Did you see Michael Pollan on Thursday at Santa Cruz High?

The biggest reason to vote for Prop. 37 next month: consumers' right to know if ingredients in their food were genetically modified.

That's according to acclaimed writer Michael Pollan and some of Santa Cruz's biggest players in the local and organic food movement, who voiced their thoughts on a panel Wednesday night at Santa Cruz High School.

Guests included Randall Grahm, owner and winemaker, Bonny Doon Vineyard; Wallace J. Nichols, marine biologist; Jim Cochran, founder and owner of Swanton Berry Farm; Darrie Ganzhorn, director of programs and operations, Homeless Garden Project; Jamie Smith, Senior Manager of Food Services and Nutrition, Santa Cruz City Schools; and moderator John Robbins, author of "Diet for a New America."

Here's what they had to say.

On Prop. 37:

Michael Pollan: "It's important to realize these fights take time," Pollan said. For example, he said, it's been 50 years since groups started advocating against tobacco. The movement to label genetically modified food just started, he said. The comment was in response to a question asking what he would do if Prop. 37 fails.  

Pollan also said he supports Prop. 37 because consumers deserve to know what they're eating. Health risks, he said, have not been definitively proven.

"Do you want to get into that when the right to know is enough?" Pollan said. "It's sort of like cellphones. People blame all sorts of things on GMs."

Jamie Smith: It's about your right as a citizen to know what's being fed to you...it's simply about that. That one thing." 

On field working conditions: 

Jim Cochran: "Perhaps there should be some sort of labeling regarding labor standards," Cochran said. His farm employs union workers.

"People are concerned with working conditions in Equador, but not for people on strawberry farms and tomato farms in the U.S.," he said. 

On Santa Cruz's Homeless Garden Project, which provides employment, training and support to homeless residents:

Michael Pollan: "It's a very special place. You witness the power of growing food, what it can do for you."

On the miles of vineyards along Highway 101 south: 

Randall Grahm: "I get no thrill out of seeing miles and miles of endposts, and wire, and drip irrigation." Grahm said he would like to see less impact along the highway. 

The 90-minute talk attracted a sold-out crowd to Santa Cruz High School auditorium. 

The event, "Every Body Eats," was put on by Slowcoast and Grassrootzcafe.com.