example, many celebrity chefs, led by Alice Waters from Chez Panisse in Berkeley, have signed a petition supporting Proposition 37. Some 1,200 chefs are now voicing their support for the measure, even though restaurant food is exempt.

The petition says: "It is our duty to nourish our guests, both in body and soul. However, we can't prepare the best food we know how when information about the ingredients we purchase is hidden from us with labels that are missing basic facts. This includes foods that are genetically engineered or contain genetically modified organisms."

By framing this issue as a matter of transparency, proponents of food labeling can neatly sidestep the science of the matter.

But the issue is far from settled. According to a Los Angeles Times poll, proponents and opponents are evenly split on the issue. And 20 other states are considering similar legislation.

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