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Monsanto thinks they've got you fooled
If you live in Pennsylvania, you should know that your state's Secretary of Agriculture thinks you're stupid.
Actually, he seems to think all consumers are stupid, but his reach only extends to those in his state. Unfortunately, Monsanto's money and influence extends a lot further.
If you buy dairy products, you may have noticed that some (or much, depending on where you live and shop) non-organic dairy is now labeled rBGH-free, or some variation thereof. The artificial growth hormone is used to increase the amount of milk a cow produces, but it's banned in Europe and Japan and many in this country question its safety.
Monsanto, producer of GM seeds and pesticides you probably want to avoid, also produces the growth hormone, and they've been lobbying hard to prevent rBGH-free labeling. There's no scientific proof, they say, of a difference in milk from cows treated with the hormone. They finally got a foothold in Pennsylvania, where as of January first, milk producers won't be able to tell consumers what isn't in their products.
What is the Ag Secretary's reasoning? There's no scientific proof (gee, where'd he get that line from?), and oh -- it's too confusing for consumers. Their poor little minds just don't understand the complexities of shooting cows up with hormones.
Monsanto thinks we're all dumb, too -- they think consumers won't notice that their megacorporation is lobbying to put the kibosh on a movement that's threatening their profits.
This will not stand a constitutional test. The state cannot tell me what I can SAY about my product if it is true.
This is a Freedom of Speech issue.
helen8 is right, if corporations can be considered a personal entity and have freedom of speech rights for advertisment, then this law doesn't exist.
I would expect Monsanto's efforts to fail, albeit founded on yet another deceptive law.
I've opted out of the whole game here in PA, and I now buy raw local milk. It is WONDERFUL, and I'll never go back to homogenized and pasteurized products again. I've also stopped going to Whole Foods and now I go to a local natural food market. Buy local! Buy fresh! Buy in season!
Good for you, Beth! One of my best friends recently started getting her dairy products from a local farm. They're not raw (we're in DC, and there's that rule about crossing state lines), but they're local and from cows not treated with growth hormones. They don't deliver near me, but I'm thinking of going in with her on an order to try it out.