GE labeling begins in the US
Consumer demand has resulted in the eighth largest food and drug retailer in the US demanding GE food be labelled. Whole Foods Market, announced last week that their 5000 plus suppliers (6) will have to conform by 2018. (4)
In 2012 Whole Foods Market turned over US$11.6 billion.
Over 50 countries in the developed world require that GE food be labelled. (4) The US and Canada are amongst the few developed countries still denying consumers the right to know what is in their food. (3)
The campaign ‘Just Label it’ states that 90% of US consumers want GE food labelled. (5)
Despite this last year Proposition 37 in California lost at the polls by less than 3%, following a $45 million ad campaign paid for by Big Agri-tech and food giants opposing it. (2)
In 2012, ninety three percent of soy, 88 percent of field corn, 94 percent of cotton and more than 90 percent of canola seed and sugar beets planted in the United States were genetically engineered. (1)
“The move to label GE in the US signals the end days for companies like Monsanto who are losing their grip on control of our food supply. If they lose the US market, they will be knocking harder on our door, but New Zealanders will never sell out their values and allow untested, inferior GE crops, that consumers don’t want to be grown here” says Debbie Swanwick, Spokesperson – Soil & Health – Organic NZ.
The US Organic Consumers Association is requesting that Whole Foods implement the change by 2015. (3)
Soil & Health is one of the oldest organic organisations in the world and advocates for the consumer’s right to have fresh, healthy, organic food free of GE, pesticides and additives and their right to know what is in their food. Oranga nuku, oranga kai oranga tangata. To learn more about what is really in your food subscribe to their Facebook pagehttp://www.facebook.com/OrganicNZ
Photo caption: “An apple a day will keep the doctor away, but only if it is organic” says Debbie Swanwick, Spokesperson, Soil & Health – Organic NZ. “Food is medicine. Good food equals good health. The nutritional value of apple makes it useful for digestion, stomach disorders, anaemia, weakness, dental care, dysentry, heart disease, rheumatism, eye disorders, cancer, gout, and skin care”.
References (Links accessed March 2013)
(1) http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/03/whole-foods-to-require-labeling-of…
(2) http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27169.cfm
(3) http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/geneti…
(4) http://www.rodale.com/whole-foods-and-gmos
(5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TghIpBG5o3s
(6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBVi3tH0Fqs
