If you’re headed to Austin, Texas, next week to attend the “Southbites: Feed Your Mind” session during Austin’s South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, don’t expect to hear an honest debate on the health and safety of genetically engineered crops or food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs)—at least not if the biotech industry can help it.

According to Cathleen Enright, executive vice president Food & Agriculture, for the Biotech Industry Organization (BIO), there is nothing to debate. GMO agriculture is “sustainable” and GMO foods are “safe.” Anyone who says otherwise is making “scary” statements that have no basis in fact—because every shred of scientific evidence suggesting health or safety concerns related to GMOs “has been discredited,” Enright told me during a March 3 (2015) phone conversation.

We weren’t surprised to learn that BIO doesn’t want to debate the health and safety of GMOs. How do you defend a technology invented for the sole purpose of selling toxic chemicals—to spray on food?

So I guess we also shouldn’t have been surprised that after the organizers at SXSW invited OCA to participate on a panel sponsored by BIO, Enright insisted that we be disinvited.

On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, once again floated the idea of consumers using barcodes to identify foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as an alternative to requiring food manufacturers to put a label on products that contain GMOs.
 
Referring to the ongoing debate over GMO labeling laws, Vilsack (according to the Associated Press) told the House during a hearing on agriculture spending: “We could solve that issue in a heartbeat.”
 
Consumers shouldn’t have to rely on a technology that is not readily and/or equally available to everyone, and would no doubt be confusing to others. In more than 60 other countries, where laws require the mandatory labeling of GMOs, consumers can simply glance at the package their food comes in to instantly know whether or not the food contains genetically engineered ingredients.
 
TAKE ACTION: Tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: Consumers Want GMO Labels, not Barcodes!

On Wednesday last week (February 25, 2015), the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, once again floated the idea of consumers using barcodes to identify foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as an alternative to requiring food manufacturers to put a label on products that contain GMOs.

Referring to the ongoing debate over GMO labeling laws, Vilsack (according to the Associated Press) told the House during a hearing on agriculture spending: “We could solve that issue in a heartbeat.”

Solve the issue for whom? Tot-Toting Moms with busy schedules who would need to take the added step of scanning every item in the grocery store, instead of just glancing at the label? Older people who struggle as it is to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies? Or how about for those people who can’t afford—or don’t want to own—expensive smartphones? 

Consumers want the mandatory labeling of GMOs—not barcodes.