Don Shawcroft, Colorado Farm Bureau president
After assisting with a costly campaign in 2014 to fight a potentially expensive requirement to label all foods containing GMOs, the Colorado Farm Bureau was dismayed after a ban on such state laws died on a 49-48 vote in the U.S. Senate Wednesday. The legislation on genetically modified foods needed 60 votes to clear a procedural hurdle.
Don Shawcroft, president of Colorado Farm Bureau, called out Colorado’s Democratic senator, Michael Bennet of Denver, for voting against the measure and praised Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, for voting for it.
We are surprised that Senator Bennet would vote against this GMO labeling legislation in the Senate. In 2014, mandatory GMO labeling. Shawcroft said in a statement Thursday. Instead of voting to pass common-sense legislation that allows companies to decide, Sen. Bennet instead decided to allow one Northeast state to restrict options and increase prices for Colorado residents.”
Shawcroft referenced Vermont, where a GMO-labeling law is this summer.
Sen. Gardner has a keen understanding of agricultural and the agricultural supply chain that brings food to customers, Shawcrof said of the former state legislator from Yuma. We can t thank Sen. Gardner enough for his support of Colorado agriculture and Colorado families.
Two years ago, opponents of Proposition 105 successfully , if not misleading, would put Colorado products at a competitive disadvantage and ultimately would jack up grocery bills for consumers.
The House passed a ban on such state laws on mandatory GMO labeling last year. The bill rejected in the Senate would have set up a federal voluntary GMO labeling system.
Bennet supported a compromise that never materialized before Wednesday’s vote but has vowed to continue to seek a compromise between those concerned about food safety and producers worried about the cost and misconceptions over the safety of GMOs.
Senator Bennet is committed to finding a bipartisan compromise on this issue that strikes a balance that works for Colorado producers and consumers,” his spokesman, Adam Bozzi, said Thursday.
A solution should respect consumers right to know what s in their food while ensuring a GMO-labeling standard is fairly applied across the country and does not harm Colorado farmers. This bill didn t strike that balance.
