As I wrote recently in a detailed post, organic standards are far from the ideal that farmers and consumers originally envisioned. However, without GMO labeling in the US, the USDA certified organic label has been the only way to ensure our food doesn’t contain GMO substances.
Meanwhile lobbyists are working overtime in Washington to create new loopholes to get GMO foods to market with less oversight. With Monsanto’s influence, a new rider is being slipped into the House Farm Bill that limits environmental review.
The Organic Consumers Association is doing valuable work to both uphold and strengthen organic standards, as well as advocate for GMO labeling and better oversight. This article explains riders in both the House Bill and the Senate’s 2013 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. They also link to a petition, direct link here, which takes about 10 seconds to complete. Let your representatives and President Obama hear from you on this issue. Sadly, under the Obama administration, the GMO situation has gotten even worse than during 8 years of Bush, requiring even more vigilance on the part of consumers.
