For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

Cargill reveals in a letter to farmers and customers how little they value the consumers right to decide what is in their food:

Dear Valued Farmer Customer,

I am seeking your support to fight California’s Proposition 37, which if approved by voters in November would require labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients sold at retail in California. Although this is a California initiative, the size of the California market and the interconnectedness of the U.S. food supply chain mean that passage of Proposition 37 would adversely impact farmers throughout the United States.

As a valued customer, I would like to explain Cargill’s view on Proposition 37 and why it is critical that it be defeated. Governments and the public health community accept that GE and non-GE food ingredients are “substantially equivalent”. What consumers do not yet fully understand is that mandatory labeling will trigger product reformulation that will take GE ingredients out of many foods. The resulting costs will be enormous because grain handlers and food manufacturers will need to maintain entirely separate food supply chains to serve a single state.

Cargill supports a manufacturer’s ability to voluntarily label non-GE products. We help manage supply chains for such a purpose. The current voluntary labeling approach is available today. It is successful and provides consumer choice and differentiation.

Proposition 37 will mislead some consumers into thinking GE foods are unsafe or are second-rate. And this could spread beyond California. At a time when the vast majority of corn and soybeans are GE, erosion of consumer confidence in GE products could stall the progress U.S. agriculture has made in increasing yields sustainably to feed the world’s growing population.

Please join Cargill and others – including a large number of farmer and rancher groups, and food manufacturers – who are raising funds to fight Proposition 37, Cargill will match your contribution dollar for dollar up to $1,000 per farm (and with a combined total match of $100,000). Traditional American agriculture must come together to oppose a policy that stands radically reshape our modern food system.