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If the turnout for the workshop is any indication, concern about the unrevealed presence of genetically modified ingredients in food is a big concern. About 25 people attended a workshop at the Veteran’s Hall in Garberville on Thursday evening. The workshop was focused on circulating petitions to get an initiative before California voters to require the labeling of genetically engineered food sold in grocery stores.

Statewide petition coordinator Ken Masterton led the workshop. He has been involved in initiative campaigns since the 1970s, starting with the campaign to levy taxes on cigarettes. He also led the campaign for nuclear safety that led to a moratorium on nuclear power plants in California. His firm, Masterton & Wright, sampled public opinion on requiring labels on Genetically Engineered (GE) food and found that 80% of those interviewed supported the initiative.

“They want to know so they can make a choice,” Masterton said.

The industry itself has refused to label its products but a petition to require labels on GE food has been submitted to the Secretary of State. That office is expected to return the petition to sponsors on Jan. 3 and at that point, the campaign to collect 500,000 signatures will begin.

The prospective signature gatherers included organic farmers worried about cross-contamination from GE seeds. There have already been a couple of high-profile, international court cases in which farmer’s fields were inadvertently contaminated by GE seed that is patented by the producers who then sued the farmers for having been contaminated. There were also mothers at the meeting who expressed concern that they may be inadvertently feeding their children GE food. Others suggested that the entire population is being used as a testing ground for GE experiments.