THOMASTON — The Thomaston Farmers Market draws a faithful crowd of customers. Beneath an overcast sky recently, Angela McIntyre clasped a paper cup containing coffee from one of the eight vendors and joked, “I’m just here for the free samples,” before adding, “No, just kidding. I think it’s really important to know where our food comes from.”
McIntyre is not alone in her desire to know about the food she consumes. Maine is in the midst of a nationwide food labeling campaign to make this information readily accessible. The focus of the labeling movement is to clearly label genetically engineered foods, also called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These organisms are genetically altered through biotechnology.
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) is taking the lead in the labeling movement through its “Right to Know—GMO Labeling Campaign,” which hopes to help add a state law, LD 718, that would require labels on GMO foods.
The bill, “An Act to Protect Maine Food Consumers’ Right to Know about Genetically Engineered Food and Seed Stock,” passed the House by a vote of 141-4 on June 11 and unanimously in the Senate the following day. In order to take effect, it requires other neighboring states to pass similar labeling bills. LD 718 now awaits the governor’s signature.
Brian St. Laurent of Proud Peasant Farm in Washington sees the issue as more than labeling. This may account for the support labeling has garnered in states like Connecticut and Vermont. GMO labeling, he said, “is not really a political issue; it’s a human rights issue.”
While clearly identified genetically modified foods concerns many consumers and all organic farmers, the biotechnology industry opposes labeling campaigns. Leading the effort is Monsanto, an international producer of genetically modified seeds based in St. Louis.
According to Monsanto, “Mandatory labeling could imply that food products containing these ingredients are somehow inferior to their conventional or organic counterparts.”
Karen Batra, a spokeswoman for Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington, D.C., emphasized that labeling GMOs “can be confusing to consumers,” because “food crops, such as corn and soybeans, that have been improved through biotechnology are exactly the same as conventional food items in terms of nutritional content, allergencity and safety. To distinguish them with a special label indicates that there is some kind of difference, when there is none.”
According to Batra, organic labeling, one of the food labeling systems that already exists, is adequate. GMO labeling “would affect nearly 80 percent of all the processed foods in the grocery store, it would increase food costs for consumers and it could hurt the farmers, food companies and grocers that would be required to comply with the law by subjecting them to additional regulatory requirements,” she said.
Despite the biotechnology industry’s campaign, many people increasingly want to know where their food is raised. This has caused the introduction of labeling bills, like Maine’s, and more interest in buying locally grown foods.
St. Laurent’s partner, Holli Cederholm, identified California’s Proposition 37, a GMO labeling bill that did not win voter approval, as a trigger of the national food labeling campaigns.
“Everyone was so amped up across the country for GMO labeling to happen in California, and when [the effort failed], I think it brought out of the woodwork everyone in individual states to see if they could pass [a GMO labeling bill] of their own,” she said. Since Prop 37 lost last November, nearly half of the states in the U.S. have introduced bills to label or prohibit GMOs. New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut are three of Maine’s neighbors that have introduced GMO bills.
Cederholm identified several other triggers for the labeling bills.
“You’ve got the rise of farmers markets, local food and slow food movements and that’s creating this whole tornado of awareness that’s sweeping everyone up,” she explained. “We’re starting to care where our food is coming from.”
That’s apparent by spending a little time at the Thomaston Farmers Market.
Since opening this May, the market already has won regular customers such as Rebecca Barstow of Thomaston and Connie Thing of Rockland.
“We live across the street,” said Barstow, “so it’s a short commute every Saturday. We come over to see what’s available for the coming week.”
Similarly, Thing comes to the market every week. “Local is important to me, but it’s also important that I know what’s in my food,” she said.
This was a repeated sentiment among shoppers, including McIntyre.
“It’s not just about labels. It’s about knowing where [your food] comes from. When you come to a farmers market, it’s one of the few places you can talk directly with the people who make your food.”