Vanguard state: California might just lead the way on GMO labeling

Europeans have been doing it since 1997. The Chinese saw fit to do it in 2004. And over a billion Indians will start doing it this January. Meanwhile about 95 percent of Americans want to do it at any given time - but can't. And, as with many past liberation movements, the Americans who get to do it first may very well be in California.

Of course, I'm talking about labeling genetically modified foods (GMOs). This is a timely topic because a GMO labeling proposition called "The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act" has officially qualified for the November ballot in California. While it's true that the California legislature has killed several earlier attempts to pass a GMO labeling law (as also happened in Washington, Connecticut and Vermont), this version will be put directly in front of voters. And as Richard Schiffman writing for the UK Guardian observes, that matters.

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