For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our California News page.

Organic food advocates in California are working to put an initiative on the electoral ballot in 2012 to require labeling of genetically modified foods.

Currently, shoppers have no way of knowing whether or not the food they purchase is genetically modified, or contains genetically modified ingredients.

If labeling of GMOs becomes mandatory in California, it could prove to be an enormous boost for the organic food industry.

Due to the size of the California economy and its agriculture industry, and the state’s leadership on green issues, the labeling initiative is likely to spill over into other US states.

But all is not well in the organic industry. Some conventional companies that are represented on the board of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) are protecting their interests in industrial agriculture’s GMOs and factory farms, according to a short documentary released by an anonymous group called Organic Spies.