So you’re not a fan of genetically engineered food. What can you do about it besides buying organic? Well, recently I bloggified the results of several weeks worth of research on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the course of doing all that research I got a pretty good sense of what would most annoy GMO-peddling biotech corporations like Monsanto. Here, without further ado, are four ways you can boost your anti-GMO mojo.
- Push for government labeling of GMOs. Labeling is a scary prospect for biotech companies. Genetically engineered foods are extremely prevalent and becoming more so. What if a warning label reading, “contains genetically modified foods,” suddenly popped up on the packaging? Demand for GMOs would instantly drop, costing biotech companies millions of dollars. Of course, they know this, which is why they’ve sent lobbyists to tell your elected representatives that such labeling would only confuse you. You don’t want to be confused by all that complicated sciency stuff, now do you? Go back to playing Xbox and leave your food supply to the people who are profiting from it.
- Support voluntary labeling of GMOs by private business. Can’t get through to your congressman? So it goes. That’s just business. Luckily, there’s an end-around in the form of voluntary labeling by retailers like Whole Foods. Since most processed food now contains components of GMOs, Whole Foods is introducing a third-party-verified GMO-free label. Change your citizen hat for your consumer hat and demand that other retailers introduce voluntary labeling too.
- Launch a movement to change the law. Remember that rarely used part of democracy where elected representatives make new laws and change old ones on behalf of the citizens who elected them? I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that’s the stuff of fable, but at least in theory you have the right to say, hey, the law stinks and I want it changed. The relevant bit of law in this case is the extension of patent rights to genes within living organisms. It seemed like a good idea at the time: grant biotech companies patent rights so they’ll have a financial incentive to develop new GMOs, just as pharmaceutical companies need financial incentives to develop new drugs. Thing is, people are now realizing that genes are fundamentally different from drugs and combustion engines and other such patentable things, and maybe it was a really bad to allow private ownership of self-replicating lifeforms in the first place.
- Back an anti-trust investigation of Monsanto. An expert-level play for the highly motivated biotech critic. Many of Monsanto’s seed products, as well as its brand-name herbicide, enjoy extraordinarily high market share. A class-action antitrust lawsuit has already been filed, alleging a “comprehensive anti-competitive scheme.” It has also come to light that independent scientists looking into the environmental effects of GMOs must get permission to do research from gene-patent holders such as Monsanto. As Monsanto’s influence over our food supply continues to increase, the time is ripe for a government investigation.
Pick one or all, and do what you do best, whether that’s tweeting, blogging, writing to congress, spray painting, hollering from a street corner, poetizing, protesting or simply telling a friend. The real beauty of these strategies is that they don’t have to succeed in order to be effective. Simply discussing them frequently in the public domain will work. The greater the pressure, for example, to require labeling of GMO foods, the greater the incentive the biotech industry has to demonstrate that its methods and products are indeed as harmless as they claim to our health, our environment and our economy. It’s a win-win situation and every little bit helps.
