Home GMO foods don’t need labeling, farmers say
News

GMO foods don’t need labeling, farmers say

Contributors

va-farm-bureauOn a recent WWBT TV 12 news segment, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation representatives explained that genetically modified crops are no different from conventional crops.

“There have been over 2,000 studies on gm foods before they’ve actually gotten to the marketplace, to prove their safety,” said Lindsay Reames, VFBF assistant director of governmental relations.

That’s why Reames, on behalf of Farm Bureau, spoke out against mandatory labeling of GMO foods.

“A mandatory label from fda would be a false impression to the consumer that there’s actually something different about that product,” said Reames. “Because GMOs are the way that seed was bred, it doesn’t change the nutritional composition of the end product.”

And farmers say they have better yields with genetically modified seeds.

“You have more of a guarantee of a productive crop,” said Farm Bureau producer member Jeremy Moyer of Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia County, which grows GMO corn and soybeans. WWBT also interviewed Moyer.

GMO seeds have been used for nearly 20 years to produce commercial corn, soybeans, squash, alfalfa and sugar beets. GMOs are bred at the DNA level to resist pests, disease, herbicides or drought. They help farmers grow more food with less cost and less land and resources.

But some consumers, and stores like Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market in Richmond, want GMO foods to be labeled.

“I think the big issue is when you play with life, play with the DNA structure of what you’re eating, people wonder, ‘Are there going to be unforeseen consequences to that?'” said Kirk Schroder, a food advocate for Ellwood Thompson’s.

There have been no scientific studies to back up Schroder’s concerns, Reames said.
Much produce and milk—from cows that eat GMO corn—and about 80 percent of packaged foods are genetically modified. Labeling GMO foods “would be a nightmare,” Moyer said. “As a dairy farmer, our milk is pooled with other farms’ milk, so we would have to pay for different trucking, or increased trucking costs.”

But GMO opponents say costs shouldn’t outweigh public health. “I don’t know that economic argument supports the fact that you shouldn’t know what you’re eating,” Schroder said.

Reames argued that people do know what they are eating and a number of companies already label their products based on production practices. Public health is of great concern, she said, but GMO products have been tested and verified by the Federal Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and have been proven safe.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

tomas valincius uva baseball
Baseball

UVA Baseball: ‘Hoos close out regular season with 3-1 win at Virginia Tech

Local, Politics

Charlottesville: New City Attorney played role in notorious press freedom case

A North Carolina man who was part of a freedom of the press case that gained international attention, and not in a good way, will soon assume the position of city attorney for Charlottesville.

brandon hyde baltimore orioles
Baseball

Breaking: Baltimore Orioles fire Brandon Hyde after 15-28 start

I wrote last night that Brandon Hyde might still have a couple of weeks left to turn things around in Baltimore. Turns out, he’s done now. General manager Mike Elias announced the firing of Hyde, who had led the O’s to back-to-back postseason appearances, on Saturday, hours after a 4-3 home loss to rival Washington...

indian tribe tribal American Indian Society Pow Wow
Virginia

HUD awards $2.2M to Virginia tribal communities for affordable housing initiatives

ambulance on city street police
Virginia

Under investigation: Man admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital with gunshot wound

vdot road
Government, Local

VDOT: Road work in Augusta, Rockbridge, Rockingham, for the week of May 19-23

tim kaine
Politics, Virginia

Tim Kaine to Trump: ‘Birthright citizenship is even older than the U.S. itself’