Yesterday, Gwyneth Paltrow passionately urged the Senate to vote against the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.
Don’t worry, she came armed with reasons:
1. She’s a mom! When I first became a mother, my sister used to imitate my new mom-centered (read: self-centered) way of thinking by squawking “I’m a mom!” after everything I said. My behavior eventually stopped warranting that refrain, but I guess I can’t say the same for Gwyneth.
2. She cares deeply about fresh orange juice. Goop hates orange juice from concentrate and that’s why we need food labels.
3. She wants to know if her salmon is farmed or wild. Usually Gwyneth just asks her fishmonger, who also delivers. Do you have a fishmonger who delivers? If not and you’re a working mom, try and get one. Gwyneth’s tips for busy moms include finding a fishmonger who delivers and also using something called a calendar.
4. She’s AMERICAN. Americans have rights, ok? Like the right to know about juice concentrate.
5. She’s not an expert. Well, duh, because she’s a mom!
If only moms could become scientists, then we’d probably be able to solve this whole GMO thing! Wait…there are moms who are scientists??? There are moms who support the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act??
Totally mind-blowing.
Featured image by Andrew Halpern.
As much as I would normally avoid Breitbart (They’re the ones behind smears against ACORN, Shirley Sherrod, and most recently Planned Parenthood. Their style of propaganda isn’t really new, but it is new to Americans.), they have a point here.
I honestly think that the reason parents fall for alties is because they’re parents. It just feels wrong to have to trust your children to someone else, especially in things where you don’t have any expertise and can’t possibly do things on an individual basis. So you get the anti-GMO activists and the anti-vaxxers.
I know. It really made me queasy to include a link from Breitbart but it was a decent piece. I think the anti-GMO labeling sounds very reasonable on its face because it’s simply “better safe than sorry.” Understanding the science requires a lot more reading.