It's a damn shame that you can't just flip two states around on the map. Think of all the advantages. It should be done for irony alone, if for no other reason. Look at the mottos for Vermont and New Hampshire, and then tell me this doesn't make perfect sense.
Current:
Vermont: "Freedom and Unity"
New Hampshire: "Live Free or Die"
But, this is now SO wrong. In Vermont, there may or may not be unity, but there sure isn't freedom at the supermarket as of July 1 — the day that food stores had to start the process that will eventually include a thoroughly useless, not to mention counterproductive, labelling (1).
So, perhaps it's time for a state motto trade, along with a little modernizing.
New and improved:
Vermont: "Live GM-Free or Starve"
New Hampshire: "Freedom From Lunacy"
This silliness arose from Vermont's Act 120 (2014). Here is a summary of what the state came up with (emphasis is mine):
"Effective July 1, 2016, food offered for sale by a retailer has to be labeled as produced entirely or partially from genetic engineering if 1) it will be sold via Vermont retailers, and 2) entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering."
Stores that violate this law are subject to fines of $1,000 per food item.
The last five words of the summary is where you'll find the worst science. As I wrote in March, in a piece called "Vermont’s Bad Food Labels: The Right to Know Nothing," sugar is sugar, no matter where it comes from. Even the most ardent opponents of "Frankenfoods" cannot provide a single cogent argument why sugar from a GM sugar beet, a non-GM sugar beet, or sugarcane, should require a label since they are identical in every way.
But Act 120, which is bad enough because it indirectly demonizes GM foods in general, goes one step further into Stupidland regarding ingredients — ingredients that are derived from GM plants in addition to the plants themselves, for example, sugar.
People argue that they should have a "right to choose," but I don't buy it. As long as a GM-free label is associated with some kind of superiority, they are not choosing. They are being misled into thinking that they are choosing. Thus, the label is inherently dishonest, since its real purpose is to manipulate people into paying more money for the exact same sugar.
This puts a ridiculous and irrational burden on the candy industry:
GM-labeled candy is a travesty of science. Photo:Boston.com
This law has already caused food manufacturers and sellers grief. Price Chopper, a huge supermarket, has discontinued nearly 10 percent of its 35,000 products in Vermont, rather than comply with the law. Likewise, some food manufactures announced that they would stop sending 3,000 products to the state.
A Vermont supermarket of the future? Photo: Commons.wikimedia
You can thank the Luddites in Vermont for creating their own predicament — one that they will regret. Or, at least their wallets will regret it.
Although a TV interview is nothing more than a representation of the feelings of the people who are being interviewed, I still found the following news segment to be intriguing. This is a partial transcript from a "man on the street" interview by WCAX TV.
Bernie Sanders: "The legislature did the right thing. They had hearings. They discussed the issue, and they passed an unprecedented law in the United States."
Hippie-Looking Guy: "If I was in a supermarket, I would be wary of what is labeled and what is not. A GMO in the minds of people right now is negative, and I am guilty of believing that but I haven't done the full research on it."
Woman with dog: "I've been eating them for a long time. It's just that you don't know the long term effects."
Reporter to same woman: "Does it worry you at all that with less competition, prices will go up?"
Woman: "Mmm, um, I haven't really thought of that."
Robert Letovsky, a professor at St. Michael's Business College has: "You now have less choice for consumers. Less choice means less competition. Inevitably, prices are going to rise."
Nice job, Vermont. You now have fewer products, companies refusing to sell stuff in your state, and higher prices. All for ... nothing. And, you don't exactly have science on your side either. This is especially evident because of the recent letter from 110 Nobel laureates that strongly urged Greenpeace to drop its ill-conceived campaign against genetically modified foods:
"WE CALL UPON GREENPEACE to cease and desist in its campaign against Golden Rice specifically, and crops and foods improved through biotechnology in general."
So, let's label this law a massive screwup. Violators are punishable by a $1,000 fine, and six months in a 7th grade biology class.
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Notes:
(1) Although the law took effect on July 1, there is a built-in grace period through the end of 2016. There will be no penalties for unlabeled foods during this time. There are also multiple exemptions.
