Stay calm and label

Last night we had a fabulous block party. We were among five families who planned a party where our street was blocked off and the neighborhood was invited to come share food and drink. What a wonderful community event it was.

The after party ended up at our house. We have two “Right to Know” signs in our yard. For those not familiar with that phrase I will explain. Colorado has an initiative on the ballot this year called proposition 105 also known as our right to know, label genetically modified foods. If it passes certain food items will need to be labeled that they are made with GMOs.

What? Someone voted no!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend about it last night. He voted no on the proposition. To me it seems obvious that the minimum requirement is our right to know what is in our food.

I realized that our challenge as proponents of this proposition is to inform our friends and family in a way that makes sense to them. I asked him how I would do that. I had a moment where I lost hope. If I couldn’t explain to him why he needed to vote yes on what is a very basic human right, then how would we ever put the genie back in the bottle?!

Me, not calm? What are you talking about?

My husband was at a conference a few weeks ago where he heard Hillary Clinton give a speech. She said something along the lines of, “When you want to explain your view to another person, you really need to take into consideration both sides of the story.” My husband told me that he thought about me at that moment because I am very rational and reasonable about everything I talk about except GMOs. He asked me why.

Honestly, the answer is that I feel we are part of this massive human experiment that we had no say in whatsoever. I watched GMO OMG the other day and the very best quote in that movie for me was, “Where’s the outrage?” Agreed!! Where is the outrage?

David Suzuki sums it all up in 5 minutes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mBF1OOPdTo

I admit that while I am writing this blog, my blood pressure is rising a little bit. I had to take a moment away and breathe deeply. I just wonder if we are too trusting of our government and we shouldn’t be.

Last night, there was absolutely no way you could have avoided genetically modified ingredients. Kit Kats, Snickers, Twizlers, Laffy Taffy … all made with genetically modified ingredients.

Voting with my dollars - Organic all the way!

Of course, I did not hand out any of that stuff. From my 11 year old son, “Mom! Are we going to be the boring family that hands our organic lollipops?!!” Yes we are and yes we did. Organic lollipops, Organic Sweet Tarts and Organic gummy bears were in my Halloween basket.

I am voting with my dollars! I pray that you do too. My friend and I agreed that he would watch GMO OMG and we would get together and discuss it afterwards.  

 

I would love to hear from you too! Comment, email (mary@marysalfi.com) or Facebook.