HOW DO YOU SAY NO TO PROP 37?

Yesterday, Californians voted no to getting more information about their food.  The question on their ballot asked if citizens of California wanted food companies to label Genetically Modified Foods. And they voted no.  Some people think GMO are good for the environment (they can reduce herbicides and pesticide usage) and good for our growing world (they can feed more people globally).  I think they’re crazy.  I’ve read about their studies and understand what they are trying to accomplish, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut.  The bottom line is:  I don’t want to feed my family or myself GMOs.   Easy, right?  Not so much.  What foods are genetically modified, or have GMOs in them?  If you turn the package of ketchup over (with 4 boys, we go through lots of this stuff), the label doesn’t read “Genetically Modified High Fructose Corn Syrup” as the second ingredient.  But I know that about 45 percent of corn grown in the US is genetically modified (as well as about 85 percent of soy).  So is it, or isn’t it?  For now, we won’t know – even in California.  Their reluctance for labeling should give us some clue they have something to hide, but instead of relying on (or legislating) food companies to come clean with this information, I have another solution.  Don’t buy packages; buy ingredients.  For now, there are no genetically modified fruits and vegetables and if you stick to animals that were raised on pasture, you can avoid meat that was fed GMOs.  If we can stay away from corn, soy, and canola (we are also producing GMO cotton in this country but I don’t think anyone is eating it), we can avoid almost all GMOs.  If we vote with our dollars to say NO to GMOs, food companies will respond by not using them.  Then biotech companies will respond with not making them.  It’s important for our own health, the health of the animals we eat and the land on which our food grows.  So I'm disappointed, California, but I'll continue on with my own strategy to defeat GMOs myself.