To anyone disappointed in the outcome of Yes! on Prop37...please read

Good Morning!

Wanted to share an inspirational statement Frank Plughoff (SF area coordinator) made on Facebook yesterday, where along with Twitter, a lot of the conversation is happening.

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"To anyone disappointed in the outcome of #YesOn37, please read.

We’ve done a remarkable thing! Consider that just a few short months ago when I began gathering signatures, nearly 40% of the people I came across didn’t even know what a GMO was. And now, they do know! Consider that 4.3 million people voted yes. Put that together with the 4.8 million who voted no and you have nearly 10 million people in the same conversation. I’d consider that remarkable. That’s just counting the vote results.

Proposition 37 was not only prevalent in the minds of Californian’s, but also across the nation and across national borders. I got personal messages from people in India, Mexico and many other countries saying they support Prop 37 and hope it wins. This is now a global conversation; a conversation too big even for Monsanto to combat.

Even as people voted no, this is a triumph. As I said on Twitter last night to all those who voted no on 37, “the seed is now permanently planted in your head that you are eating #GMOs—chew on that!” And they will as this movement continues to grow, gain strength and win victories.

From the very beginning there was always the possibility we would lose. After all, we were going up against a corporation that is powerful enough to infiltrate our regulatory agencies, our court systems and powerful enough to dictate governmental policy and audacious enough to sue whole Nations. It takes courage to walk into an arena knowing you may fail. I have met the most courageous and inspiring people along this journey. I’ve met people who were willing to take the risk, not knowing the outcome … but more importantly, people with enough conviction to stand up and fight again.

We, with our limited resources, went up against a juggernaut with basically unlimited resources. We took on, arguably, one of the most ruthless and unscrupulous organizations on the planet … and we’re still here to fight again … and we will!

We may have lost this election, but we’ve come out of this with a new resolve. We’ve seen how inexorably dishonest and how diabolically clever the opposition can be … we take lessons from that. We look at what worked and what didn’t work and what we did and didn’t do, and we’re prepared to forward all this knowledge to the next fight.

If the struggle over Prop 37 is any indication, in future efforts to label GMOs, the conduct and tactics of Monsanto and their puppets will, increasingly, be seen for what they are. Monsanto’s force will diminish and our power will grow each and every time we take them on.

This is not a loss, it’s a huge win and we must stand up proud, and excitedly wait for the bell for the next round. #LabelGMOs!

I’m humbled to know all those I worked with on this, and humbled by the dedication of all the staff and volunteers from California Right To Know. Thank you for who you are and thank you for reading.

- Frank Plughoff (San Francisco area Yes! On Prop 37 coordinator)


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