I am happy to have this opportunity to write the Davis community about our right to know what is in our foods. What concerns me is what we do not know.

I am learning that changes to the genetic structure or additives to the diet of the plants and animals we eat can have serious effects on our health. For example, I just learned that arsenic, which is in our water supply and is fed profusely to reduce disease in chickens, can cause diabetes in humans. Had I understood that risk, chicken would have had a much smaller presence in my diet. I am now a diabetic.

The connection between food and health spurred me to research GMOs’ effects on health. I learned from a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences that GMO corn had serious negative effects on rats’ kidney, liver, heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells. The researchers concluded that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity.

Researchers say these substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore the health consequences for those of us who consume them over long time periods are unknown.

There is hope. In May, while at the annual Codex summit in Geneva, the United States and 100 other countries supported a new guide to help countries avoid trade issues on clearly labeled products containing genetically modified ingredients.

Celebrating this victory for truth in labeling, the advocacy group Consumers International says this is a major victory for the global consumer movement.

I am asking you to help us gain a major victory for the people of Davis and all Californians by helping to place an initiative, “It’s Our Right to Know,” on the 2012 ballot requiring that all foods genetically modified be listed.

To learn more about this effort, join the Davis LabelGMO.org, a grassroots group, every Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the clubhouse at Eleanor Roosevelt Circle, 675 Cantrill Drive. For more information, contact Rodney Robinson at (530) 574-1017 or [email protected]

Diane Evans

Davis

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