The War on Labels Walk in to any local grocery store and fill the cart with food items from a list. Go home and make dinner or eat a snack with one of the items purchased. Chances are that you, as a consumer, just ate or fed your family a GMO food. And you most likely had no idea. Dr. Michael Wald defines a GMO, or Genetically Modified Organism (or Food), as “a term used to describe foods produced by seeds that have been genetically modified in a laboratory” (ix). These foods, or an ingredient in one of the these foods, has been altered from its natural state. As of today, our federal government does not require any GM (genetically modified) food to be labeled as such, leaving consumers in the dark as to what exactly is in the food we are eating. Putting labels on GM foods is a right American consumers should demand, regardless of what side of science or politics one stands on. The debate over requiring labels on GM foods comes down to two very basic issues: those in favor say that without the information labels would provide, consumers have no way of making informed decisions regarding what they are feeding their families. Those opposed to labeling, mainly the corporate biotech companies that produce the seeds, say that labeling is an unnecessary precaution that will only cause confusion to consumers. According to Nina Fedoroff, professor emerita at Penn State University, “Requiring companies to label genetically modified foods is a terrible idea. It will make food more expensive but provide no useful information to consumers”. She goes on to argue that, “The fact is, adding “genetically modified” to a label suggests that the food might cause health problems. And that’s exactly what anti-GMO activists and organic food marketers would like you to think” (“Big Issues”). Labels provide an overwhelming amount of information to consumers. In his