Hillary Clinton Remains Silent on GMO Labeling Issue

Marianne Williamson – writer, activist, and minister – is still awaiting a reply to her 2014 open letter to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Williamson’s letter puts some very germane questions to the woman who has been called the Bride of Frankenfood.

Williamson says very succinctly at the end of her open letter:

“I want you to rail against the chemical companies and their GMO’s — not support them. I want you to decry the military industrial complex — not assure them you’re their girl. I want you to support reinstating Glass-Steagall — not just wink at Wall Street while sipping its champagne. In short, I want you to name the real problems so we can trust you’d provide some real solutions.”

Williamson also challenges Hillary to prove she hasn’t been bought out by the banks, the corporate elite, and Wall Street. Williamson states:

“STOP NOW. Stop cozying up to the banks, to the chemical companies, to the military-industrial complex, to the party machine, and to all the various financiers who make up the plutocracy now ruining this country. Yeah, I know a lot of them are nice people and that’s cool.

But they should not be able to turn the elected representatives of the American people into mere inconveniences they can buy off election after election. And if we have a sense that you’d be just another puppet of the elite, then I don’t believe that you will win. We were fooled once, but I don’t think we’re going to be fooled again.”

Hillary isn’t ‘questionably’ tied to the biotech industry, either. As Organic Consumers Association notes, Clinton has expressed her support for genetically modified crops and crop biotechnology very publicly. In a 65-minute keynote appearance at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Convention in San Diego on 25 June 2014, Clinton conversed with Jim Greenwood, BIO president, on a wide range of topics including GMOs.

Clinton appeared to think that biotech’s only problem wasn’t GMOs or the carcinogenic glyphosate associated with them, but how the industry presents GMOs. She opined that only the terminology needed to be changed. Drawing applause from the BIO crowd, Clinton said:

“I stand in favor of using seeds and products that have a proven track record.

“There is a big gap between what the facts are, and what the perceptions are. Genetically modified sounds ‘Frankensteinish’ – drought resistant sounds really like something you want.”

Williamson may have failed at her bid to run for Congress, but she is keeping it real with one of the biggest political families in American history. None of us wants a president that supports GMOs, the biotech industry, and business as usual. At least Williamson can be the prodding voice that expresses so many of the sentiments of the American people. Those in positions of power need to be reminded just how easily those positions can crumble once the sleeping giant awakens.

When is Clinton going to respond to Williamson’s letter? Bernie Sanders has already stated his support for mandatory labeling of GMOs, but Clinton is silent and evasive.

Featured image source and credit: Isaac Brekken for The New York Times

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