Dive Brief:
- With just days remaining before the Nov. 5 vote, both sides in the GMO label fight are nervously watching developments in Washington State.
- Voters there will decide whether or not to approve the first "standalone" law requiring GMO labels. Two other states (Connecticut and Maine) have approved GMO labels,but will only require them if neighboring states do as well. Similar I-will-if-you-will legislation has been introduced in 24 other states this year.
- Should the Washington State initiative pass, the debate over GMO labels will rapidly go to Washington, D.C. Opponents of label requirements will want federal protections. Supporters will want President Obama to make good on his 2007 campaign promise to require labels.
Dive Insight:
Opponents of the label initiative in Washington have taken heart in the editorial stances taken recently by the Seattle Times and the Tacoma News Tribune. Both newspapers have published well-reasoned, logical editorials against the proposed law. But as we've said before the arguments in favor of the labels are emotional and heart-felt. And emotion always trumps logic in an election.
As importantly, the opponents of labeling have stumbled badly in this fight -- trying to hide the names of companies that funded anti-label campaigning. That played right into the narrative of the pro-label forces, who argue that "Big Food" has something insidious to hide. The tactic was also a violation of state law, according to the state attorney general. And once the anti-label lobby came clean on its funding sources, there were indications that the food industry is as divided over this issue as consumers are.
