Proposition 37

One of the things that sparked my interest was genetically modified foods. I was surprised to learn that most of our food is genetically modified because most of it contains soy beans or corn. It is scary to think that most of the food we eat is not even natural. However, the least companies can do is let us know what is being done to our food.

After doing some research I found the article "Q&A: Health Impacts of Genetically Modified Foods Still Unknown" by Julia Kallas. In the article, she explains that we do not truly know the effects of consuming genetically modified foods because the government doesn't have the power to conduct experiments on these foods. Companies like Monsanto, have so much power that they decide what studies can be done and to what extent they can go. We as consumers should have a right to know what our food contains, and the only way to do this is through labeling. I think labeling foods will make people pay attention to what they purchase and reconsider if they'd rather have genetically modified frozen meals or natural fruits and vegetables.

In order to make ourselves heard Kallas says we must "[urge] Californians to vote YES on Proposition 37-- the Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative-- so they can decide for themselves whether they want to buy GE foods." With a lot of support, we can do something about this and we can stand up against big companies that hide these things from us. The only thing we do know about genetically modified foods is that we eat too much of them and this could lead to obesity which is another valid reason why we should switch to naturally grown foods on small farms rather than genetically modified foods on large industrial farms. It is said that on average we consume about 193 pounds of genetically modified foods every year (Kallas 6). If foods were labeled, this amount would most likely decrease and more people would realize how much of the food they eat is not natural.

Do you think labeling all genetically modified goods would cause a decrease in sales?

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