Despite Compromise, Vermont Labeling Law Becomes De Facto Standard, For Now

The Vermont GMO labeling law is poised to be the de facto national standard, at least, for now. The Senate Agriculture Committee unveiled its GMO labeling bill Thursday, but with the House in recess, the Vermont law will stand, for at least a few days. That is if the Senate can garner the votes needed to pass the compromise and the bill can be passed by the House once the chamber returns on July 5th. The House squashed all hope of defeating the Vermont law before it comes into effect on July first after Democrats caused chaos in the chamber with a ‘sit in’ demanding action on gun control measures. Republican leaders of the House responded by adjourning for recess, skipping the final two working days on the calendar for the House this month. The Vermont law does have a six-month grace period on penalties until January. However, many major food companies pledged to comply nationally with the Vermont mandatory GMO labeling law and have already begun shipping properly labeled products.

 

Agriculture: A Deadly Occupation

New numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show agriculture as one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. A list compiled by Forbes shows the top 15 most dangerous jobs in the United States. Agriculture directly made the list in three separate categories. Classified under, Miscellaneous Agricultural Workers, farm laborers and equipment operators were ranked 12th on the list, with 18.2 fatalities per 100,000 employees in 2014.The classification Farming, Fishing and Forestry Occupations made the list at number nine, with 24.1 deaths per 100,00 employees. Finally, ranked seventh on the list, the general category of Farmers, Ranchers and other Agricultural Managers logged 26 fatalities per 100,000 employees in 2014. Further, an argument can be made that the two most dangerous jobs in the nation are also directly related to agriculture. The second deadliest job in the United States is Fishing and Related Fishing Workers. Topping the list was logging workers, with 109.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2014.

Source;  NAFB News

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