The Connecticut State Senate will be voting today on the GMO labeling issue after it has stagnated in the House where Speaker of the House, Brendan Sharkey, has refused to call the bill for a vote.
Tara Cook-Littman of GMO Free Connecticut said Sharkey has been opposed to letting Connecticut be a leader on the GMO labeling issue. She said he wants a big trigger clause and fears that if Connecticut takes action alone, our state’s economy will suffer.
Various speakers at Tuesday’s lunchtime rally were quick to dismiss the concern that labeled food would damage the economy.
State Senator Beth Bye told the crowd they had the right to “vote with our pocketbooks.”
“You deserve choice,” State Rep. Diana Urban said to those gathered on the north side of the State Capitol.
Dave Murphy of Food Democracy Now! said that “corporate power” is why efforts to label food have stalled in the United States.
One of the two bills specifically deals with labeling GMO baby food and infant formula. Cook-Littman said that her major drive for involvement in this movement is that she wants to make choices about what she feeds her family.
“Let moms and dads know what’s in the food they’re buying for their kids,” State Senator and Minority Leader John McKinney said.
Before, during, and after the rally, vendors provided free samples of non-GMO foods.
Chris
Great photos and a great day! Keep calling and writing your reps. Proponents of GMO,s are saying we have ‘unfounded fear’ of bioscience which tells me that they are deeply misinformed or cozy with Monsanto. Science has proved otherwise time and time again. Not one independent study says GMO’s are safe. I hope CT will lead the rest of the counry.