Marin Juniors Ask Obama to Label GMOs in Video

After two high school juniors found out President Barack Obama had signed what has been dubbed the “Monsanto Protect Act” into law, they decided to draft a letter to Obama to voice their disapproval and ask for the nation-wide labeling of genetically modified food. 

Jolon Timms and Cory Broad, both Fairfax residents who attend the private Branson School in Ross, then recorded a video of them reciting the letter inside Good Earth Natural Foods (see the YouTube video above) to encourage others to join their movement against the bill, which grants immunity to GMO (genetically modified organism) providers including the biotech behemoth Monsanto.

The “act” is in Section 735 of the Agriculture Appropriations Bill and is part of a “continuing resolution” congress passed to avoid a government shutdown, according to ABC news. The section focuses on the regulation of “questionable” crops. 

“We got together one night, fired up about writing this letter, and cranked it out,” said Timms.

The letter, addressed to Obama, begins with “We are perplexed and disturbed by your signing of a recent bill …” and later asks Obama to issue an executive order to label GMO’s “so Americans have at least the right to know what goes in their bodies.” 

“With this act, GMO producers are planting the seeds of unstoppable harm on the American people and their environment,” Broad said.

In the letter and video, the duo focuses on the downsides of genetically engineered products and tell Obama that signing the bill “diminishes the symbolism” of the White House’s organic garden before.

They link to a Food Democracy Now petition, asking for the labeling of GMO foods, and encourage viewers to sign the petition.

“Please pass this video along to sow the (non-GMO) seeds of political action,” they write in the video’s intro. 

Broad said the video earned support from their classmates at Branson. “People I know have said they appreciate it. They wanted to share it and pass it on,” he said. 

Statewide Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of food made with genetically modified organisms, was defeated last Noovember with nearly 53 percent of California voters rejecting it.

Despite trailing statewide, Prop 37 fared well in Marin, where it garnered more than 61 percent support.

Fairfax’s Good Earth Natural Foods showed strong support for Proposition 37.

GMOs are created by gene splicing techniques. Opponents argue it creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes. GMO labeling is mandatory is almost 50 countries in the world.

According to the nonprofit Non GMO Project, “high-risk crops” that are .

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