LA City Council Unanimously Endorses Prop 37 to Label GMOs

Ann Marie Michaels -

Yesterday morning my 5-year-old daughter, Kate and I headed downtown for a California Right to Know Yes on Prop 37 rally at LA City Hall. We went to show our support at the LA City Council meeting as they voted on whether or not they would endorse Prop 37.

Since Kate is homeschooled, we can do stuff like this at a moment’s notice. It turned out to be a very inspiring experience, and a great learning experience for homeschoolers.

I explained to Kate that a lot of food we buy has “chemicals” in it. I told her that big companies put bug spray on our food. The bug spray is for killing bugs, but it also makes people sick when they eat the food that has been sprayed.

She said, “So then we just won’t eat the food with the bug spray!”

I said, “Yes, but that’s the problem. We don’t know which food has bug spray — because they won’t label the GMOs. We can buy organic, which we do, but if it’s not labeled organic, we don’t know what is in it.”

Here’s Kate at the rally prior to the city council meeting:

This is the protest sign she made:

At the rally, we met an 8-year-old boy, Roan, also a homeschooler, from Topanga, California.  Here he is rehearsing the speech he wrote:

His mom stood by his side as he delivered his speech to the City Council.

Roan got a standing ovation, and the LA City Council voted unanimously to endorse Prop 37.

What an awesome experience for an 8-year-old. Better than sitting in a classroom, huh? Not only did he get to learn first-hand about how our local government works, he wrote a speech, rehearsed it, and got fabulous experience with public speaking. Considering that public speaking is the number one fear in America, Roan is definitely ahead of the game. Just think how this experience will serve him down the road.

I have to say, I was very impressed with the council members, who spoke passionately about our right to know what we are buying and to stand up to the chemical and pesticide companies trying to buy this vote. Special thanks to my district’s council member, Paul Koretz, who authored the resolution.

Koretz said, “I’m proud to be a part of this true grassroots campaign in our struggle against the biggest pesticide and junk food companies in the world.”