Farmers and Consumers Applaud WA State AG Bob Ferguson for Holding Junk Food Lobby Accountable for Illegal Donations in GMO Labeling Fight

In an incredible development for GMO labeling supporters in Washington state and across the U.S., Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), the junk food lobbying group that has plowed in more than $7.2 million to defeat Yes on 522, Washington's GMO labeling initiative, for allegedly lying about donations from America's largest food companies.

Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now! a national grassroots movement of more than 650,000 farmers and citizens dedicated to building a sustainable food system, applauded Attorney General Ferguson's actions as heroic, saying:

The Washington Attorney General's office alleges what members of the sustainable food community have known for years, that the Grocery Manufacturers Association and it's members are willing to do anything to deny Americans their basic right to know what's in their food. Rather than support mandatory labeling standards for genetically engineered foods, the GMA has set up a secret slush fund within their DC-based lobbying shop to illegally launder campaign donations to defeat GMO labeling in Washington. Already the opposition has raised over $17 million dollars to defeat GMO labeling in Washington. Giant food corporations like Pepsi, Kraft, Kellogg's, Coke, Starbucks and General Mills are hiding behind the GMA with their $7.2 million contribution to defeat consumers right to know what is in their food. But this time, we wont let them. Attorney General Ferguson has taken a huge step to making sure that Monsanto and the GMA can't buy this vote with deceptive advertising and we applaud his heroic effort.

More than 150,000 members of Food Democracy Now! have taken action in favor of the passage of Yes on 522, a ballot measure mandating the labeling of GMO food products in the State.