Well, I suppose I ought to diary something, because that's how it works around here, mmm?
I don't have a lot to say, but I think I'll talk about what I did this summer, which was canvassing with VPIRG. (PIRG at Wikipedia.) I went door-to-door asking people for money and petitions supporting labeling genetically modified organisms in Vermont.
Why are we doing this, you ask? Jump the Fleur-de-Kos to learn more.
So probably most of you know what GMOs are, but I'll give you the quick version in case, followed by some talking points:
Genetically engineered/genetically modified crops/plants/foods are plants made by injecting the DNA from some organism or organisms into the seeds of plants, so as to produce desirable traits. These traits can include such things as increased vitamin/nutrient content, resistance to herbicides, built-in pesticides, or other things that make the product more sellable/profitable.
The problem is that these foods are very new science, and not a lot is known about them—and they're in everything. Corn, canola oil, soybeans, a lot of the sugar beet crop—unless it's organic, it's probably genetically modified. (And several people I talked to were skeptic about organics as well. They're supposed to be mutually exclusive, but who knows.) And because they're not bred normally (I liked to tell people, "It's not like crossing a white rose with a red rose—it's like crossing a white rose with a flounder." Though actually it's a strawberry and a flounder), but rather created, there are very valid concerns about whether the foods are safe. (I mean, what's the point of a pesticide? It kills things. So eating it—whether it's genetically coded into the plant or simply slathered on the outside—doesn't sound very appetizing. Especially if you're a rat (PDF).)
There have been some studies done over the years; pretty much all of the ones that found no issue with GMOs were done in-house by the biotechs themselves (primarily Monsanto). But there are also studies that raise very worrying concerns. One that was relatively well-publicized was done by a guy named Séralini; he and his team have actually done several. There has been a good deal of back-and-forth as to how well the study was carried out, but his main point is that there needs to be more testing done.
This is very similar to the map we'd show people at the door.
And that testing is no-one's responsibility,
apparently (PDF).
So what we're doing in VT (and what a good deal of other states are doing) is trying to catch up to the rest of the first world. Over sixty countries, including all of the EU, either require foods with GMOs be labeled as such or simply ban them. There's a pretty good chance it can happen in VT; our campaign managed to get a bill passed the House in June, and the Senate will look at it come January. Connecticut and Maine recently passed similar legislation, though they have "trigger clauses" that keep it from going into effect until more states get on board. There's a ballot initiative in Washington, and similar things in either the ballots or legislatures of about thirty other states.
So getting back to what I actually did this summer: I knocked on doors. Lots of doors. In Burlington and surrounding towns people generally had doorbells, but mostly I knocked on doors. We would meet in Burlington at 1:00, get our gear together, and head out. Start talking to people between 3-4pm, quit at sundown or just after. Sometimes I was walking in more residential neighborhoods, but Vermont is a rural state, and mostly I was biking. (The abuse I put my bike through, I tell you....) I'd get to a house, talk to a person, tell them who I was, give them the skinny, and ask for contributions to the campaign and if they could fill out their name on a petition to their senators. And people were pretty responsive! There were some people who were flat-out "no VPIRG" (we've been around for 40 years, not everyone likes everything we do) and people who were "I'm eighty years old, I've been eating food my entire life, and I'm not dead yet!"—but most people were pretty cool with having more knowledge when they went out to do their shopping.
There were some hairy moments (I saw several signs with a picture of a six-shooter and "We don't call 911" or "If you're found here tonight, you'll be found here in the morning"), but people were generally nice. And, like I said, people were really into the campaign. I left to get ready for college, but there are still two or three weeks left this summer, and already we had broken all sorts of petition and fundraising records. And in a state as small as Vermont (~600K), that's HUGE politically. Some of the representatives said earlier this year that this was the most they'd heard from their constituents since civil unions thirteen years ago.
So that's what I did. And PS yay for my first diary! I might not write a lot, but now that I have an account, who knows?
(And PPS: Should you feel like supporting the effort....)
Mon Aug 12, 2013 at 2:37 PM PT: I would like to point out that the poll below has been pretty consistently in the 85-90% range for labeling or banning (combined), very close to the ~90% who supported labeling in recent polls conducted nation-wide and in Vermont. That's as close to unanimous as you're going to get on any issue facing us today.