by Ben Nuelle
If Vermont?s GMO labeling law goes into effect, one senator says it will cost you a lot of money. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says if Robert?s GMO labeling bill doesn?t pass the Senate it could hurt Iowans? wallets.
?In Montgomery County our median household income is just over $44,000. That?s per household. Knowing that nationwide the effects of these individual labeling standards could cost a family one thousand dollars more in their food budget is just very hard to stomach,? Ernst says.
Ernst adds there are some reservations in non-rural states towards the GMO labeling bill right now.
?Some many of us that come from rural states, those of us that have large agribusiness in our states understand biotechnology and the sciences behind food production. We know it is safe and nutritious and we are able to feed the world because of these technologies,? Ernst says.
Ernst says the people demanding these labeling standards in Vermont are not people who struggle to find food.
?Not the people that struggle to find ways to pay for their food. It?s not the people that are struggling with food insecurity. It?s often those top end of purchasers of food. What they do not understand is that the effects of a labeling such as Vermont?s really makes it that much harder for everyone else across the United States to stretch their food dollar,? Ernst says.
The Senate will vote on the GMO labeling bill soon.
