Monsanto has spent a lot of money trying to fight state labeling laws. Despite millions of dollars and deceitful ad campaigns, they haven’t been entirely successful. Laws mandating GMO labeling came close to passing in Oregon, California, and Washington. Vermont successfully passed a GMO labeling law, and initiatives to label genetically modified foods are being introduced all over the country.
Monsanto needed a federal solution to their problem, a federal law that could overturn the people’s will in Vermont and in other states. Unfortunately, Congress agreed. The bill is titled the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. It is better known by its critics as the DARK Act (which stands for Denying Americans the Right to Know). Despite vocal opposition from the public, independent scientists, and celebrities, the bill has passed the House and it is currently in the Senate’s agriculture committee. This bill, and California’s failed attempt to pass a GMO labeling law, motivated public responses from world-class celebrities. Refusing to passively accept corporate rule, many stars have become outspoken and have begun to use their fame in order to make it clear that they want to know what is in their food. Neil Young tells us in song.
Neil Young
If you don’t like to rock Starbucks A coffee shop
Well you better change your station ’cause that ain’t all that we got
Yeah, I want a cup of coffee but I don’t want a GMO
I like to start my day off without helping Monsanto
… From the fields of Nebraska to the banks of the Ohio
The farmers won’t be free to grow what they want to grow
When corporate control takes over the American farm
With fascist politicians and chemical giants walking arm in arm
… When the people of Vermont wanted to label food with GMOs
So that they could find out what was in what the farmer grows
Monsanto and Starbucks through the Grocery Manufacturers Alliance
They sued the state of Vermont to overturn the people’s will
Chuck Norris
In 2007 alone, the agricultural sector applied between 180 million and 185 million pounds of glyphosate to crops in this country. The home and garden sector applied 5 million to 8 million pounds, and industry, commerce, and government applied 13 million to 15 million pounds of glyphosate. It was the most widely used herbicide in U.S. agriculture and second-most widely used herbicide in the home and garden sector.
The reason it should be on our radar now is that glyphosate is under a standard registration review by the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency is determining whether glyphosate use should continue as is or be limited or even halted.
For years, various interest groups, as well as researchers and scientists from several countries, have complained that heavy use of glyphosate is causing problems for plants and animals, including humans. Studies have been conducted, and findings have been made.
…What do I believe when I read that even the EPA’s technical fact sheet on glyphosate states, for example, that chronic long-term exposure can cause kidney damage and reproductive effects?
And when an MIT study argues that glyphosate’s “negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body”?
Do I read this as it sounds – that maybe what is being called insignificant or low-risk in the short term could escalate into having a significant impact on health over the years? Is it something that could shorten a person’s life?
Jennifer Garner
My friend Gisele [Bundchen] and I are fed up with being kept in the dark about GMO and non-GMO labeling, I got involved because she said, “Do you know what’s happening?” She’s a firecracker. She said, “You have to educate yourself.”
It’s easy for me to shop at places where foods are labeled. Only 3% of the food we produce is non-GMO. But if that 3% is available to you, you kind of take that for granted, but the rest of the country is being fed food—certainly all of the animals that are being turned into our meat, they’re all being fed food that’s been genetically modified.
I cook for my kids, and we have a garden. We try to grow whatever we can, although I can’t say we have the hugest crop in the world, but I do try to pay close attention, and I do my best.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Next week I am going to DC to speak with members of the Senate about voting against a law that would let genetically modified organisms into our food supply without any labels! Monsanto and other big food do not want any GMO labeling. 89% of Americans do. And this law, which passed in the house last week, would overturn the states who have passed labeling laws. The evidence suggests that GMO’s are an environmental disaster, both in the long term and in the short. But I am not asking you to weigh in on whether they are good or bad. We just want a label! We have a right to know what is in our food like the 64 other countries who label or don’t allow GMO’s at all.
… Much the way I want to know if my food is farm-raised or wild or if my orange juice is fresh or from concentrate, I also believe I have the right, and we as Americans all have the right, to know what’s in our food. I’m not here as an expert. I’m here as a mother, an American mother, that honestly believes I have the right to know what’s in the food I feed my family.”
Roseanne Barr
The big island of Hawaii made GMOs illegal. We banned them. We worked so hard…Monsatan I call them. We banned their ass from the big island… It was signed into law.
Dave Matthews
Why would you want to know what’s in your food?
…. Here in America you don’t get the right to know if you’re eating genetically modified organisms.
… If there’s nothing wrong with GMOs, why not put it on the label?…MADE WITH GMOS!!
Tom Colicchio
It’s not surprising that as a chef, I want to know what I am feeding my customers. It’s also not surprising that as a father, I want to know what I am feeding my family. What is surprising is that some in Congress are working so hard to keep consumers like me in the dark as to what’s in the food we eat.
More and more consumers are taking an interest in the ingredients in the products they buy from the grocery store, including whether or not the food contains genetically modified organisms. However, in most cases, there is no way to determine whether or not what you buy at the grocery store contains GMOs. Even when packaging reads “All Natural,” it’s no guarantee that the product has not been genetically modified.
Who’s afraid of transparency? Who’s afraid of disclosure? People who have something to hide.
In a recent national survey, more than 90% of Americans favor GMO labeling. We should all be cheered by the fact that consumers want to be more knowledgeable about the foods they eat. That’s why it’s so disturbing that instead of making it easier for consumers to understand what’s in the food they are buying, there are some in Congress who are actively trying to deny us the basic right to know what we are putting in our bodies.
