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Idaho dairy farmers produce more milk and cheese than almost any state in the nation. Idaho is ranked third behind California and Wisconsin.

Idaho Lawmaker Wants National System For GMO Labels

File photo of a protest in Washington DC on October 12, 2013.
Stephen D. Melkisethian
/
Flickr
File photo of a protest in Washington DC on October 12, 2013.

An Idaho lawmaker and farmer said the state should press the federal government to establish a national labeling system for genetically engineered foods -- before states create their own.

Idaho hasn’t had a food labeling initiative like the ones in California, Washington and Oregon, but Republican Rep. Steven Miller, an organic hay farmer from Fairfield, said the attempts in neighboring states are a sign of consumer demand.

“And Oregon very nearly got their initiative approved,” Miller said. “And if we do this piecemeal through the states or even regionally through the states then for people who package and market interstate products, it really becomes a challenge.”

Miller is sponsoring a resolution calling for a voluntary, uniform labeling program through the FDA. He said making it voluntary is a market-based approach. The resolution asks Idaho’s Congressional delegation to take up the issue.

Copyright 2021 Northwest News Network. To see more, visit Northwest News Network.

Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.

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