November 5, 2014

GMO votes

NPR - In the latest bids for states to compel companies to label foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, Colorado voters decided the issue in their state today.

Proposition 105, was defeated by a roughly 2-1 margin Tuesday.

Oregon voters also considered a measure, but it is still too close to call — the no vote leading the yes vote by two percentage points with more than 80 percent of the vote counted.

The issue has been both contentious and expensive. Last week, Oregon Live reported:

"The measure has already made history, becoming the costliest ballot measure fight in Oregon history. Opponents have raised just over $16 million — also a record for one side — and backers have raised nearly $7 million."

While more than half of U.S. states have contemplated similar GMO legislation, the only one that has come close to requiring a label is Vermont. The state's law, approved this year, still faces legal challenges, and it's not slated to take effect until 2016.

In Hawaii, Maui County voters considered an initiative that went far beyond labeling. By a slim margin, voters decided to temporarily ban genetically engineered crops.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Currently measure 92, GMO labeling in Oregon is at

Yes, 49.7% or 712,508 votes

No, 50.3% or 722,278 votes

with less than 95% of ballots counted

This margin has become closer as the count has progressed.

tokjct said...

What possible rationale do people give themselves to vote to refuse to label the contents of the food that they put into their bodies? Most disease and sickness starts with what you consume. Would folks take a pill from an unmarked bottle which they found on the sidewalk and about which they had no knowledge? Pfui!...I keep forgetting that the American electorate, allegedly, put Ronald Reagan and George W Bush into the presidency twice, each.