Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on Thursday introduced an amendment to the farm bill that would give states the power to label genetically modified food.
“I personally believe, and I think most Americans believe, that when a mother goes to the store and purchases food for her child, she has the right to know what she is feeding her child,” he said on the Senate floor.
When the Vermont Legislature considered a bill that would have required genetically modified food to be labelled, the agricultural giant Monsanto threatened to sue the state. Despite public support, the legislation failed to pass.
“It’s no mystery why Monsanto would fight people’s right to know,” Sanders said. “Business is booming for the chemical company.”
He noted that the Food and Drug Administration was already required to more than 3,000 ingredients. However, the Sanders-Boxer amendment would not require states to label genetically modified. It would only give states legal protection to do so.
“Monsanto and other major corporations should not get to decide this, the people and their elected representatives should,” Sanders said.