Canadian canola growers should keep a close eye on what happens with Proposition 37 when California voters head to the polls on Nov. 6, says an opponent of the proposal.
The proposition calls for mandatory labelling of raw or processed food made from genetically modified crops or animals.
California would be the first state to adopt a GM labelling law, establishing a powerful precedent right across North America.
“If it passes, lots of things change because California is such a big market that the ripples from that will be felt right here in this building,” Doug Jones, executive director of Growers for Biotechnology, told about 100 people gathered at the National Research Centre in Saskatoon for the kickoff to Biotech Week in Saskatchewan.
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He anticipates close to $100 million will be spent courting public opinion by both sides of the debate between now and the Nov. 6 U.S. presidential election.
The “yes” campaign has generated over $3 million in donations from groups like Organic Consumers Fund and Nature’s Path Foods.
The “no” campaign has raised over $25 million, with big donations coming from seed technology and food companies such as Monsanto and PepsiCo.
Jones said there is another important force behind the “yes” campaign.
“The California initiative really is being driven by some lawyers who will make a business out of suing companies for non-compliance,” he said.
“It becomes a lawyer’s dream and it’s being promoted by the lawyers.”
Oregon had a similar ballot initiative in 2002 that failed by a wide margin but Jones warned that California is a different state with a strong anti-GM element.
“How did they collect a half a million signatures to put it on the ballot? Somebody was concerned enough at least to sign a petition,” he noted.
If the ballot passes food companies will have two choices — label their products or start sourcing non-GM ingredients.
Jones said the law will affect a vast array of products sitting on grocery store shelves — almost anything containing corn, soybean or canola meal or oil.
If food manufacturers decide to source non-GM ingredients for the California market it’s going to influence what crop growers plant right across North America.
That’s a difficult proposition because over 90 percent of all the corn, soybeans and canola grown in that region is planted with GM seed.
“(Food companies) are going to go out and contract with farmers to grow something different. But the yield, the quality and everything else may be lower,” he said.
Jones said the first thing that will happen if Proposition 37 passes is it will be challenged in court.
Those opposed to the ballot will argue that food labelling is a federal jurisdiction and that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration see no need for labels because they have deemed GM crops to be safe.
