Measure 27, which would have required labeling of genetically engineered foods, was defeated by voters last fall. Now, however, the Oregon Legislature is taking the issue to an absurd level, and food labeling proponents, consumer advocates and states’ rights activists should stand together and fight.
House Bill 2957, introduced in early March by Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, and passed by the House, would remove local governments’ rights to require food labeling. It also would ban any state agency from requiring food labeling that is more stringent than the federal government’s labels.
Essentially, HB 2957 is a pre-emptive strike against consumers’ right to know what they’re buying. No city or county has proposed food labeling laws, but Kropf and a sizable portion of the House want to be sure localities don’t get uppity.
Neither Kropf nor any of the other 47 representatives have offered an explanation as to what, exactly, food producers are trying to hide. All Kropf has said is that his bill would prevent the “crazy quilt of patchwork laws” that would result from cities developing their own requirements.
But patchwork is exactly what local and state laws are. Anything not regulated specifically by the federal government becomes a “crazy quilt” of varying state laws. Then, anything not regulated specifically by state governments becomes another “crazy quilt” of local laws. That’s how our system works.
It isn’t odd that a Republican who owns a peppermint and pumpkin seed farm would want to stop “radical” local governments from passing laws that could be a burden to farmers. (He was likely targeting Eugene, where radical consumers believe they should be allowed to know what’s in their food, and Portland, where radical consumers banned polystyrene food containers in 1990, helping to change fast-food packaging nationwide.)
What’s strange is that the House saw fit to include the state government in this bill, as well. Essentially, Kropf is saying that in the interest of an orderly set of laws, the state gives up its rights to the federal government, and localities have their rights stolen entirely.
Why is no one making any noise about this? Other than an Associated Press dispatch and a short story in The Oregonian, everyone seems content to have blindfolds put over their eyes when they buy food. Kropf’s move is anti-free market and anti-consumer, and it should be recognized as such.
Consumers should have as much information as possible about the products competing for their dollars, and then they can purchase the superior product and let the others fail.
It’s also interesting that a crackdown on labeling is occurring at the same time the federal government is preparing for increased labeling. New “country of origin” labeling laws will be mandatory by September 2004, requiring meats and produce to say where they come from.
We applaud the federal government; more information makes better consumers. However, Product Inform, a Kilkenny, Ireland-based company, is poised to be the first to market a new technology that delivers comprehensive food product information to handheld devices consumers can carry while shopping. Now that’s free-market progress.
Currently, this bill is before the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Frank Shields, D-Portland, is the chairman. Contact Shields at (503) 986-1724. The University area is represented by Sen. Tony Corcoran, D-Cottage Grove, who also sits on this committee. Contact Corcoran at (503) 986-1724. Contact Kropf, the bill’s sponsor, at (503) 986-1417.