Recently there has been a lot of discussion in the air about GM crops, as a suggested California law Proposition 37 would require all GM products be labelled with a warning. I'm under impression that this type of labelling is required in Europe, where incidentally no GMOs are farmed (to my knowledge). In the US huge numbers of grown crops are transgenic and it is no secret. Although warning labels are not currently required, if you know how to read the little stickers on the fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, you will know if the product is organic, conventionally farmed or GM.
Just like in Europe, a lot of produce here is understandably marketed as "organic" and "locally grown". "Fair-trade" I've noticed much less than in Europe, and conversely "natural flavours" is a big one here. However, many fully artificial chemistry-lab creations are marketed with words that make you think you're eating real strawberries or real milk. Which is not too far off from Europe some years ago: a documentary I saw about a British supermarket showed them selling cheese slices which contained less than 8% milk. As this is not cheese according to EU regulations, they simply called them "slices" and packaged them in wrapping that made you think of cheese!
EU regulations are pretty tough though - blueberries picked straight from the forest are not organic, because their growth conditions are not monitored and anyone could've dumped anything there. Nevertheless, I think it is good to have strict definitions for labels, because I really like to be able to trust the information I'm given about the product.
Anyway, back to Proposition 37. Not so surprisingly a lot of big companies resist, but completely unexpectedly, so do I. I know I cannot avoid eating GM here in the US, and it doesn't bother me. I know if I was dead-set against consuming GM products, I could always walk to the Davis Co-op and buy everything organic from there. Also, I'm already fed up with the meaningless labels that Proposition 65 from 25 years ago has brought us: every single product and place is labelled with "might contain chemicals that are known to cause cancer in the state of California", which would be usable information if it was not written on everything. For my pleasure, I recently found a label that actually mention what these chemicals are and tell me how to get further info!
Also I've understood that the reason for certain individuals investing into Proposition 37 is their business plan is just simply to sue everyone who do not label their produce correctly. Because the legal system here is about as ridiculous as the urban legends going around Europe tell us. I had to take a renters insurance, as if someone hurts themselves in my apartment I might be liable for their medical bills. I just don't think this state or this country needs any more badly worded laws, like Prop 65 which does not require identification of the cancer-causing agents or information on how to avoid them, or more regulations which will allow individuals making a big buck suing other individuals.
And then there is the whole topic of GM itself! I actually don't think GM plants are bad at all. Yes, they need to be tested before mass consumption, and yes, they need to be implemented smartly. But if you consider that herbicide-resistant GM crops are sprayed earlier on in the growth and hence less herbicides are needed compared to conventional crops, it means GM crops are better for your health (less trace herbicides) and the environment.
Also the realities of life should be considered. Growing organic and even non-GM conventional crops is more expensive, and not everyone can afford buying organic. A big portion (I've heard 40% quoted) of organic produce goes to waste, as it doesn't conform to the appearance that buyers or shops want. Obviously organic farming does not have equally large yields, and if the land area used for farming in the US was used only for organic, this country would go hungry! I really hope that increasing the crop yields by GM will keep the farmed land area from expanding and allow us to have some real nature around us.
My main problem with American (and some European) produce is that a lot of it is simply tasteless. I want my tomatoes, potatoes and berries have a lot of flavour. I don't care about them going soft and mushy, as long as they taste right! This problem with a lot of the modern varieties comes from conventional breeding. In many cases the traits that the breeders select for are unfortunately not the taste, but for instance the transportability and shelf-life, or even colour of the fruit (reference), but maybe in some cases, it's possible to bring the flavour back with GM to the varieties that have been bred to perfection otherwise?
Edit Sept 30th: An interesting post about recent GM research and a couple of recent papers that are causing waves. Also, here's what the opposers of Prop 37 say.
