Nov. 4 , 2014 , was a ho - hum election Clarence Shepard Day Jr. for many voting territory in the U.S. There was no U.S. President of the United States to elect ; no U.S. constitutional amendments to be voted on . It ’s my promise that voters with an stake in nutrient , agriculture and the surroundings came out to make their opinion known , though . ( That includes you , good ? ) There were a issue of pieces of state , metropolis and county legislating that will make — or could have made — a change to the ag and solid food landscape painting .
1 . Right to KnowThe genetically change organism food for thought - labeling law in Colorado and Oregon were gaining much aid throughout the sustainable solid food and farming communities this year .
GMO - labeling advocate had a loss in Colorado ( 65.71 percent no ; 34.29 percent yes ) . The law would have required that processed and raw intellectual nourishment made using hereditary adjustment or genetically modified element would include the label , “ Produced with genetic engineering , ” pop out Jan. 1 , 2016.Right to hump Colorado , the organisation substantiate the eyeshade , raised nearly $ 626,000 to raise it ; the opposition , led byNO on 105 Coalition , fire more than $ 12.6 million .
In Oregon , GMO - labeling supporters had a tougher combat that still ended in a likely loss : 50.23 percent no to 49.77 percent yes . As of this writing , theOregon Secretary of Statestill considered these termination unofficial , so there ’s an ever - so - slender chance this measure will gain a few more votes . supporter , includingOregon Right to Know , raised well-nigh $ 9 million for their campaign ; adversary to GMO labeling machinate under theVote No on 92 Coalitionraised more than $ 16.3 million for their cause . Interestingly enough , two Oregon counties ( Jackson and Josephine ) pass aban on grow GM cropsearlier this twelvemonth . GMO labeling won in Jackson County but lose in Josephine .
in the first place this yr , Vermont was the first body politic to pass aGMO labeling lawto take effect in 2016 , so losses in these two states does not mean the ending of GMO labeling efforts by others .
2 . Right to SmokeMarijuana legalization initiative are deserving noting for the farming markets that can open up in those states . While marijuana use is becoming legal in more places , it is still criminalized under federal law , making this a dicey farm business to be in nonetheless .
The constitutional amendment to legalize the utilisation of medical marihuana for medicinal purposes failed in Florida , not as a matter of popular vote — the results were 57.6 percent yes and 42.4 percent no — but because a 60 - percentage approval is required for a constitutional amendment to pass in the Department of State .
Marijuana for any use was passed in all three nation where the option appeared on the vote : Alaska ( 52.15 per centum to 47.85 percent ) ; Washington , D.C. ( 64.69 to 28.37 ) ; and Oregon ( 55.89 to 44.11 ) .
3 . right-hand to HuntAlabama ’s and Mississippi ’s hunters and fishermen ( and fisher - women ) now have constitutional amendments that guarantee their right to hunt , Pisces and harvest wildlife for current and future generations . resident of both states overpoweringly agree to this substantiation of right field : 80 per centum to 20 percent in Alabama ; 87.97 to 12.03 in Mississippi .
In Maine , elector were asked : Do you desire to ban the economic consumption of bait , dogs or traps in bear hunting except to protect property , public safe or for enquiry ? Their reply was “ no , ” 53.44 percent to 46.56 per centum , so land owner and hunters can carry on as before .
4 . proper to Open SpaceFarmers in Florida and Rhode Island can benefit from the conservation efforts fund by newly approved course of study .
Florida vote for water and land conservation with an amendment to the commonwealth U.S. Constitution that funds the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to acquire , restore and manage conservation realm . Nearly two - thirds of Florida voters fit to the Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative to protect their farming and improve public - land access code .
Rhode Island elector okay supply $ 53 million in Clean Water , Open Space and Healthy Communities Bonds to fund brownfield remediation , flood protection , farmland acquisition , unpaid facilities and the Clean Water Finance Agency at 70.9 to 29.1 percent .
5 . correct to FarmA ban on originate genetically modified crops narrowly passed in Maui County , Hawaii : 50.2 percent to 47.9 percent . Humboldt County , Calif. , also passed a forbidding with a wider margin : 59.43 percent for ; 40.57 percent against . The ban have different details , but the bedrock are the same : no more GM crop are to be get there . Hawaii ’s granger have a leg up with 50.2 to 41.2 pct of voters in favour of a constitutional amendment allowing the sale of bonds to fund loanword and other financial assistance to agricultural enterprise .
Pine Tree State elector also okay a measure to write out $ 8 million in bonds for the evolution of an animal- and industrial plant - disease and insect - control condition adeptness for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service , 60.24 to 39.76 .
6 . correct to FrackCities and county across the country voted onfrackingin their communities with all - out ban or forgetful - terminal figure suspensions on the ballot . Districts successful in passing anti - fracking initiatives admit Athens , Ohio ; Denton , Texas ; and San Benito County , Calif. Santa Barbara County , Calif. ’s , fracking banning fail .
Mendocino County , Calif. , passed a Community Bill of Rights Fracking and Water Use Initiative , which , theCommunity Environmental Legal Defense Fundexplains , “ establishes the rights of the citizenry of Mendocino County to a intelligent environs , let in clean-living melodic line and H2O , and the rights of ecosystem to survive and prosper . The cadence also secures the rights of residents to local ego - administration . Fracking is shun as a infraction of those right field . The origin or cut-rate sale of local water system for use in fracking anywhere in the commonwealth is also censor , along with the dumping of toxic frack waste . Further , the measure banish the transfer of offshore fracking oil or waste through the County . ” This is the first such Community Bill of Rights in the res publica . Similar Community Bills of Rights failed in Kent and Gates Mills , Ohio .
This is not the last that we ’ll pick up about these issues and feel the effects they ’re going to have on food and agriculture . There are even more food , ag and surroundings subject that were addressed in this year ’s election , I know . What did I drop from your metropolis , county or res publica ? Tell me , and I can write about it in a future News Hog web log entry orHobby Farmsarticle .
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