City Councilmen Call For 'GMO-Free Zone'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Two Los Angeles City Councilmen Friday announced the introduction of a motion aimed at protecting homes, schools, community gardens and public spaces from contamination caused by plants and other genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The motion calls for a "GMO-Free Zone" across the city's more than 502 square miles that would ban the growth, sale, and distribution of genetically engineered seeds and plants.
City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Mitch O'Farrell introduced the measure at a news conference at City Hall.
"A growing number of problems are being traced to GMOs, including the worldwide disappearance of honeybees (through "colony collapse disorder"); concerns over "seed drift" (for example the recent finding of GMO-pollinated wheat growing in an Oregon farmer's field); the evolution of "superbug" insects which are growing immune to
the pesticides engineered within GMO crops; and European studies which raise the question of how GMOs impact human health," according to a statement released by the Councilmembers.
Last October, Koretz and the rest of the City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution supporting Proposition 37, which requires genetically engineered foods to be properly labeled and prohibits such foods from being marketed as "natural" in California.
Fifty-two percent of residents in Los Angeles County voted in favor of Prop. 37 last year, according to the motion.
