OLYMPIA -- Sponsors of an initiative to require labeling of genetically modified foods have delivered about 350,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office.
An initiative to the Legislature requires at least 241,153 valid signatures of registered state voters to be certified. If the Legislature doesn't act on the measure, it will go on November's general election ballot.
Initiative 522 would require food and seeds produced through genetic engineering and sold in Washington to be labeled effective July 1, 2015.
The signature drive comes on the heels of a similar measure that was rejected by California voters in November. A pair of bills introduced in last spring's Washington Legislature never cleared the first committee of referral.
"We were not discouraged really at all," said Ellen Gray, whose Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network was part of the coalition behind the petition drive. "The bills started the conversation."
Read more here:
http://www.capitalpress.com/orewash/SB-GMO-petition-011113-art
