BELLINGHAM -- Division of opinion over Initative 522, in at least one case, includes the very group of people backing the effort to label genetically modified food, organic farmers.
In Whatcom County, one of the largest agriculture communities in Washington, small organic farmer and county agriculture commission member Larry Helm calls I-522 "full of contradictions" and "Not well-written."
Helm raises Scottish Highlanders and has fifty fruit trees, and they're all organic. But he contends the initative will cost farmers too much money and confuse consumers.
"I'm not against labeling foods for GMO," Helm explained Tuesday, "(But) all the large farms are against it. The Farm Bureau's against it. It's not being accepted."
Helm's opinion is part of a wide spectrum within the farming community. Most organic growers and farmers support I-522 while large-scale producers oppose the measure for its costs.
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