Activists seek 2012 ballot initiative to mandate food labeling
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
The campaign to demand consumer awareness of genetically modified organisms in our food supply is coming to Humboldt County.
A nationwide series of solidarity marches against the failure of agribusiness conglomerates to label the presence of genetically engineered ingredients takes place this Saturday, Oct. 16 — including a walk from Old Town Eureka to the county courthouse. The “GMO Right2Know” groups springing up across California are pushing in particular for a ballot initiative they’re attempting to qualify for the November 2012 general election which would mandate the labeling of all GMO-laden food sold in the state.
Organizers were out at the Occupy Eureka encampment on the front lawn of the courthouse this morning spreading the word and making connections between their campaign and the larger movement to Occupy Wall Street, which objects to the domination of the American political economy by banking and other cartels.
Heather Young's daughter, Oceanna McKinney, joins the Occupy Humboldt protest last week at Humboldt State University in Arcata.
“Just like Bank of America, they’re attempting to dominate our lives,” Northern Humboldt Label GMOs co-leader Heather Young said in an interview. “Monsanto is attempting to change laws and suppress information in their efforts to dominate the food supply and make money at the expense of our health…it’s ultimately about the right to know what’s in my food.”
According to the campaigners, 80% of the packaged foods in the United States contain GMOs that have not been proven safe and are not labeled. They will need to gather over 700,000 valid signatures across California to qualify their initiative.
The march begins at the corner of 2nd Street and I Street in Eureka in front of the former Has Beans Cafe, and proceeds to the county courthouse at 4th Street and I Street.
For more information on their campaign, visit LabelGMOs.org or find them on Facebook. The Northern Humboldt branch of the group holds meetings every Sunday at 4 p.m. at Sun Yi’s Academy of Tae Kwon Do in Arcata.
