BY DONNA WESTFALL AND CREDIT GIVEN TO ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
Are there any of you that still believe that Monsanto doesn’t care about GMO labeling? If so, be informed that seventy-one senators voted against the Sanders Amendment to the Farm Bill, an amendment to uphold states’ rights to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food.
Now why would they want to limit the rights of consumers to know what kinds of garbage are being put into our food? Take a look at this list and let’s see if we can see a common denominator. This is a list of just 4 Senators that voted against the Sanders Amendment:
1.) MICHIGAN: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich)
https://www.facebook.com/stabenow
$740,926 in campaign contributions from agribusiness
Chair of the Senate Ag Committee…Arguing against the Sanders Amendment, Sen. Stabenow said that the amendment “ . . . would interfere with the FDA’s science-based process to determine what food labeling is necessary for consumers.” Stabenow’s statement shows either her ignorance of, or dismissal of, the existing scientific evidence that GE (genetically modified) food has been linked to everything from allergies to kidney failure to cancer.
2.) NEW YORK: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
https://www.facebook.com/kirstengillibrand
$198,883 in campaign contributions from agribusiness
One look at Sen. Gillibrand’s facebook page and it’s obvious that New York voters weren’t happy with her vote against the Sanders Amendment. There were plenty of questions about the vote on her page. But no answers. Meanwhile, GMO Free New York continues to push for a state GMO labeling law, with or without Gillibrand’s support.
3.) NEW JERSEY: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
https://www.facebook.com/senatormenendez
$159,050 in campaign contributions from agribusiness
4.) MISSISSIPPI: Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thad-Cochran/112579798754326
$71,500 in campaign contributions from agribusiness
Sen. Cochran, along with Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), is credited with trying to block the Merkley Amendment to the Farm Bill, an amendment introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act.
TEST: Did you locate the common denominator?
