Close to the Tipping Point on GMO Food

Story at-a-glance

• While California’s GMO-labeling campaign failed to pass by an incredibly narrow margin last November, Proposition 37 catalyzed an enormous amount of awareness across the US that is the beginning of the end of GMOs in the US
• More people are now aware of genetically engineered foods than we could have ever reached through educational efforts alone, investing the same amount of money that we invested in Prop. 37
• The tipping point of consumer rejection of genetically engineered foods in the US is almost here. Last year, the president of Whole Foods confessed that when a product becomes verified as Non-GMO or GMO-free, sales leap by 15-30 percent—a clear outgrowth of the Prop.37 campaign
• Target’s brand will be non-GMO in 2014. Ben & Jerry’s will be non-GMO by the end of this year, and while Chipotle’s restaurants are working toward a non-GMO menu, they voluntarily started labeling in the meantime

For those of us working in the trenches for the past several years regarding GMO food, we may be seeing the proverbial light at the end of a very long and difficult tunnel. Monsanto stock is not a good buy, and that is cause for rejoicing. To read the entire article excerpted above, please go HERE.

Meanwhile, I wrote a few weeks ago that I would share info on bokashi, a fermented compost. I just got some video and photos from last month’s experiment, and as soon as I find someone to help me edit the info I will put it on the blog.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

A Great Visual To Ponder / Forward

A 2 Minute Video For Those Who Still Don’t Know About GMO Food Dangers

Why GMOs Were Created by Monsanto, by Jeffrey Smith (2-Minute Video)

Jeffrey Smith is an expert in genetically modified foods. In this video he explains how an expiring Monsanto Patent was the cause for the practice starting and what some of the potential dangers are of GMOs. Watch Now

For Valentine’s Day: How ‘Bout NOT Buying Hershey’s Chocolate (Including Dagoba)

TRAITOR BOYCOTT

Sweet Revenge: Boycott Dagoba and Hershey’s!

TAKE ACTION: Tell Hershey’s: No Dagoba chocolate until you support GMO labeling!

Dagoba chocolate may be organic, but its parent company, Hershey’s, is a loser by any standard. Hershey’s spent more than a half million dollars to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling law. No wonder. The Hershey’s kisses and chocolate bars sold here in the U.S. are loaded with cheap genetically modified beet sugar and genetically engineered soy lecithin. And where does the giant chocolate maker get its cacao? From regions where child labor and workers’ rights abuses run rampant.
Hershey’s cuts corners by using cheap GMO ingredients and exploiting little kids in impoverished countries so its CEO, John Bilbrey, can personally pocket millions – $10.6 million in 2011. But guess what? In the UK, where consumers have the right to know what’s in their food because they’ve insisted on mandatory GMO labeling laws, Hershey’s products are GMO-free. The company once said: “We took this decision based on our belief that customers in the UK do not currently wish to see GM ingredients in these products.”
What about Hershey’s customers here in the U.S.? Let them eat GMOs!
TAKE ACTION: Tell Hershey’s: No Dagoba chocolate until you support GMO

Help Defeat GMO Corn on Steroids (Agent Orange, Folks!)

Dow’s 2,4-D corn is a bad idea. Pass it on. Stop the GE pipeline Let’s change “on hold” to “denied.” Urge your friends to help us stop             2,4-D corn! Dear Friend of Healthy Farming, There will be no 2,4-D corn planted in 2013. This is very, very good news for farmers and rural communities across the country — and you helped make it happen. The outrage of farmers, consumers, public health officials and concerned citizens like you has slowed approval of Dow’s new genetically engineered (GE) product. But the company is still pushing hard for approval, now hoping to have this next generation of herbicide-tolerant corn in the ground by 2014. Tell your friends!» We need all hands on deck for a final push to change “on hold” to “denied.” Your signature — along with more than 400,000 others — has already been delivered to USDA Secretary Vilsack. Now we’re asking that you urge your friends to sign on. Farmers don’t want these new GE crops. Organic and conventional farmers alike are worried about damage to their crops from 2,4-D drift; they also cite health risks to their families, especially their children who are particularly vulnerable to the chemical. And as you already know, Dow’s 2,4-D corn is just the first in a full pipeline of new herbicide-tolerant GE products. Millions of acres of weeds are now resistant to Monsanto’s RoundUp, leading farmers to spray more and to turn to older, even more hazardous herbicides (like 2,4-D) to try to beat back the weeds. No one wins in this chemical arms race — except the “Big 6” pesticide companies.   All hands on deck» We can win this battle. As the 2,4-D delay shows, our opposition is making a difference. Now we need to see it to the finish line, and stop the GE pipeline once and for all. The next batch of signatures will be delivered soon; please urge your friends to sign on. Thanks for all you do!

