Former EPA scientist Ray Seilder is a huge proponent of GMO labeling.
The constant refrain of the pro-GMO industry is that “science” is on their side while those in the GMO Free movement are “anti-science,” operating mostly on emotion.
But the truth of the matter is that many prominent scientists ranging from David Hawkins to Ray Seidler, the first EPA scientist to study them in the 1980s, have urged caution with the relatively new and environmentally destructive technology that also has been implicated in many potential health problems.
Seidler has long been a proponent of plain text, common sense GMO labeling, a right afforded to residents of over 60 countries worldwide.
Unfortunately for Americans, that right was revoked through the “DARK Act” in 2016, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama.
In the process, Vermont’s own democratically passed labeling law was overturned, a huge blow considering that it likely would have become the new standard.
Nationwide polls have consistently shown that 90+ percent of people want to know if it’s GMO, and the pioneering scientist Seidler is officially one of them.
In just 30 seconds (see video below), he’ll cut through all of the BS and show you exactly why GMOs should be labeled at the absolute minimum.
First EPA Scientist to Ever Study GMOs Speaks Out
“As the first EPA scientist to study genetically engineered crops…I know that (they) are designed to do just one thing: to tolerate heavy pesticide spraying,” Seidler asserted as the state of Oregon was getting ready to vote on GMO labeling back in 2014.
The former EPA scientist spoke out on GMOs in support of the landmark labeling bill, but it lost by less than 1,000 votes after holding a substantial lead for much of the campaign period.
It lost in large part because of Big Food and the GMO industry’s rampant spending.
“Monsanto and the corporations who opposed this measure had to spend $20 million on deceptive, misleading advertising and still only won by the slimmest of margins,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, following the defeat. One of the most frustrating things about genetically modified foods is the double standard that surrounded their entry into the marketplace.
On one hand, GMOs have been deemed “substantially equivalent” to traditional crops and hybrids, meaning that for all intents and purposes they are the same. But as Seidler and the other scientists who studied them closely know, there’s nothing “substantially equivalent” about them.
They carry novel “traits” like pesticide resistance or the ability to produce pesticides within the plant, that enabled them to receive their patents as novel organisms in the first place.
Without this double standard, Monsanto’s crops would be subjected to rigorous safety testing, which probably wouldn’t end well for them because of the immense amount of chemicals used as well as the risk they carry for allergenic effects, which the FDA’s own scientists warned about (about according to Steven Druker, author of the landmark GMO investigation book ‘Altered Genes, Twisted Truth).’
“(GMO seeds) are covered with up to 5 different chemical herbicides which is great if you’re a chemical company like Monsanto, but do we really want more synthetic chemicals in the food we eat?” Seidler asks. “It’s no surprise the chemical corporations oppose the labeling of genetically engineered foods, but don’t you think we have the right to know?”
Click the play button below to watch why Seidler believes the Right to Know if it’s GMO is so important for our health. And please share this article with your friends so they know exactly what the real issue is:
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This article was first written in October 2014 and updated in April 2018. For more information on why buying organic is important (along with how to save money doing so), check out Nick’s best-selling book ‘Dirt Cheap Organic’ here.
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About Nick Meyer
