A while back, someone accused me of not trusting the government to do the right thing for the citizens of this country, in virtually every opportunity that arises. Heck, I thought that was a given (that big government should never be trusted by it's citizens) — like a bear not trusting bear hunters.
. Thomas Jefferson knew it when he wrote the constitution, and so did all the other founders of this country who helped to provide guidance for the drafting of that important document. But unfortunately way too many people have forgotten all that, because we've grown to be way too modern and sophisticated today, doncha know. Sort of like the old folks used to say when I was a kid — "you've grown too big for your britches, boy".What amazes me is how a few individuals still claim (or at least pretend to claim) to put their full trust in the government. Silly me, I always thought that it was old fogies like me, and other red-necks, who distrusted the government, but lo and behold, a recent poll shows that it's actually the younger folks who distrust the government the most. Younger as in college kids. I guess that blows the old traditional lament that's so popular among so many of us old-timers, that "kids these days don't know anything", plumb out of the water. Looks like they're not so naive after all.
And that's not surprising, since they're the ones who will be left holding the bag to pay off (or trying to figure out how to postpone paying off) the overwhelming public debt that they will be saddled with.Sorry to get so side-tracked, but today I came across one more reason why I find it extremely easy to distrust the decisions/actions made by the government, and virtually all of it's representatives. A bill has been introduced into congress to provide voluntary labeling options for any and all manufacturers of certified non-GMO products. Non-GMO labeling is not mandatory for these companies, it's only voluntary. Does anyone think that they will take advantage of that opportunity? You better believe that they will.
But it turns out that this is just a back-door way of clouding the issue, because it will preempt GMO labeling. And most importantly, it will prohibit States from passing laws to that effect. IOW, it will officially write into law, the condition that GMO products will require no labeling (concerning GMO status). Since we can be dang sure that any manufacturer who is eligible to label its products "Non-GMO", will certainly do that (they would be fools not to do so), my question is, "If non-GMO ingredient manufacturers are easily able to incorporate a Non-GMO statement into their label, why on earth is it so difficult and costly for manufacturers of products that contain GMOs to label their products as containing GMOs?"
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to imply that there is anything wrong with GMO ingredients. As a student of science, I still have not seen a single shred of credible evidence that there is any validity to any of the claims about the "dangers" of GMO foods. It appears to be strictly an emotional issue, not a scientific or medical issue. The reason why I say that it is not a scientific issue is because so far, all of the so-called scientific evidence against GMOS that I have seen is nothing but smoke and mirrors, cherry-picked data, and just plain ridiculous, unfounded claims.
However IMO what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. And if such a large percentage of the population prefers to see GMO foods labeled as such, I can see no logical reason why they should be denied that privilege. And actually, isn't it our right to know what's in our food? Why should our government feel obligated to deny us that privilege/right?
I suspect the answer to that question is that they fear that food prices would rise significantly. And governments have to make sure that food is as cheap as possible, or history shows that they will probably be replaced (one way or another) by the populace. And food prices (for non-GMO food) would indeed probably increase significantly in the short term. But how long would it take before most people began to question whether it's worth it to them personally to be paying 2 or 3 times as much for all their food, when they're barely able to make ends meet to begin with. Sure the wealthy folks will pay the money required for the most expensive food (that has always been the case throughout modern history), but the majority of the world's population simply can't afford non-GMO foods, and they never will in the future. So rather than starve, they will constitute a huge market segment that will ensure that cheap, abundant GMO foods will always be plentiful.
But the bottom line is, everyone should have the right to know exactly what is in their food (including GMOs), and it's not only extremely inappropriate of our government to respond to the huge amount of re-election campaign money provided by the interests that they so selfishly support, but it should be illegal. IMO it's the main reason why government has come to the position where it can't be trusted to make the right decisions for the best interest of its citizens.
At least that's the way I see it. Here's a quote from, and a link to an article about this:
So yes, as usual, it's all about money. As long as the government gets its tax money and user fees, it's a happy camper.Pompeo says a government-certified label would allow companies that want to advertise their foods as GMO-free to do so, but it would not be mandatory for others. The food industry, which backs Pompeo's bill, has strongly opposed individual state efforts to require labeling, saying labels would be misleading because GMOs are safe. The bill would also override any state laws that require the labeling.
Under the legislation, the Agriculture Department would oversee the certification, as it does with organics. But while organic foods must be USDA-certified to carry any organic label on a package, the department's non-GMO certification would not be required for every food that bills itself as free of genetically modified ingredients. The idea is that foods the department certifies as free of GMOs would have a special government label that companies could use to market their foods. User fees would pay for the program.
Bill would create organic-type labels for nonmodified foods
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