An ABC poll in the summer of 2012 revealed that 52% of Americans believe that genetically modified food is unsafe, another 13% are unsure. Regardless of their opinion, 93% of Americans believe that GMOs or “bio-engineered” food should be labeled as such.
You might imagine that when over 90% of us believe in something, Congress would be falling over itself to get it done. But look what happened when 90% of Americans agreed that universal background checks for gun purchases were a good idea.
A reasonable question.
Margret Thatcher once said that if she wasn’t in politics she would run a business that would rent out spines. Too bad she died before she could service the Senate. As everyone knows, to Senate Republicans 100% of the gun lobby outranks 90% of the people.
Perhaps food will be different. After all, the majority of people don’t own a gun, but everybody has to eat.
Of course the food companies have the IRS scandal on their side. Since Citizens United millions of dollars of corporate money has poured into 501(c)(4)s -the “social welfare” groups that had been the target of the IRS investigations. After last weeks revelations I am willing to bet that there will not be too much investigating going on.
But there may be cracks in industrial food’s successful campaign to thwart the wishes of the American people. They may have defeated a proposition in California to label GMOs, but the Vermont House has become the first legislature to vote to mandate labeling.
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