Labels Matter

Effort to label genetically engineered food releases video by Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner.

Boston, MA—With more than a half-million consumers already on board, a campaign petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to label genetically engineered (GE) food launched the video “Labels Matter” to garner even more awareness and participation. Encouraging consumers to fight to know what is in their food, the video is the result of collaboration between the Just Label It campaign (www.justlabelit.org) and filmmaker Robert Kenner.

“‘Labels Matter’ captures my conviction that consumers have the right to know what is in their food,” said Kenner, who produced and directed the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary FOOD, INC. “Labels Matter” is a part of Kenner’s FixFood project, a social media platform to empower  Americans to take immediate action to create a more sustainable and democratic food system.

Rodale Institute is part of Just Label It's broad-based coalition of 460 partner organizations who have joined together in support of labeling genetically engineered foods. “Research has already shown serious risks associated with the genetic engineering of our food supply,” said Mark “Coach” Smallwood, Rodale Institute executive director. “All American citizens have the right to know what is in the food they are buying.”

Organizers of the Just Label It (JLI) campaign predict the drumbeat for mandatory GE labeling is only going to get louder as the FDA prepares to approve GE salmon and a proposal advances at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deregulate corn engineered to be resistant to the herbicide 2,4-D, a major component in Agent Orange.

Unlike the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia, and even China, the United States does not require labeling for GE foods. The video portrays three average American consumers who represent the vast majority of Americans (90% in most studies) who believe GE foods should be labeled. In the video,
three consumers share why they want to know what is in the food they eat. One is a mother whose child developed an allergic reaction to breakfast. Another is a pregnant woman who knows what she eats could affect her developing fetus. The third has recently had a heart attack and wants to monitor what she eats.

JLI is a broad-based coalition of  460 consumer, parenting, food, retail, farming, and public health groups that has generated more than a half-million consumer comments on a legal petition (Docket # FDA-2011-P-0723-0001/CP) calling on FDA to label GE foods. Stonyfield Farm Chairman Gary Hirshberg, a founder of JLI who was in FOOD, INC., approached Kenner on behalf of the campaign to partner on the video.

“While the pros and cons of GE foods are debated, an entire generation is growing up consuming them,” said Hirshberg, the father of three. “Until we have no doubt that GE crops are safe to eat, consumers should have a choice about whether we want to eat them. GE foods must be labeled. Consumers need to know.”

Watch the film.

Sign the petition.

About Rodale Institute
Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. For more than sixty years we’ve been researching the best practices of organic agriculture and sharing our findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world, advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest option for people and the planet.

About Just Label It
The JUST LABEL IT: We Have the Right to Know campaign is dedicated to the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, also referred to as genetically modified, or GMOs.  The JUST LABEL IT message is simple: consumers have a right to know what is in our food so we can make informed choices about what we eat and feed our families. At the Just Label It website, (www.justlabelit.org/takeaction), people can submit a comment to FDA in support of the petition.

About Robert Kenner
Director Robert Kenner has won an array of awards and garnered rave reviews for his documentary work exposing some of today’s least-talked-about, but most impactful, social and environmental issues. Considered a craftsman of documentaries, Kenner is also a public speaker on environmental, social, health, and political issues. His documentary, FOOD, INC. won two Emmys and was nominated for an Academy Award.