eco-briefs

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$17 MILLION BUYS A LOT OF DEMOCRACY FOR MONSANTO AND FRIENDS

Colorado’s Proposition 105 would have required foods sold in stores and containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to be labeled as such. However, the proposition was soundly defeated by approximately a two-to-one margin on Nov. 4.

The outcome was not a surprise to most observers who knew that Monsanto and the industrial food complex would stop at nothing to defeat the measure. Meetings had been held by industry insiders several months ago at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs to create a strategy for defeating this Colorado citizens’ proposition.

As in other states where similar labeling requirements have made it onto the ballot, genetically engineered seed monopolies such as Monsanto and Dow Chemical along with industrial food manufacturers and the pesticide industry opposed giving the public the right to know what they are eating. As a result, they pooled their financial resources and started buying TV time. The plan of attack was nearly identical to the one used to defeat labeling in California previously.

The $17 million raised by those opposing labeling in Colorado primarily went to buy advertising that made numerous false claims, including the allegation that people would have to pay substantially more for their groceries and that the new labels would create confusion and conflict with other, already existing labeling requirements. Ads also claimed that farmers and rural communities would suffer negative economic impacts.

Supporters of Proposition 105 raised less than $1 million. The disinformation in the advertising campaign opposing GMO labeling was largely ignored by the mainstream media, which stood to profit from both the campaign ad spending and from future advertising relationships with the companies fighting labeling.

In Oregon, a similar labeling measure failed on the ballot, but by a much narrower margin: 1.2 percent. While Monsanto and friends also outspent Oregon’s labeling proponents in their effort to keep what people are eating secret, the corporations’ $20 million ad spend was countered by $7 million from people who supported labeling. That $7 million likely accounts for the closeness of the Oregon vote.

—Joel Dyer

FRONT RANGE BIONEERS EVENT

They’re back. The Bioneers are returning to Boulder for a 12th year. According to the event release, this organization exists to “create community opportunities for sharing, learning and action, and bringing together the region’s progressive ideas, people and organizations.” The University of Colorado Environmental Center, Local Food Shift, Naropa University, Center for Integrative Botanical Studies, Restorative Leadership Institute, Earth Guardians, Boulder County Farmers’ Market and the Woodbine Ecology Center, with the support of sponsors and partner groups, are proud to bring the “Bioneers” to Boulder for an event at CU that will run from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9. According to the organizers, the purpose of the event is to “inspire a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations.”

The event will feature “a broadcast of the national Bioneers plenaries and is locally enriched with: music and arts; networking, children’s eco-activities; field trips, and sessions, workshops and keynotes addressing topics of regional importance and community solutions.”

—Joel Dyer 

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com