Pamm Larry’s crusade

Let’s hear it for Pamm Larry. Last September, the self-described “grandmother from Chico” woke up one morning determined to do everything she could to get an initiative on the California ballot to label genetically engineered foods. Ten months later, on June 11, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that the California Right to Know Initiative had qualified for the November ballot.

It was the culmination of one of the more remarkable grassroots campaigns in modern state history, one that started small but steadily grew, building a statewide infrastructure of local chapters to the point where it was able to attract the funding needed to collect nearly 1 million signatures in just 10 weeks.

The initiative has the potential to change farming and food packaging in profound ways. It also promises to be one of the most bitterly fought—and expensive—campaigns of the year, one pitting consumer groups and the organic-food industry, both of which support labeling, against conventional farmers, major food processors such as Kraft and Kellogg’s, and huge biotechnology companies like Monsanto.

Proponents have a simple argument: People have a right to know what’s in their food and when it has been modified with genes from another species. They note that all the countries of Europe and many in Asia now require labeling.

Opponents counter that GMOs are safe and that labeling would unnecessarily frighten consumers, leading them to reject food that is nutritious and has environmental and economic benefits.

A 2010 poll showed that 90 percent of voters supported labeling, though of course that figure could—and no doubt will—change when Monsanto and its allies start dumping money into the campaign to defeat the initiative.

Grassroots initiative campaigns, once common, are an anomaly these days. Most initiatives are underwritten by deep-pocketed special-interest groups, and the campaigns are carried out by professional firms hired for that purpose.

Not this one. The Label GMOs group is a decentralized movement of citizens working together to spread the word and get out the vote. They won’t have the money their opponents will have, but like their leader, Chico’s own Pamm Larry, they will have passion on their side. We congratulate her and them for a remarkable achievement.