For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page, and our Vermont News page.
The “heads” side of every quarter pictures a famous farmer: George Washington. Among the 50 states represented on the “tails” side, however, only Vermont shows a farmer: He’s tapping maple trees for syrup.

So it would be a special shame if Vermont’s legislators were to pass a bill that would hurt farmers not just in the Green Mountain State, but across America.

The bill would require all food that possibly contains genetically modified (GM) ingredients to say so on a special label.

(For more, see: Time to take on anti-biotech crowd over GMO labeling)

If this sounds reasonable on the surface, consider a few details: Just about everything we eat derives in some way from biotechnology (which is a good thing), the public isn’t exactly clamoring for this bill, and supporters of the proposal are driven primarily by greed and cynicism.

Thankfully, the bill is now stuck in a committee and many observers think it will stay there, failing to become a law before the state’s general assembly finishes its work this year. But I’ve spent a fair bit of time around state capitols (I’m both a family farmer and a State Senator in North Dakota), and I’ve seen a lot happen in the last days of a session.

So farmers need to keep an eye on what happens in Montpelier.

The fundamental flaw in Vermont’s bill is that nobody needs it. It’s a solution in search of a problem.

Biotechnology is an accepted tool of conventional agriculture. Around the world, farmers have grown more than 3 billion acres of GM crops-that is, plants bred to have a natural resistance to insects and weeds, resulting in a bountiful and sustainable food ingredient.