More Than 200 Groups Urge President Obama to Keep His 2007 GMO Labeling Promise

The GMO labeling heat is on! More than 200 organizations and businesses joined this week to call upon President Obama to keep his 2007 promise that he would require the labeling of GMO foods.

“In 2007, during a campaign stop in Iowa, President Obama pledged to give Americans the right to know whether they are eating genetically engineered food,” said Dave Murphy of Food Democracy Now. Here’s the video to prove it.

A letter was issued to the President, urging him to “fulfill your commitment to require GE labeling and to add the United States of America to the list of 64 nations that have already given their consumers the right to know what is in their food. In your first Presidential memorandum, you said that transparency is essential for ensuring public trust.” We couldn’t agree more.

Signatories of the letter include Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Annie’s Homegrown, Nature’s Path Foods, and Amy’s Kitchen, among many others.

“Regardless of age, income, education level or even party affiliation, Americans want the right to choose for themselves,” the letter states. “Two state legislatures have already approved GE labeling, and more than 20 other states are considering GE labeling laws. While we will continue to Support state labeling efforts, we believe there should be a national mandatory labeling system.”

At the press conference held in Support of the letter, members of Congress convened with representatives from the Center for Food Safety, Environmental Working Group (EWG), Just Label It, and many other well-known proponents of GMO labeling.

While we will have to wait to see if the president responds, we applaud the efforts of these representatives, businesses, and organizations in the fight for transparent food labels.

Image Source: Greg Elin/Flickr