… I just want to know, I want to know what’s in my food. I really want to know what I’m feeding my family.
Eric Ripert
You don’t have to be a chef to know what is in your food.
Sara Gilbert
All we’re asking is to know what we’re eating and what our kids are eating.
Bill Maher
China labels GMOs – they put lead in baby food. We can’t have that in America, you know why? In America, corporations run the show. Even though nine out of ten Americans would at least like foods to be labeled. At least we know they are Frankenfoods. But it would hurt sales, so shut up and eat your mutant chili.
…Throughout the course of food labeling history, giant processed food companies have claimed that giving consumers basic information about their food would raise the cost of food and guess what? It never has. But that hasn’t stopped the chemical and junk food companies from using this faulty argument to mislead Californians into believing that a label to tell them if their food has been genetically engineered will raise the cost to their food. Enough with the scare tactics already don’t buy their BS.
Michael J Fox
I have a right to know what’s in my food, and you do, too.
… Until we know more about these newly invented foods, just label it.
Jack Johnson
I definitely think people have the right to know what’s in their food. I just shot a public service announcement for the Just Label It campaign, and I’m definitely behind Prop 37 [California’s attempt to pass a labeling law] and the idea that we are what we eat, so we should know what we’re eating. We all have the right to know what’s in our food. When you look at the fact that the European Union has completely banned GMOs, I think we have the right to at least know if we’re eating GMOs.
Julie Bowen
Every modern family has the right to know… What is in their food!!!! And I have the right to know what’s in my food! Don’t you want to know?!
James Franco
Large processed food companies have always claimed that giving consumers basic information about their food, using labels, would increase their grocery costs. And every time it’s been a lie.
Now those same companies are at it again, making more outlandish claims that your grocery bill will skyrocket under Proposition 37, which requires labels for GMOs, well it’s not true, and we’re fighting back with the truth.
… Isn’t labeling genetically modified foods just a fair idea?
Jim Carrey
I’m here to plant a seed today, a seed that will inspire you to go forward in your life with enthusiastic hearts and a clear sense of wholeness. The question is, will that seed have a chance to take root or will I be sued by Monsanto?
Ann Heche
We deserve to know what is on our food. The fact is, we are not being told the truth and there are no laws that demand it.
Rob Schneider
CALL YOUR SENATOR! TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THE DARK ACT 1599!! DEMAND THE RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR CHILD’S FOOD!
More Celebrities Who Have Spoken Out Against GMOs and Monsanto
- Alexandra Paul
- Ali Larter
- Alicia Silverstone
- Amy Smart
- Barbara Streisand
- Bianca Jagger
- Bill Maher
- Blue Sky Drive (Band)
- Chevy Chase
- Caley Chase
- Carter Oosterhouse
- Danny DeVito
- Darryl Hannah
- Dave Matthews
- Elijah Wood
- Emily Deschanel
- Emily VanCamp
- Exene Cervenka
- Frances Fisher
- Frank Delgado
- Gabriel Mann
- Glenn Howerton
- Ian Somerhalder
- James Taylor
- Jayni Chase
- Jillian Michaels
- John Cho
- Jordana Brewster
- Josh Bowmen
- Julie Bowen
- KaDee Strickland
- Kaitlin Olson
- Kimberly Elise
- Kimberly Van Der Beek
- Kristin Bauer van Straten
- Leah Segedie
- Mariel Hemingway
- Maroon 5 (Band)
- Mehcad Brooks
- Nell Newman, founder, Newman’s Own Organics
- Nick Wechsler
- Rashida Jones
- Roseanne Barr
- Russell Simmons
- Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Suzanne Somers
- Wilder Valderrama
- Ziggy Marley
None of these celebrities are presenting themselves as scientists. So far, scientific objections to genetic engineering (which are many, and well founded) have been completely ignored. Instead of raising scientific objections to genetic engineering, these celebrities are objecting to being denied the right to know what is in our food. At the heart of the matter is freedom, the freedom to choose what goes into our bodies. They want to know what is in their food. Don’t you want to know as well?
Recommended Reading:
- Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods
- Scientists Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done The Research
- Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done The Research
- Celebrities Against Circumcision
Sources:
- “A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop” – Neil Young
- Do GMOs Accumulate Formaldehyde and Disrupt Molecular Systems Equilibria? Systems Biology May Provide Answers – Scientific Research An Academic Publisher
- Chuck Norris Raises Red Flag Over Monsanto – World Net Daily
- ‘Top Chef’ judge Colicchio on GMOs, and his food activism – MSNBC
- Americans have a right to know when GMOs are in their food: Why the DARK Act is such a huge threat – NY Daily News
- Sara Gilbert: Moms have power, make it count – She Knows
- Bill Maher on the Truth Behind Prop 37 – Food & Water Watch
- Jennifer Garner Grows Her Own Food – E Online
- Jim Carrey takes swipe at Monsanto during commencement speech – St. Louis Business Journal
- Gwyneth Paltrow on GMOs: ‘They could possibly be harmful’ – Nicholas Ballasy
- Gwyneth Paltrow and Neil Young vs. Monsanto – We Are Anonymous
- Celebrities Who Endorse Prop 37 – GMO Labeling
- Conceal or Reveal – Just Label It
- Celebrities Unite Against GMO Foods – Documentary Archive
- Right to Know – Vote Yes on Prop 37 – Food & Water Watch
- Celebrities Against GMOs – Free Your Mind TV
- These celebs want GMOs labeled – Grist
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