Is the GMO Labeling Movement Just a Long Con to Get You to Buy Organic?

Every now and again an article comes along that just makes sense, this is one of those.  Kavin has gottent right to the crux of the matter and nailed it, "If we really want to label food based on breeding techniques, the only logical tactic would be to label ALL breeding techniques,,,."

In a recent New York Times column, Mark Bittman compared consumers to lab animals subjected to an experiment. “Stop Making Us Guinea Pigs,” the headline of his piece lamented. The experiment? Genetically modified organisms lurking in the nation’s food, filling our families’ bellies, and maybe doing something to us, or maybe not. Bittman’s solution? Labeling all foods containing GMOs, presumably so consumers can avoid them.

This is bullshit. I endorse informative, relevant food labeling to protect consumers and help us nourish our bodies with a varied, balanced, and healthy diet. The words “informative” and “relevant” are key here. Whether or not a product may contain peanut residue? That’s relevant, because a severe allergic reaction is a real and tangible consequence. Kids are hospitalized all the time because of allergic reactions. Amounts of fiber, sugar, vitamins, minerals, and fats? Also relevant information. 

But whether a product contains GMOs? Not informative or relevant in the least. The term “GMO” refers to how a food ingredient was bred, not its content. Knowing whether or not a food is GMO is akin to knowing whether or not a person was conceived via in-vitro fertilization. Indeed, genetic modification is not an ingredient, it’s a breeding technique, and there’s no reason for consumers to know if their food was made using this method.

[,,,]
But this fear comes from misinformation. Genetic engineering isn’t a palpable object you can hold in your hand. It is a process, not a product. Humans have genetically improved food for millennia. The majority of what we eat comes from organisms man has improved via genetics except for wild berries, wild game, wild mushrooms, and most fish and shellfish. Humanity tinkered with genetics well before the advent of genetics as a field of study. The ancestors of bananas, broccoli, carrots, and all other food as we know it would be unrecognizable and unpalatable by a modern America. 

Is the GMO Labeling Movement Just a Long Con to Get You to Buy Organic?