I like to know what I’m eating. The old saying goes “You are what you eat,” and as someone who strives to take care of my body, I appreciate all the information I can get on what is in my food. I am frequently shocked when I look at the ingredient list for a basic food product such as yogurt and find an enormously long block of text listing twenty different ingredients, many of which I’ve never heard of and can’t even pronounce. So much of what we eat comes from a long chain of processing and is pumped with extra ingredients such as preservatives and flavorings. Furthermore, the typical American grocery store offers us more varieties and options of the typical food product than we could possibly want. As consumers overloaded with choices, we often face difficulties deciding what we want to eat and what we should eat.
The latest initiative to educate consumers about their food and to delineate the numerous choices consumers face will be voted on in California in the November elections. Proposition 37 would require all manufacturers to label genetically engineered products. Genetically modified food is derived from an organism that we already consume that has had their DNA genetically altered. This modification could be made to make a plant or animal grow faster, be more resistant to cold or have a new trait of disease resistance. Proponents of Proposition 37 argue that people have a right to know what they’re consuming and that genetically engineered foods have unpredictable health consequences and a detrimental impact on the environment. Some of the most ardent supporters of Proposition 37 are organic farmers. Those against the proposition say the law would increase food costs, add to government bureaucracies, lead to lawsuits and have an overall negative impact on the farming system. Many large companies including Monsanto, DuPont, Pepsi Co., Nestle and ConAgra, among others who have spent millions of dollars trying to defeat the Proposition, are contesting the initiative.
I know I eat genetically modified or otherwise processed food all the time. I try to be as healthy as possible, but of course I enjoy the occasional bag of junk food. I’m fine with that. I believe in everything in moderation. What bothers me is that I am probably eating way more genetically modified food than I am conscious of. Corn and soybeans, two genetically modified crops, are present in so much of what we eat whether or not the items actually have anything to do with corn or soy. Even typically healthy items like fruits and veggies have often had their DNA tampered with. Because so much of our food is genetically modified, I would like to be aware of it so I can make more informed choices. Of course, maybe my choices wouldn’t change much – after all, we have been eating genetically modified foods for quite some time now without any obviously horrendous consequences.
Yes, there could be side effects and yes, the use of this technology probably has bad ecological and environmental effects. It also makes it harder for organic farmers to compete in the market. However, this law would not mandate the elimination of genetically engineered foods; we would just need to label them. In fact, it might not even alter consumers’ habits all that much. It would be very hard to abruptly give up genetically altered foods and there is currently no firm reason that we need to. But for people like me and the other consumers who want to be aware of what we’re putting into our bodies, Proposition 37 would allow us to make smarter, more informed decisions about what we eat. •
