October 19, 2017

Celebrating Non-GMO Month

This October, our Co-op joins over 13,000 other participating grocery retailers across North America in celebrating the 9th annual Non-GMO Month. Created by the Non-GMO Project, this month-long celebration spotlights shoppers’ rights to choose food and products that do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In our Co-op this week, you’ll find a weekly sale featuring a handful of our favorite GMO-free products, plus a coupon in the Addison Independent for $3.00 off any Non-GMO Verified food.

What Are GMOs?

A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. This creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. The two main traits of GMO plants include glyphosate-based herbicide tolerance (Roundup Ready®), and the ability for a plant to produce its own pesticide.

Are GMOs Safe?

There is no scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs. According to a 2015 statement signed by 300 scientists, physicians and scholars, the claim of scientific consensus on GMOs frequently repeated in the media is “an artificial construct that has been falsely perpetuated.” To date, there have been no epidemiological studies investigating potential effects of GMO food on human health.

A comprehensive review of peer-reviewed animal feeding studies of GMOs found roughly an equal number of research groups raising concerns about genetically engineered foods and those suggesting GMOs were as safe and nutritious as conventional foods. The review also found that most studies finding GMOs foods the same as conventional foods were performed by biotechnology companies or their associates.

For a comprehensive overview of the available research on GMOs, please download the report “GMO Myths & Truths” published by three leading researchers at Earth Open Source.

More than 60 countries around the world – including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union – require GMOs to be labeled. Globally, there are also 300 regions with outright bans on growing GMOs.

How Common Are GMOs?

GMOs are present in the vast majority of processed foods in the US. Currently, commercialized GM crops include soy, cotton, canola, sugar beets, corn, papaya, zucchini, and yellow squash. Products derived from these GM crops include amino acids, alcohol, aspartame, ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, citric acid, sodium citrate, ethanol, flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), high-fructose corn syrup, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, lactic acid, maltodextrins, molasses, monosodium glutamate (MSG), sucrose, textured vegetable protein (TVP), xanthan gum, vitamins, vinegar, and yeast products.

How Do GMOs Affect The Environment?

Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for herbicide tolerance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like Roundup® has increased 15-fold since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of resistant super weeds and super bugs which can only be killed with ever more toxic poisons like 2, 4-D (a primary ingredient in Agent Orange). These chemicals also pose a threat to beneficial insects like pollinators, which are critical to much of our food supply.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization determined that the herbicide glyphosate (the key ingredient in Roundup®) is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

GMOs are a direct extension of chemical agriculture and are developed and sold by the world’s biggest chemical companies. It’s also important to note that the companies who produce these chemicals are also the same companies developing the GMO crops that require their use. The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment, these novel organisms cannot be recalled.

How Do GMOs Affect Farmers?

Because GMOs are novel life forms, biotechnology companies have been able to obtain patents which restrict their use, banning farmers from saving, replanting, exchanging, and selling seeds as they have done for millennia and upon which their livelihoods depend. As a result, the companies that make GMOs have the power to sue farmers whose fields become contaminated with GMOs, even when it is the result of inevitable drift from neighboring
fields. GMOs, therefore, pose a serious threat to farmer sovereignty and national food security. They also pose a threat to an organic farmer’s organic certification status. As a result, many organic farmers fear for their livelihood and their ability to fill consumer desire for organic products.

An additional threat to food security is posed by GMO crops because their seeds are identical clones lacking genetic variation. As GM crops become increasingly common, this narrow germplasm leaves the world with severely
limited crop diversity. When drought, flooding, blight, or another source of plant disease comes along, this lack of diversity leaves us vulnerable to large-scale crop collapse.

Are GMOs Labeled?

An overwhelming majority of consumers in Vermont and across the US have long been rallying for clear, simple, on-package labeling so that they can know at a glance if a product was produced with genetic engineering. In July of 2016, Vermont became the first state to make it happen as our groundbreaking GMO labeling law went into effect. The law required mandatory labeling of food for retail sale if produced with genetic engineering (GE) and banned the use of the label “natural” for food made with GE ingredients. The rollout was off to a smooth start and it felt like a significant victory for transparency in food labeling and consumers’ right to know.

Unfortunately, our celebration was short-lived. Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) proposed a compromise GMO labeling bill (S.764) nicknamed the DARK (Denying Americans the Right to Know) Act. Vermont’s leaders fought hard to defeat the DARK Act as it moved through the House and Senate but despite their best efforts, the proposal passed both the Senate and the house. It was delivered to the White House on July 19th and was signed into law shortly thereafter. In a nutshell, this law dissolved Vermont’s labeling law and falls well short of consumer expectations.

This law leaves a significant number of GE products unlabeled due to a definition of GE food which ultimately excludes some sugars, oils, and corn products. Companies are also able to opt out of clear, accessible on-package labeling by using digital “QR” codes that are unreadable by approximately half of rural and low-income Americans without access to smartphones or cell service. There are no penalties for lack of compliance, and no authority to recall products that are not properly labeled.

