Letter: Vote No on Proposition 105

Editor:

Our family has farmed for 70 years here in Larimer County. We are totally committed to sustainability in all of our farming. We grow organic crops, conventional non-GMO crops and GMO crop varieties on our farms.

Our family is opposed to Proposition 105, on the Nov. 4 statewide ballot.

As farmers, we believe that all consumers have a right to accurate and reliable information about the foods we buy and feed our families. Proposition 105 won’t provide that. It is so poorly written that it won’t tell consumers which foods contain GMO ingredients and which don’t.

Additionally, Proposition 105 conflicts with existing national standards that already provide consumers with a reliable way to choose foods made without GMOs, if that’s what they prefer. I know this because as an organic farmer, we follow a careful process and already pat added fees to have our farm inspected and certified. Foods that are certified organic cannot use GMO ingredients. There are also thousands of foods available that are certified “non-GMO” for consumers who are seeking that type of product.

Proposition 105 would result in many foods being labeled “genetically engineered” even if they’re not. At the same time, it would exempt many other foods that are made with genetic engineering or contain GMOs — so those foods wouldn’t be labeled. In fact, 105 arbitrarily exempts over half of the foods we eat. Proposition 105 even exempts school lunches that feed the ones we care about most.

Proposition 105 is not only a bad labeling proposal, it would also create a huge new bureaucracy to implement and enforce a food labeling system that would only exist in Colorado. It would also place severe and costly new burdens on our family farm and thousands of others throughout the state.

Proposition 105 would limit options and increase costs for all Colorado farmers, whether we grow GMO crops or not. Those costs would extend through the food system and ultimately raise food prices for Colorado families, especially hurting those that can least afford it. It would also put Colorado farmers and food producers at a competitive disadvantage with those in other states, hurting our agricultural economy.

This costly, uninformative and unreliable labeling proposal makes no sense. As a farmer who has worked for the past 50 years to put affordable and healthy food on tables of Colorado families, I urge you to join our family in voting NO on Proposition 105.

Richard Seaworth
Wellington