On July 23, Idaho’s two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Raul Labrador and Mike Simpson, voted in favor of a bill, H.R. 1599, the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act. They voted against most Americans who are in favor of mandatory labeling of GMOs, genetically modified organisms, now found in our food.

Were they fooled by Monsanto’s slick, misleading packaging of this so-called “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act?” The office of the bill’s sponsor, U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, states that consumers can choose to presume that all foods have GMO contents unless they are labeled or otherwise presented as non-GMO. Are we to assume that Monsanto agricultural methods are now the standard? Must non-GMO producers now pay a government-sponsored program for certifying their food as free from potentially cancer-causing Monsanto chemicals such as the glyphosate found in Round-Up? Shouldn’t this be the other way around? Shouldn’t the potentially dangerous new GMO food be labeled so that we can assume the safety of the food we have been consuming before Monsanto’s takeover of American agriculture?

The promise of more money from higher yields has lured most farmers in America to use Monsanto chemical-resistant seed in the last 10 years. Relatively speaking, this is too short a time span to realize the ill effects of GMOs upon human health. Resistant to enormous doses of pesticides and herbicides, Monsanto crops are saturated with chemicals not yet independently proven to be safe for humans.

The next decade and the next generation will be revealing as we begin to see the effects of years of not only consumption but also exposure to an over-use of chemicals drifting in the wind around farming populations, not to mention the changes in soils and their sustainability.

So, H.R. 1599 now goes to the Senate for approval. Please contact your Idaho U.S. senators, Mike Crapo and James E. Risch, and express your concerns. (Monsanto lobbies the Idaho Legislature concerning potato growers in Idaho as well.) Ask yourself why Congress should show favor to Monsanto, a corporation without a conscience, over the American populace. You can be a part of a growing movement, informed by science and motivated by concern for not only your health, but the health of your children, future generations and the sustainability of our Earth.

JoANN SCHALLER

Coeur d’Alene