The failed California Right to Know campaign says it will be back in 2014 with another ballot initiative for labeling genetically engineered foods. It lost last November when a majority of California voters opposed Proposition 37.
In an email to its supporters and members, the six-member steering committee blamed their loss on being outspent by their opponents by a 6-to-1 margin.
“No one likes losing, especially those of us who formed the steering committee for Prop 37,” they wrote. “But we want you to know that your hard work and sacrifice built an enduring movement to label GMOs here in the U.S.”
In addition to promising to be back with another California initiative next year, the steering committee says it will be “deeply involved” in Washington State’s new GMO initiative to the Legislature and state legislative battles.
Labeling bills similar to Prop 37 have been introduced in New Mexico and Missouri. The steering committee letter mentions Vermont and Connecticut as other states where they expect legislative action to occur.
When the California Right to Know campaign qualified Prop 37 for the 2013 ballot, it claimed a massive lead. However it ended up without a majority at 48.6 percent of the vote.
“We narrowly lost this one battle, but we built an unstoppable movement,” the steering committee wrote.
The group says it has turned “a relatively unknown issue into a mainstream public debate.”
Signing the email were: Dave Murphy of Food Democracy Now!, Gretchen DuBeau of Alliance for Natural Health, Pamm Larry of Label GMOs, Steve Rye of Mercola, Michael Potter of Eden Foods and Ronnie Cummins or Organic Consumers Association.
