As the famous revolutionary, Che Guevara, once said, “Hasta la victoria siempre,” or “Until victory, always.”
This week, we celebrate a major victory. Monsanto and its minions in Congress failed to pass a bill aimed at, among other things, preempting Vermont’s GMO labeling law and forever sanctioning the ongoing deceit conducted by corporations who cowardly refuse to label the GMO ingredients in their products.
Wednesday’s victory was huge. But it isnt permanent. At least not yet.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Monsanto’s puppet in the U.S. Senate, will be back—probably right after the Easter recess. Meanwhile, he’ll work behind the scenes to broker a compromise, almost any compromise, that will keep Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law from being enacted on July 1.
To hear Roberts tell it, S. 2609, his version of the DARK Act, “gives consumers the information they want.” Except of course that it doesn’t. It lets food corporations hide behind a voluntary labeling scam that discriminates against the poor and the elderly who don’t have smart phones, as well as those living in rural areas where internet access is limited.
We will need to continue defending our right to GMO labels. The next battle will be no easier than the last. And there’s no guarantee we’ll win.
But as you have proven so brilliantly with this most recent victory, grassroots pressure works. We can’t let up now. That said, even if we prevail again in the coming weeks, we will still have a long way to go before we win the larger war—a complete transformation from Monsanto’s degenerative “agribusiness” model to an organic, regenerative food and farming system that provides abundant, nutritious food, revives local economies, rebuilds soil fertility and biodiversity, and restores climate stability by returning carbon to the soil.
That will be the ultimate victory. Until then? Always!
Read the email we sent after the vote on Wednesday
TAKE ACTION: Find out how your Senator voted on the DARK Act. If your Senator voted ‘no,’ call to say ‘thank you, and please hold firm against any future compromise.’ If your Senator voted against your right to know, call to say how disappointed you are. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Donate to help fight the next version of the DARK Act