skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Final Push for New York State GMO Labeling Law

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 25, 2016   

ALBANY, N.Y. - Consumer advocates were in Albany on Tuesday, urging passage of a bill to require labeling of genetically modified foods before the legislative session ends.

Advocates have maintained that the bill has the support of a majority in the Assembly and is sponsored by almost half of the senators. Alex Beauchamp, northeast region director at Food and Water Watch, said there's no reason lawmakers shouldn't bring the bill up for a vote now.

"I think we're closer than we've ever been to passing it," he said, "but we really need a commitment from leadership to get this bill done before the legislative session ends, which is now just a few weeks away."

The food industry has opposed GMO labeling, saying the food is perfectly safe and labeling would only raise costs and confuse consumers. However, polls indicate that more than 90 percent of Americans want GMO foods to be labeled.

Connecticut and Maine have passed GMO labeling laws, but they only go into effect when neighboring states pass similar laws. Now, Beauchamp said, the pivotal state in the push for labeling laws is Vermont.

"They passed a GMO labeling law that goes into effect this July, and that's really kind of changed the game," he said. "I think you see momentum on our side and more and more people speaking up and taking action."

Some food producers, such as Campbell's soups, are voluntarily labeling their products that contain genetically modified organisms.

According to Beauchamp, the New York bill, like the law in Vermont, would allow producers and retailers to use "GMO" or "genetically engineered" on packaging to meet the labeling requirements.

"The key thing is just that consumers have the ability to choose and say, 'OK, this is genetically engineered, and this product over here isn't.' And right now that's really lacking in the marketplace," he said.

The current legislative session comes to an end on June 16.

The legislation, A.617/S.485, is online at nysenate.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021