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As Iowa’s January primary caucus approaches, the leading candidates in the Democratic primary are staking out more nuanced positions on something near and dear to Iowa politics: genetically engineered crops such as corn and soy.
At a recent campaign event, Hillary Clinton, said she supported GMOs in general but is “against what’s a movement right now in the Congress, which is to preempt state decision-making regarding GMOs.” Clinton said she’s in favor of “efforts to try to move toward labeling and to try to encourage companies to use technology like bar codes and other techniques online.” Clinton’s idea would allow concerned customers to learn more about the food they’re buying and how it was grown.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, holds a similar position, according to his website: “Bernie supports allowing states to require labels on foods containing ‘genetically modified organisms’ (GMOs) based on the consumer’s right-to-know, but does not believe that GMOs are necessarily bad.”
While the issue is often painted as a partisan one among voters, a December 2014 poll conducted by The Associated Press-GfK found among Democrats, 71 percent said they supported labeling laws, while 64 percent of Republicans did.
Leading GOP candidates have also spoken about GMOs and labeling. “We should not try to make it harder for that kind of innovation to exist. We should celebrate it,” Jeb Bush said of genetic engineering technology.
Ted Cruz’s take? “People who decide that’s what they want, they can pay for it already,” he said. “But we shouldn’t let anti-science zealotry shut down the ability to produce low cost, quality food for billions across the globe.”
Read full, original post: Bernie and Hillary Support GMOs—but They Don’t Want Labeling Laws to Go ‘DARK’
