The commentary posted last week stated that I intended to vote no on Colorado Proposition 105. Two readers made comments supporting the decision and one wrote a long dissention complete with links to back up the reasons for the disagreement. You can read the full comment, but I was struck by the statement that you can’t trust “…the FDA (or EPA) to protect your health, just as you could not count on DOE to protect the workers at Rocky Flats.” The last part of that is certainly complicated. Those who have read my book “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats: Urban Myths debunked” (free at the book link at the bottom of the home page on this site) know that I was critical of DOE about their response to allegations of environmental crimes at the plant. However, today I attended a meeting of Rocky Flats retirees, some are aging more gracefully than others, but we are all aging. Many Rocky Flats retirees have lived well into their eighties and beyond despite the fact many of us worked with plutonium, which the press enjoyed calling “the most deadly substance known to man.”

I don’t intend to get into the “Rocky Flats health debate” in this commentary, but I did feel I needed to at least acknowledge the statement. I do understand it is easy to distrust government, but I’m not swayed that I should distrust the FDA and EPA because “…high ranking FDA and EPA staffers came from Monsanto…” I don’t have to be told GMO opponents emotionally believe Monsanto and all of the current and past employees are evil. Monsanto has indeed done some things that I also dislike, to include that they have sued farmers for patent infringement after their crops were inadvertently pollinated due to winds blowing pollen from a neighboring farm. Hatred of Monsanto inspires emotional responses, but I tend to try to sort through emotions and look for facts to make decisions.

Chipotle has announced that it supports the proposition. Their CEO says, “Fundamentally, we believe that people have a right to know what’s in the food they eat.” Also supporting is Consumer Reports. They have a short article as a “CR Alert” titled, “Are There GMOs in Your Corn Chips?” Under the subheading “Reliable labeling maters” they write, “In this confusing world, accurate labeling is the key; it give consumers the option to avoid buying food containing GMOs if they chose to.” (I couldn’t find a direct link to the alert, but it is at page seventeen of the November 2014 issue.)

The Denver Post supports the decision to vote no. Their editorial starts with the strong statement, “Proposition 105 is a badly flawed measure that would hurt Colorado farmers and food producers without providing any health benefit to consumers.” They also write that “The world’s prestigious scientific bodies are in overwhelming agreement that GMO food poses no greater health risk than food created through traditional breeding.”

We received our ballots today, and I intend to complete mine soon. It will include my no vote on Proposition 105. Thanks to those who added their comments both for and against.