# Vermont Food Labeling Mandate



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

From Growing TN....

Regards, Mike

http://growingtennessee.com/features/2015/06/gma-cites-costs-vermont-law-urging-passage-federal-bill-uniform-food-labeling-standard/?utm_source=Growing+Tennessee&utm_campaign=66fc3513e6-growingtennessee-daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d75710df8e-66fc3513e6-296641129


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

I'm gonna say something here that might seem contradictory, but really isn't...

First, I think that GMO's SHOULD be labeled on foods and food products. It doesn't have to go into some sort of "analysis" like the nutrition labeling, breaking it down into parts per million or whatever, but the package SHOULD be required to say "contains or made from products containing genetically modified organisms." That's sufficient, and it wouldn't be difficult or expensive to do... just add a line to the dietary requirements box... Let people decide for themselves whether or not to buy the products based on that criterion if they so choose, just like people make decisions about dozens of other food ingredients or the particular foods they eat based on their own preferences and priorities. The fact that the GMO promoters push SO hard to prevent this sort of labeling tells me they already know they'd lose sales on products containing GMO's losing ground to products NOT containing GMO's, which is why they resist the labeling requirements-- "we cannot let the ignorant, Luddite masses be allowed NOT to buy GMO products, which they would surely do *IF they had the information about which products contain GMO's*... )

That said, when states go beyond the federal mandates and require onerous regulations compared to the rest of the country, then companies should STICK TOGETHER and boycott those states... IOW, REFUSE to put the new labels Vermont is demanding on your products, and SIMPLY QUIT SHIPPING FOOD INTO THE STATE!! Vermont can't feed itself, and when folks start wondering WHY their store shelves are bare and the price on everything has doubled, they'll rein in their own politician's excesses and repeal excessive stupidity.

Same thing with California and their stricter vehicle emissions standards... had the automakers simply told California to go f*** themselves back when that BS started, simply said, "okay, pass whatever regs you want, but we won't be sending ANY more new vehicles into California" then that BS would have stopped so fast it'd make your head spin... Either that or California would be like Cuba, still toodling around in 57 Chevies... LOL

And the country would be better off for it...

Later! OL JR


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## bensbales (Jul 18, 2011)

Well since I'm a real I've Vermonter who's family has been on the same little bit of soil for 98 years ill weigh in on this debate. I disagree with any kind of labeling of any kind other than the ingredients including whether or not its organic. Why? Cause food is a basic necessity and all food is tested and approved by the fda so its safe, end of story eat all you wish. I'm recently single and have had the pleasure/displeasure of meeting a bunch of new people. One person that i met says "I only drink organic milk cause theres no antibiotics used". I informed her that when the milk truck comes to the farm they take a sample of the milk and test it for such things. "Oh i didn't know that she says so regular milk is safe?....." And this is coming from a very smart and well educated person. The big fallacy of labeling food is that it can give people even smart people the misconception that something is better than the other. This country is divided enough as it is it shouldn't have to be divided about food.

Now can Vermont feed it self? Yes we can but Vermont could only feed the ones that deserve to be here. Vermont can't feed the child molesters, rapist, drug dealers,criminals and life long welfare recipients. Vermont can't feed people who have never done anything with their life but live of from their families money or doctors and lawyers and politicians who do their job just for the money. If the rest of the nation would give "todays Vermont" a spanking that it needs i would welcome it. Back in the day Vermont was full of independent and conservative people we were also this nations first Independent Republic from 1777 to 1791. Maybe if the rest of the country isolated Vermont again she could shed her liberal dress and put her independent uniform back on. Rant over sorry, to much rain not enough haying weather i suppose.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

That's IF you trust USDA/FDA...I don't trust em any further than I can throw em...

You can't watch TV anymore without being bombarded with all these drug commercials with their lists of bad side effects longer than your arm... "Here take this pill for bad breath, but it may give you cancer, cause your heart to explode, and some people have their kneecaps call off..." Then the next commercial if the ambulance chasers advertising their latest class action suit for whatever bad dope killed or maimed a bunch ofof people... "Did your son take this pill to calm down and then grew boobs?? Call us, you may be entitled to a billion dollars!!"

Nope, the gubmint saying, "of course it's perfectly safe! We say so and that's all you need to know" doesn't cut any bait with me... In fact if the gubmint says it's wonderful, I'm LESS inclined to believe it...

Just put the info out there and let the MARKET decide!!

Later! OL JR


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## bensbales (Jul 18, 2011)

Tell you what if We cant trust the USDA/FDA then who can we trust?


