Jon Entine, the executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, and a Senior Fellow at the World Food Center, Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy at the University of California-Davis (and author of ACSH s Chemophobia publication), wrote an enlightening article for Science 2.0, explaining why GMO labeling laws tend to fail. And contrary to popular belief, it s not because the organic industry can t compete with well-funded Big Agriculture.
In fact, Entine points out that although many people are vaguely worried about GM food, it s not a core issue that drives majorities to the polls. He references Stuart Elway, president of the Seattle-based polling company Elway Research: The key, Elway noted, was not the expenditure of money; it was that when people learned about the details of the measure, they came to see it as fraught with problems and unintended consequences.
Entine concludes, General polls don t reflect how people really think about the issue of genetically modified foods or labeling when they think about it [at] all.
Jon Entine s article is an informative read for anyone curious as to the reasons why problematic and unnecessary GMO laws are continuing to fail even in states where the polls seem to show the majority of citizens in favor of GMO labeling.
