The Corporations Have Won On Prop 37

A month ago, it looked like Prop 37 couldn't lose.

But Monsanto and Dow and Kelloggs and a host of other conglomerates threw a ton of money against it for misleading and deceptive ads, and now it looks like it will lose:

SACRAMENTO -- Proposition 37, the genetically engineered food labeling initiative, was trailing badly late on election day.

With just over a fifth of the statewide votes counted, the measure was losing with 42.7% yes to 57.3% no.

It was polling strongly ahead five weeks ago but fell steadily in the polls under a barrage of negative campaign television advertisements funded by a food and biotech industry war chest of more than $44 million.

The initiative, backed by the organic food industry, consumer groups and health-conscious shoppers, would have required that fresh produce and packaged foods be labeled if they contain or might contain ingredients that had been genetically altered in a laboratory.

Supporters of the measure argued that consumers have a right to know what's in their food and that information should be made available on labels. About 60 countries around the world already require such labels, proponents stressed.

Opponents countered that labeling foods would cost families hundreds of dollars a year in higher grocery bills. They also accused the initiative of sowing fear that genetically engineered foods are unsafe.

Natural News tries to look on the positive:

In many ways, the YES on 37 campaign was a huge victory for awareness. The campaign organized over 10,000 volunteers in California alone and succeeded in achieving a massive social media presence.

The YES on 37 campaign also forced Monsanto and the biotech giants to spend $45 million to defeat the measure. That's a record expenditure by the world's largest toxic pesticide companies to try to prevent consumers from knowing what they're buying. Remember: GMOs are the only products that consumers accidentally purchase without knowing what they're buying.

What's clear from all this is that GMO labeling has a foothold in the minds of American consumers, and this effort to label GMOs is going to be repeated state after state, year after year, until victory is achieved.

The biotech industry can no longer keep its dirty little secret: There's poison in your food, folks, and the big food producers absolutely do not want you to know that you're eating it.

Unfortunately we have another example of huge conglomerates throwing a ton of money into a battle and coming out with victory.