Currently, we have a initiative campaign here in Washington State, which mean it is a way for the people, rather than the legislature, to enact new laws. The particular initiative that I am going to be talking about is I-522, which would include, “Mandatory identification of foods produced with genetic engineering” (Pg 2 No.522). This initiative was filed on June 29, 2012 and according to Ballot Pedia this initiative it was referred by the citizens. According to these citizens since there is no federal or state law that requires food produce to identify whether foods were produced using genetic engineering, they feel that consumers have the right to know whether the foods they purchased were produced with genetic engineering.
This initiative I-522 has a lot of support on getting this bill passed especially from State senators and representatives mainly from the Democratic party; it goes further though into Mayors of certain cities, former officials and big organizations. All these supporters have one thing in common which is, they believe that Washington shoppers should have more information about what’s in the food they eat and feed their families. Having to make stores do this would require labeling genetically engineered foods, which would give shoppers more control over their shopping decisions. Personally, I agree that it should be passed because it will be advancing the consumer’s knowledge, but it will advance the science field as well.
It is my personal opinion that consumers have the basic right to know what they are buying and how it was made. Labeling GMO foods will play a big part in having an efficient marketplace and response to consumer demands. Within having this knowledge it would advance the ability to go future into the science field of things, by this I strictly mean the risk assessments of GE food. It would allow for researchers to look into