Editor,

This week we’ve received our ballots, and this week we will have the opportunity to vote on our right to know what’s in our food, specifically, to know if our food contains Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Eighty to 90 percent of us want labeling, according to the polls. But, the corporations who would be affected by this are pouring millions of dollars into promoting lies and confusion to defeat I-522. We’ve been receiving leaflets in the mail for a couple of weeks now. Look at the fine print at the bottom of those leaflets—the sponsors of these ads are Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Bayer, DuPont, and Grocery Manufacturing Association, which has just been sued by the state of Washington for laundering money in relation to I-522.

The opponents of I-522 would have you believe that it will cost us more money, would be hard on producers, and that there’s an illogical set of exemptions that would actually hinder consumers’ right to know. This is simply not true. Food already has to be labeled for all kinds of things (nutritional info, artificial ingredients, country of origin, for example). Producers already are in the habit of adjusting the labels periodically as requirements change. No new government organization would have to be set up. As for exemptions—restaurant food and alcohols are already exempted from this kind of labeling, as is animal feed (but not the animals themselves).

Please. Inform yourself fully before you vote on I-522. And I believe you’ll end up voting for it, so that we can be fully informed when we purchase our food!

Sincerely,

ANNETTE BADER

Clinton