Produce farmer says yes

I am produce farmer, and I’m in favor of Initiative 522. I don’t raise any genetically modified (GMO) crops. Who does? The agri-corporations.

If the products they are raising and selling are so nutritiously healthful, if GMO foods are beneficial to the consumer and the farmer, they should be proud to label their GMO products. But they aren’t. Fact is, chemical and bio-tech companies and processors are spending millions to keep us from knowing what’s in our food.

What do they know that they don’t want you to know? The opponents of I-522 talk about the additional costs to farmers and the public. The cost to me would be insignificant: Direct sales would amount to one short line on a label or sign; the cost of that line would be trivial. Wholesale, there would be no extra cost to the farmer because only the final retail would be labeled. For processors; read any package. After the “nutritional, ingredient and allergen panels,” how is it going to cost to add, “This product contains GMO?”

The fact is that these companies don’t want us know what’s in our food. Nobody should be able to tell you that you don’t deserve to know what you’re eating.

Tom Harrison

Colville