Here’s a brief post by Tom Fendley for California Right to Know on October 11, 2012:

It’s refreshing to take a break from exposing the deception of our opponents’ TV and radio ads to read a thoughtful analysis of Prop 37. Best-selling author and journalist Michael Pollan provides this respite in his excellent New York Times Magazine piece.

“The [food] industry is happy to boast about genetically engineered crops in the elite precincts of the op-ed and business pages — as a technology needed to feed the world, combat climate change, solve Africa’s problems, etc. — but still would rather not mention it to the consumers who actually eat the stuff,” Pollan writes.

“Presumably that silence owes to the fact that, to date, genetically modified foods don’t offer the eater any benefits whatsoever — only a potential, as yet undetermined risk.  So how irrational would it be, really, to avoid them? Surely this explains why Monsanto and its allies have fought the labeling of genetically modified food so vigorously since 1992.”

Indeed, the pesticide and junk food companies have already poured $35 million into TV ads opposing Prop 37 that are replete with misinformation and discredited spokespeople.

“Next month in California, a few million people will vote with their votes on a food issue,” Pollan writes.  “Already, Prop 37 has ignited precisely the kind of debate — about the risks and benefits of genetically modified food; about transparency and the consumer’s right to know — that Monsanto and its allies have managed to stifle in Washington for nearly two decades.”

Indeed, where our politicians in Washington, D.C. have failed us, California voters have the chance to strike a major blow for consumer rights by voting Yes on 37.

See Michael Pollan’s full piece here.