The Good News About GMO’s

Dear Reader,
Perspectives on Prop 37 (Plus a New GMO-Free Zone in US)

First of all, let’s celebrate with San Juan County, Washington, for passing its GMO-Free County initiative. Growing GMOs in the San Juan Islands will shortly be illegal. Thanks to all the great volunteers (and the 60% of the voters) who made that possible. I had the great pleasure of doing a speaking tour on three of the islands in September; their campaign was truly an inspiration. Well done San Juan County!

Prop 37 California’s Prop 37 campaign was the latest (and greatest) expression of the rising anti-GMO tide in the US that has swelled over the last 2-3 years. Other expressions have included the popularity of the Non-GMO label in grocery stores, the huge number of activists working on GMO issues, the unprecedented GMO coverage in the media, and the 19 state legislatures that considered GMO labeling bills. These are all early signs of a coming tipping point of consumer rejection. What sets Prop 37 apart, however, was how profoundly it has accelerated anti-GMO sentiment in both quantity and quality.

Huge numbers of people became aware for the first time that they were eating GMOs—we have changed the whole conversation. And numerous actors, chefs, musicians, artists, filmmakers, politicians, comedians, and others chimed in support of our side for the very first time. Being against GMOs or pro-labeling has clearly become cool.

From the quality perspective, I was blown away by the enthusiasm, competence, and utter devotion of the California volunteers. What I witnessed in the more than 50 events I attended throughout the state over the last 90 days was totally unique in my experience. The depth and solidarity of commitment to this issue is profoundly established.Although we narrowly lost on the vote, the campaign has propelled our movement forward onto a whole new platform. I am more confident and optimistic than ever that we will soon achieve the tipping point that we all desire.Please forward this email to other Prop 37 supporters. Please subscribe to our newsletter, Spilling the Beans, as we can’t wait to share some of the plans that are taking shape.Congratulations to all those involved. And remember, this was part of a rising tide that is still rising!

Safe Eating,

Jeffrey M. Smith

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The Institute for Responsible Technology Food Policy Fund is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization engaging in advocacy and legislative lobbying activities.

How You Can Help Stop the GMO Juggarnaut

It’s been a month since I posted a blog, and that’s mostly because I had several interns here. We had quite the time gardening, fermenting, playing with various herbs, etc. One of our movie nights was spent watching GENETIC ROULETTE.  Good grief! Although there was little I didn’t already know, seeing the whole deal spelled out in horrifying detail made a huge impact (on all of us).

I cannot stress this enough: GMO/GE foods are poison. Period. As of today, Monsanto,  other bio-tech companies, and a consortium of mainstream food conglomerates have spent an estimated $40 MILLION to defeat California’s Prop 37, which is just to LABEL GMO food. Many other countries require this, and Monsanto, etc. sells to them, but they are doing their best to defeat the labeling initiative in CA, and mostly through lies, distortions, exaggerations and outright threats.

PLEASE help. Go HERE to donate $$.

Go HERE to volunteer (you don’t have to live in CA).

Go HERE to sign up to do phone calls.

This is about OUR food supply, and OUR health. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green, or other party, this vote is about whether regular folks, citizens of California (and eventually all of us) can require large powerful for-profit companies to actually tell us if the food they are selling us is genetically engineered. We can’t exercise choice if we are denied the information with which to make that choice….

Time To Boycott “Natural Brands” That Contain GMO’s

I just had the experience of being “duped” at my local natural foods store. I bought a package of granola for my interns, one that was gluten-free, with what looked like decent ingredients…but I didn’t have my reading glasses with me. Once I got home and literally “read the fine print” I discovered that none of the ingredients were certified organic, and because it contained canola oil, it was contaminated with a GMO.

So “natural” now means absolutely nothing about healthy except as a marketing ploy. Yes, the oats were gluten-free, but don’t gluten sensitive folks deserve organic and GMO free as well? And this is a fairly local brand (Udi’s in Denver), with lots of good vibes and press, lots of feel-good copy on their site, which I went to. All this focus on how the products are made with love, and no guarantee they are GMO free or pesticide free. They may be delicious, but they aren’t nutritious in my book.

Which brings me to the Cornucopia Institute and their research on a very popular brand of “natural” food, Kashi Cereal:

For example, Kashi is owned  by Kellogg, which has contributed $612,000 to defeating Proposition 37.  Last  year, The Cornucopia Institute published a study, Cereal Crimes (http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/10/natural-vs-organic-cereal/),  which revealed that the popular, “natural”  Kashi GoLean cereal brand, unbeknownst to its customers, contains genetically  engineered ingredients.

In what The Cornucopia Institute characterizes as  “creating a façade,” nowhere on the Kashi website or packaging is it disclosed  that the company is owned by Kellogg, rather than the “small band of passionate  people” featured on the Kashi website.

Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/036834_Kashi_Larabar_boycott.html#ixzz23rJnlGPJ