What is your understanding of GMO’s and the recent laws in Vermont?
So for me in layman's terms, genetically modified organisms, you are playing with nature and not in a good way. so you are modifying what nature is supposed to be and it is something that is really scary and we don't know a lot about it so lets back up and be more precautionary than “lets just have fun with it and see what people are eating” So obviously I do not like GMO’s and the labeling thing i think its, I seriously cried tears of joy listening [in the spring] when they had the hearings because I was listening to it on VPR the live [broadcast]. And there was one senator that was giving his reason for why he was voting in favor of GMO labeling and he said, “As Vermont goes, so goes the nation”. and its like, hello thats what we need! but the fact that Vermont is sticking up and saying people have the right to know what is in their food and how better to know that than putting a label on your food. It’s an ingredient. GMO is an ingredient. we list all the other ingredients so whats the big deal? Oh Monsanto has a whole lot of money and they’re not happy, that’s the big deal.
Do you think with Vermont making this change that a lot of the other states will follow?
They are. I mean, Colorado, Oregon, New York, I’m probably missing some already that have already started passing it through whatever little subsection they need it to go through. I think everyone was just waiting for that one brave state to go through without that one stupid clause that says “we’ll do it if the other states around us do it”. No, we’re going to do it and hopefully other people will follow. So I think as Vermont usually does in the food system, we’re leading the way and they need someone who can be brave enough to say this is not ok and we’re not going to be bought by agro-business. So I do see it happening and it’s pretty exciting.
Do you know more as to how GMO’s affect us?
Not a lot, I equate them to pesticides and fertilizers and chemicals that you're putting something that is not normally in nature in your body. That’s not really great and it’s going to accumulate, it doesn’t taste as good and it’s really scary. From growing and knowing what organic non-GMO seeds do, how they produce and then seeing a GMO seed not produce additional seeds, it’s scary. Something is not right because plants are supposed to produce seeds for the next year to keep things going. To see something that’s not doing that is not ok. I don’t know the big science behind it, but it’s not good.
How does the labeling of GMO’s affect you and the community you live in?
I’m not going to buy thing’s with GMO’s in them. Already with the grad program I’ve been a lot better at looking at the labels and getting organic non-GMO things and looking for the non-GMO certified label. We just became members of our local co-op and they’re great with the GMO labeling already. So for me, I’m already doing that but it will be great to see other products. Like, there could be a product we’re getting but we just don’t know. Organic doesn’t necessarily mean non-GMO. So it will be great to have that knowledge and be even better about it. But I think for the general public that’s not already there, it will hopefully make them think twice about, ok what is in this product that I’m buying. And we will start to move along in the direction we want society to move in for a better food system.
What are the seeds that SMC uses on campus? Do they contain GMO’s?
Non-GMO! We get about 99% of our seeds from High Mowing, which is a Vermont, organic, non-GMO seed company and that is what we've been doing since I’ve been in charge of the garden and that is what we are going to continue doing with the new garden. The 1% is still non-GMO but it’s from like Renee’s garden seeds or seed savers exchange. But we’re already non-GMO and we love High Mowing because they grow really good food.
How do you think this will affect farmers in Vermont? Will they change to non-GMO seeds?
It’s tough because Vermont is local food sustainable farming but it’s not 100%. I’d say the majority is already there with the non-GMO and the awareness of this and I’m hoping with the GMO labeling and the public knowing and asking more than they previously had it could certainly help push those farmers who are doing GMO to the non-GMO side. I think they’ll get more customers or even out, I don’t think it will detrimentally hurt them because the public doesn’t want that so they will rise to the occasion and give the public what they want, we’re pretty much already there. I think it will be a good thing for them, it will be change, but it won’t be anything that they can’t not do.
How will the labeling work on SMC campus in the dining hall?
I want everything labeled, I want the good labeled, I want the bad labeled, I want the location labeled, everything, humanely raised, non humanely raised. I don’t think the GMO labeling law is going to push them in that direction, I think it’s going to be students and me and other people just wanting to know more, that’s going to help push them in that direction. I guess in a way the GMO labeling law is going to push them that way because it is starting this conversation, because people are a lot more aware of it so it being a lot more prevalent among the student body wanting to know more about their food I think they are going to have to act on it and I think it is something that they’ve already been talking about because there has already been issues at the beginning of the semester about food related stuff, so I think they know finally, Heather isn’t being ridiculous when she tells us to label where the food is coming from because we need to do that. I would say within a year or two there will be labels on our food, which is really what we need. Really, GMO or non-GMO, people need to ask what am I eating.
Last minute additions:
I think Vermont is going to win. This is huge, it’s sort of setting a precedent for big companies like Monsanto who have been able to walk over the government and take charge of this country with our food system and it’s not ok anymore, and we’re finally doing something about it. It’s that turning point in the food system, it’s really exciting to be seeing it and studying it and seeing how it plays out.
No comments:
Post a Comment