Midwestern farmer warns: GMOs have drained BILLIONS of dollars from rural economies while monopolizing agriculture

Thursday, June 30, 2016 by: Amy Goodrich
Tags: farming, GMOs, labeling

---

(NaturalNews) George Naylor, a farmer and board member of the Center for Food Safety and the Non-GMO Project, has cultivated corn and soybeans on his family farm near Churdan, Iowa, since 1976. Like many others, George made the decision never to raise genetically modified (GM) crops, and has been encouraging other farmers and food processors to go non-GMO. This makes him a man worth listening to, considering the fact that in Iowa, where Naylor farms, agriculture is king.

Writing for The Des Moines Register, he explains why he rather turns to a conventional and organic way of farming instead of falling for the fake promises of the GM industry.

"Well, rather than boosting rural economies, genetically engineered crops have drained billions of dollars from them — the temporary ease of weed control has led to even more farm consolidation; and the unbelievable power of the herbicide glyphosate to kill both annual and perennial weeds has destroyed food and nesting resources for many of our important insects and birds," he wrote.

"Farmers have spent billions of dollars on genetically engineered seeds only to see weeds become resistant to the glyphosate on Roundup Ready crops," he added.

We should have the right to know what's in our food

Over the years, resistance problems have led to the application of even more herbicides and pesticides that are threatening the environment and the health of farmers and consumers alike.

Recently, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate, the active ingredient in many herbicides made by agriculture company Monsanto, as probably carcinogenic to humans. These days, higher concentrations of residues of this 'probable' cancer-causing chemical are found within our food chain.

According to Naylor, national polls persistently show that 90 to 95 percent of Americans support mandatory labeling of GM foods, because we all deserve to know what's in the food we are feeding our families.

While some states have voted to mandate the labeling, Congress is once again trying to find other ways to keep customers in the dark and maneuver matters in favor of the GM industry.

'Smart labels,' another smart move by the GM industry

According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), within five years, 80 percent of packaged goods will feature a "SmartLabel" to create more transparency and help customers make better decisions about the products they buy.

The SmartLabel is a QR code that shoppers can scan with their phones or tablets to access more detailed information about ingredients, allergens, nutritional value, third-party certifications, health claims, storage info and whether or not the product in question is made with GM ingredients.

At first sight a brilliant idea, right? However, Naylor notes that there is nothing smart about the new smart labels, as they make it more difficult for consumers to access information. He feels that, once again, citizens will be left in the dark while harmful foods continue to flood the market.

"The latest ploy is so-called 'smart labels.' This is the most recent attempt by big agribusiness, the giant food processors and members of Congress who submit to their lobbying pressure to keep customers in the dark about what's in our food. Instead of a simple declaration in plain language on the product, a smart label will require scanning each item with a smart phone. Besides the unbelievable time and inconvenience involved, many Americans don't have smart phones and can't afford them. More than half of rural Americans don't have smart phones, let alone the network coverage required to access the information," he said.

"You see, there is nothing smart about smart labels. In fact, they would make product information more difficult to access, are deeply discriminatory, and potentially set a dangerous precedent that could allow all labeling and nutritional information to be removed from packaging in the future, available only through the same discriminatory technology," Naylor added.

He further notes that the multinational agribusiness and food companies have spent more than $100 million over the past three years to fight food labeling, and are now attempting to push their own "smart" labels through which would result in all nutritional data being removed from plain sight.

So, why all the secrecy and vague labeling strategies if these products are safe?

Sources for this article include:

DesMoinesRegister.com

NonGMOProject.org

GMAOnline.org