Votes on Farm Bill amendments often do not follow predictable partisan lines, so it can be interesting (for geeks, anyway) to see how senators are voting. For example, Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced an amendment that would have “require[d] that any food, beverage, or other edible product offered for sale” that has any genetically engineered ingredients “have a label on [it] indicating that the food, beverage, or other edible product contains a genetically engineered ingredient.”
So, who’s against labeling genetically engineered food? It turns out that half the Democratic caucus is against it. As you might expect, midwestern Democrats were the most reluctant. Even the very progressive Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin wasn’t going to mess with Monsanto. Joe Manchin? He was with Bernie. So was Jon Tester.
Of course, not a single Republican thought that consumers should know what they’re putting in their body.
