According to Dave Murphy, the national movement to label genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, sprang to life in 2007 because of presidential candidate Barack Obama, the same man Murphy now criticizes as inactive on the issue.
“It’s an incredibly heartbreaking failure,” said Murphy, the 45-year-old activist from Iowa, referring to the gap between what candidate Obama promised and what the Obama administration has done on the issue.
In a recent interview with The Hill, Murphy recalled learning that then-Sen. Obama would endorse GMO labeling during the 2007 Iowa caucuses.
Murphy was working for the Iowa Farmers Union at the time, and he organized a summit to give the presidential candidates another chance to speak about agriculture.
Reading Obama’s prepared remarks the night before, Murphy saw the section in support of labeling genetically altered foods.
“I thought, ‘This is a big staffer error,’” he said. “I couldn’t believe they were going to allow a candidate, a senator from Illinois, to go on stage and say that.”
Read the full, original story here: “Leading the GMO food fight”
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