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Jeremy Johnston: Support Prop. 105

Don’t you think that you have a right to know what’s in your food? In response to your editorial, “Our View: Proposition 105 is costly and confusing,” here are a couple of facts to help clear up some misconceptions about Prop. 105 and genetically modified organisms:

Colorado has what is called a single subject initiative law. That means only one statute can be amended or added per initiative. Because meat, dairy, alcohol, gum, pharmaceuticals and restaurant food are governed by different state statutes by law, they had to be exempted from this initiative but are not exempted from future regulation. This initiative applies to packaged foods and produce, which is 70 percent of what is in the grocery store.

GMOs have not been proven safe for long-term human consumption. Proposition 105 opponents site the fact that no studies show GMOs to be unsafe, but it’s a two-way street. No long-term studies exist to show that they have no harmful effects, either.



No plant varieties have been engineered to be drought resistant. GMOs use the same amount of water as conventional varieties. Roundup Ready GMOs are designed to withstand higher doses of herbicides and higher residual levels of glyphosate make their way into the food stream, ground water and waterways. Glyphosate exposure has been proven to be harmful to health.

There is no national labeling system pertaining to GMOs. Organic certification is voluntary, and the GMO Free label is completely independent from any governing body. Because the USDA and FDA are populated by former big ag and biotech executives, it is unlikely that there ever will be. It is up to concerned citizens to make it happen on the state level.



Food exported from the state will not be required to be labeled unless its destination has labeling requirements.

Farmers are not required to do anything differently except inform their buyers of the type of seeds they use. If they choose to go GMO free, then the expense of the change should be covered by the higher price that non-GMO crops command.

Changing labels costs producers next to nothing. They change labels regularly. Food cost have not risen in the 64 other countries that require labeling.

The cost to taxpayers is estimated to be two cents per Coloradan per year.

All other ingredients that are man-made — that is, they do not occur naturally — are required to be labeled as such (artificial or synthetic). GMOs should be considered artificial because they were created in a laboratory and never could occur naturally. Some GMOs even are designed to produce toxic insecticide in every cell of the plant. While the creators of these plants claim there is no health risk, again there are no studies to show long-term consumption is safe.

Please don’t let the biotech industry’s misinformation campaign convince you that you don’t have the right to know what you’re eating. Because you do! But only a “yes” vote on 105 will preserve that right.

Jeremy Johnston

Steamboat Springs


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