By
If you
doubt that big money and lies can pervert elections, look at Initiative 522 in
Washington State. A grassroots coalition of consumers, organic producers,
environmentalists, and others who want honesty in food labeling put it on the
ballot. They lost.
The
measure would’ve required grocery manufacturers that slip genetically
manipulated organisms into their products to state that fact on their food
labels. Public opinion polls indicated an easy win, so Big Food lashed back
with a dishonest, multi-million-dollar PR campaign.
Especially
dishonest (and likely illegal) was the industry’s crude attempt to keep voters
from knowing who was funding the attack ads. A front group, the Grocery
Manufacturers Association, set up a dummy campaign account called “Defense of
Brand,” which really was a hide-the-brand artifice.
It let big-name food giants
stir some $11 million into the no-labeling campaign, without revealing their
participation and angering consumers.
But the
state attorney general exposed this dodge and forced the giants to fess up.
Behind this hoax-within a hoax-within another hoax were such names as Campbell
Soup, Coke, Nestlé, and Pepsi.
With their money and deceptions, they prevailed
in the vote, but that same combo of cash and lies also infuriated millions of
consumers and others across the country who seek nothing more than a basic
level of corporate integrity — and a minimal level of control over the food
they bring into their homes.
The
genetically engineered food profiteers can run, but ultimately they won’t be
able to hide from the growing number of Americans who are onto them — and
literally fed up with their tactics. Similar labeling laws are currently being
pushed in some 20 other states. The fun is just beginning.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator,
writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The
Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org