State Attorney General William Sorrell asked for dismissal of the food industry lawsuit against the Vermont law that will require special labels on foods that include genetically modified organisms. In the filing in federal court, Sorrell said the state law indisputably is constitutional, says the Associated Press. The lawsuit by the trade group Grocery Manufacturers Association and other industry groups says the Vermont law is misguided and would lead to a welter of labeling requirements. The Vermont law would take effect in two years.
The Brattleboro Reformer says $168,000 has been donated to date to the Vermont Food Fight Fund, created to help pay the state’s cost of defending the label law. The money came from 1,000 people and organizations around the world. The newspaper says that according to VTDigger, the major contributors are MoveOn.org, $52,000; the Ceres Trust, a supporter of organic agriculture, $50,000; and organic foodmaker Stonyfield Farm, $5,000.