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

What scares me is people have no idea what actually is GMO and what isn't. Some customers are convinced there is a GMO version of just about every plant out there. Also they are convinced GMOs have all sorts of extra "powers". People have told me there is no way my cows will calve due to my feeding gmo ingredients. Which is basically my 1lb of grain per cow, might have some tiny amount of corn. And what really kills me is none of the farmer's market customers know that organic farmers can spray corn with BT but evidently having it targeting rootworm is bad?

Plus my VT dairy farming cousins are very worried about labeling on cheese and milk.


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## bensbales (Jul 18, 2011)

I agree Dill most people don't know what a gmo is and they are to lazy to do their own research to find out about it. We've turned into a society of people who listen to a 3 second media blip and make their decision based on that or the google it and liberal nut jobs have the search engines all set up to advertise their point of view. Our idiots in charge up here can't think more than 2 steps down the road as how a labelling law would effect us all, they just got it in their head that its a noble cause and that it needs to happen.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

bensbales said:


> Tell you what if We cant trust the USDA/FDA then who can we trust?


In God we trust... all others must pay cash... LOL

Geesh can't believe people actually trust the gubmint anymore about ANYTHING...

Look around... wow...

Later! OL JR


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Dill said:


> What scares me is people have no idea what actually is GMO and what isn't. Some customers are convinced there is a GMO version of just about every plant out there. Also they are convinced GMOs have all sorts of extra "powers". People have told me there is no way my cows will calve due to my feeding gmo ingredients. Which is basically my 1lb of grain per cow, might have some tiny amount of corn. And what really kills me is none of the farmer's market customers know that organic farmers can spray corn with BT but evidently having it targeting rootworm is bad?
> 
> Plus my VT dairy farming cousins are very worried about labeling on cheese and milk.


Agree there's plenty of stupidity out there, "junk science", etc... people are people, and PEOPLE SUCK... (and their morons for the most part)...

As for the Bt... IMHO there's a BIG difference between spraying on a concentrated naturally-produced "insecticide" (Bt spray) and genetically engineering the plants to produce it internally, using genes grafted in from bacteria. I can see where and why people worry about it, and don't necessarily want it. We tried cramming it down Europe's throat, and they didn't want it, and cut off grain imports for a good long while... Again, if it's SO wonderful, why does half the planet not want it?? There is that old saying "the customer is always right"... IOW, grow what the CUSTOMER wants, not what YOU want, and then gripe and complain when half the planet doesn't want it and bans imports of it... it's not rocket science...

It's been proven that genetically modifications can 1) jump to related species and 2) have unintended consequences in the modified organisms... I was reading an article a few years ago about how the roundup ready gene had caused some very strange hormonal and protein changes in plants modified with that gene... changes that COULD be harmful, but since it didn't directly affect the requirements that USDA put on the companies to "prove it safe" and ready for market, it was totally glossed over by the company researchers working solely to satisfy the USDA and get it on the market... Bt genes have been detected in the wild corn territories of southern Mexico, the cradle of corn, so to speak, which provides a natural resource genetic pool of naturally occurring traits and resistance to diseases and pests that haven't even been properly explored yet, but which may be irretrievably lost due to genetic contamination from GMO's... and what's more worrying is that nobody knows HOW the genetic modifications are getting into the wild strains, because GMO crops aren't allowed to be grown within like 1,000 miles of the place...

There's a lot of legitimate questions that people have about GMO's... I planted Bt cotton for a year when it first came out, but then I quit... didn't see any difference worth the cost, #1, and didn't like having to sign over all my rights and be the equivalent of a serf on my own land to Monsanto in order to "gain access" to the technology, #2, so I quit growing the stuff. I thought about RR cotton, but in another instance of unforeseen consequences, they made it very well known that you had to complete all the Roundup applications by the fourth true leaf stage, which is basically in the first three-four weeks after it comes up. Now, living in a very wet area, I've seen it rain pretty much constantly for most of the growing season (like this year) and you never get back into the field after planting until layby... if then... and by that time it was FAR too late to apply the Roundup... and people that tried to "cheat" found out the hard way-- something about the gene and its interaction inside the plants when combined with the Roundup application (residual chemical in the plant tissues) would trigger "parrot beaked" bolls... the tip of the cotton boll, where they naturally split apart like lemon wedges, would instead of growing out like a small bump, would elongate and then curl over into a "hook", which would effectively lock the boll closed when it started to dry out and would usually pop open and fold back on itself... trapping the cotton inside and making it impossible to harvest. Sure didn't need that. We usually had trouble getting the ground dry enough to make a light cultivation by the fourth true leaf stage, let alone get everything sprayed, so RR cotton didn't really make much sense to me, here...

Anyway, to each his own. I just find it amusing that the people that want to grow the most GMO's are the loudest to gripe about people actually having an informed choice about whether to buy the products or not, all the while touting how safe and wonderful they are...

Later! OL JR


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