The Non-GMO Project, a private coalition of “natural products industry retailers, distributors, and manufacture[r]s” that has its own private system to label products not produced using genetically improved food (GIF) ingredients, has declared October “Non-GMO Month.” Participating food retailers are to put special labels on their non-GIF products, while activists push out propaganda bashing GIF products—just in time to vote on ballot measures in Colorado and Oregon (but we’re sure that’s just coincidence).
That position sits against scientific consensus expressed most concisely by the American Medical Association, which finds, “There is no scientific justification for special labeling of bioengineered foods, as a class,” but is allegedly politically appealing.
And it seems like the Non-GMO Project itself has inadvertently shown that labels aren’t necessary. Having “Non-GMO Verified” labels and a “Non-GMO Month” undermines the entire need for the feds to mandate this propaganda. If you don’t want to buy GIFs, you already have that option — and evidently these products aren’t all that hard to find. (All “certified organic” products, for instance, must refrain from using GIFs.)
But the very name of the demonstration betrays its true intentions: “Non-GMO Month” isn’t trying to promote a right to know — it’s an effort to intimidate customers out of choosing GMO products. But pro-label activists aren’t actually interested in accuracy or consumer information: They just want to make every month Non-GMO Month, for everybody.
