You are what you eat – California Prop. 37
Have you heard the expression “You are what you eat”? Well, there is a good reason for that. What you eat affects you in so many ways. If you eat healthy balanced natural foods, you will feel a lot better and be prone to less health issues than if you devoured processed, “dead” foods, never mind Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) which our bodies don’t know how to handle. But how do you know which foods you eat are GMO? Proposition 37 intends to give you that knowledge by forcing industry to clearly label foods. This proposition is important not just for Californians but also for the rest of the country because California, as one of the major food producers and a market to 34 million+ people exerts a significant influence. Would they label some packages just for California and others for the rest of the country? I think not.
Who is against Proposition 37?
It’s really interesting to see the list of companies who are against Prop 37. You will recognize a lot of the names like Nestle, Kellogg, and Kraft Foods, companies that typically make foods found in the center of the grocery store. A word of caution, a week or two before the elections, you will see a lot of paid advertising against Prop 37. Monsanto and others will be putting in billions of dollars to sway your decision and have you vote against Prop 37. They will argue that GMOs allow them to produce more food at cheaper prices. Even if this were true, what’s the point of lower food prices if you spend so much more on medical bills and you’re miserable in the process? Did you know that many people who are allergic to wheat in the US can eat wheat in Europe (because it’s non-GMO wheat there)?
Making informed decisions
Today, we have no idea whether the foods we eat have been modified or not. The good news is that if are in California, you have the opportunity to make yourself heard in the November elections by voting YES on California Prop 37 which requires manufactures to label their foods as genetically modified. If you can’t vote in California, please forward this article to anyone you know who can vote there.
The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act is the first statewide initiative that would require that anything that “is or may have been entirely or partially produced” with genetic engineering be labeled as such. No more making claims that something is natural when it’s no more natural than snow on the moon.
Surveys show that 91% of consumers are in favor of the labeling of GMOs yet the government is still not listening. Too many lobbyists? Please vote for and demand healthier foods. With proper labeling and consumer education, maybe food companies will become inspired to stop using genetically modified ingredients like they already have in Europe.
Please do your due diligence, know where you stand, and don’t be swayed at the last minute by arguments you haven’t checked out thoroughly.
In the meantime, avoid all processed foods as well as soy and corn, 80-90% of which are genetically modified. I don’t know about you but I like knowing what it’s my food! Here here to a healthier America!