March Against Genetically Engineered Food to Arrive in Jessup Friday

Marchers traveling from Brooklyn, NY, since Oct. 1 will stop at MOM's Organic Market in Jessup Friday en route to the White House in hopes of bringing changes to food labels.

The Right2Know March is seeking to bring attention to the products containing genetically modified organisms which, according to event organizers, are developed by pesticide companies.

“Pesticide companies develop genetically engineered food crops by combining DNA from plants, animals, bacteria and viruses, to contain or resist pesticide, which results in more pesticides sold and sprayed,” says Michael Hansen, chief scientist of Consumers Union, a nonprofit consumer awareness group and publisher of Consumer Reports.

According to the Guardian, Barack Obama pledged in 2007 to get GMO labels on foods, while he was still campaigning for president, but no such legislation has come from Congress.

In 2010, a Reuters Thompson poll showed more than 90 percent of Americans think labels should be made for GMO foods.

But Nathan Field, director of biotechnology and economic analysis at the National Corn Growers Association, told the Los Angeles Times such labeling would be unjustified.

"There is no nutritional content difference between the products... If there's no evidence they're different, there shouldn't be a label," Field told the Times.

Advocates for the labeling see it differently.

“Genetically engineered foods contain untested novel foreign compounds that can be detrimental to our health, just as they are to the environment and farmers’ livelihoods. American consumers deserve the choice whether they want to eat GMOs, just like their counterparts in Europe and Japan,” Hansen said.

The event in Jessup will feature veteran GMO campaigner Joseph Wilhelm, MTV star Eric Nies of Real World fame, as well as music, dancing, a carnival and fire truck.

Right2Know marchers plan to appear at the White House on Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. when a panel will discuss the issue of GMOs.