Why Prop 37 Failed and What We Can Do

 

California’s Prop 37 is the ballot initiative that would have made it mandatory to label foods containing GMOs. Unfortunately, 53% of California voters voted against it.

Prop 37’s failure is likely a result of the giant marketing campaign against the measure led by Monsanto. To give you a sense of what this ballot initiative was up against, Monsanto and big agriculture spent $46 million on advertisements knocking Prop 37, compared to the $8 million spent by proponents of the bill. Monsanto and other big ad companies outright lied to voters to beat Prop 37.

Monsanto used a carefully crafted marketing campaign to trick voters. They illegally used the FDA logo in their Prop 37 mailings and used the Stanford University logo to imply that the FDA and Stanford University supported their position. Monsanto also paid a PR firm to conduct a “study” demonstrating that food prices would inflate if Prop 37 passed. These aren’t the only election offenses Monsanto committed. Ocean Robbins exposes their anti-Prop 37 strategy in an article published on The Huffington Post.

Monsanto’s strategy worked this time, but the fight isn’t over. While we continue to lobby for GMO labeling, buy organic as much as you can.

We have a right to know what is in our food.

How can we get laws like Prop 37 passed nationwide?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo source: kcet.org