We’re deeply disappointed to see Vermont’s strong labeling law replaced by the DARK Act, but we also recognize that we should all be incredibly proud of what we accomplished over the past few years. Today, if you go into grocery stores in Vermont and across the nation you will find genetically engineered foods labeled for the first time – Vermont was a driving force in making that happen! National food manufacturers like Campbell’s and Dannon announced that they will continue to label their products, and others are expected to follow suit. In the end, a lot more people know what is in their food because of what we managed to accomplish here in Vermont.

Avoiding GMOs at the Co-op

The fight for meaningful and clear food labels will continue. In the meantime, if you wish to avoid GMOs while shopping in the Co-op, look for products bearing a certified organic label and/or products bearing the third-party certification of the Non-GMO project. Ask questions about where food comes from and how it is made. Perhaps the product has been imported from one of the 60-plus countries around the world that have banned GMOs. Or, perhaps it’s a local product from a small farmer or producer that may not bear an organic or non-GMO label, but can assure you that their products are grown or produced without the use of GMOs.

August 6, 2016

DARK Days for Consumers’ Right To Know

Vermont’s Groundbreaking GMO Labeling Law

July was a roller coaster for consumers seeking transparency in food labeling, particularly when it comes to labeling foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The month began on a glorious high note with a party on the statehouse lawn to celebrate the implementation of Vermont’s groundbreaking GMO labeling law, known as Act 120. Fundamentally, this law required two things:

Mandatory labeling of food for retail sale if produced with GE (genetic engineering)
Disallows use of the label “natural” for food made with GE ingredients

Eight categories of foods were exempt from this labeling requirement, notably, products produced entirely from animals (e.g. meat, milk, eggs), products with only trace amounts of GE ingredients, alcoholic beverages and unpackaged food prepared for immediate consumption.

Under this new law, food product manufacturers were responsible for labeling packaged products containing GE ingredients. As a retailer, our Co-op was responsible for labeling any GE products that we package.

The law dictated that there will be three types of labels, which must be easily found on the outside of the package:

“Produced with genetic engineering”
“Partially produced with genetic engineering” if less than 75% by weight
“May be produced with genetic engineering”

The State’s Attorney General was responsible for enforcement of the law. There was a “safe harbor” period until January 1, 2017, where the law would be in effect but no fines would be issued. After that, the fine for a violation was $1000 per product SKU, per day.

A Short-Lived Celebration

We heartily celebrated the implementation of this new law. It represented a significant victory for transparency in food labeling and consumers’ right to know what is in the food they feed themselves and their families. An overwhelming majority of consumers in Vermont and across the US have long been rallying for clear, simple, on-package labeling so that they could know at a glance if a product was produced with genetic engineering. We became the first state to make it happen in May of 2014, then put up an admirable fight to defend our law when a collection of trade associations representing giant food producers, known collectively as the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association, filed suit against the state of Vermont. In April of 2015, Judge Christina Reiss rejected a motion from the industrial food companies asking Vermont to stop implementation of our labeling law. Judge Reiss also determined that the labeling law is constitutional under the First Amendment. The court’s findings affirmed the solid legal ground of Act 120.

The July 1st roll-out went smoothly. We prepared for the changes in advance and mailed letters to all of our vendors to share information and offer resources about this transition to prevent any potential snags. Our law was also having positive effects beyond Vermont’s borders, as many large food manufacturers – Campbell’s, PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, ConAgra, Mars, & General Mills – began opting to label all of their products, rather than label only those destined for Vermont store shelves. The sky did not fall and consumers were finally being given the information needed to make informed decisions about their food purchases. It all seemed too good to be true…perhaps because it was.

What is the DARK Act?

On June 23rd, Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) proposed a compromise GMO labeling bill (S.764) nicknamed the DARK (Denying Americans the Right to Know) Act. Vermont’s leaders fought hard to defeat the DARK Act as it moved through the House and Senate. The clip below shows Senator Bernie Sanders addressing his peers on the Senate floor and trying to point out everything that is wrong with this bill in the short time allotted. You can also hear the voice of Senator Patrick Leahy asking Bernie questions along the way, allowing for clarification of specific points.

Despite their best efforts, the proposal passed both the senate (July 7th) and the house (July 14th). It was delivered to the White House on July 19th and was signed into law shortly thereafter.

In a nutshell, the passing of this law dissolves Vermont’s labeling law and falls well short of consumer expectations. This law will leave a significant number of GE products unlabeled due to a definition of “bioengineered food” that even the FDA has called into question, which would ultimately exclude some sugars, oils, and corn products . Companies will also be able to opt out of clear accessible on-package labeling by using digital “QR” codes that will be unreadable by approximately half of rural and low-income Americans without access to smartphones or cell service. There are no penalties for lack of compliance, and no authority to recall products that are not properly labeled. Additionally, this law preempts a 2004 Vermont statute requiring companies to label genetically engineered seeds.

“It’s a shame that Congress chose to replace our standard with a weaker one that provides multiple ways for the food industry to avoid transparent labeling,” Representative Peter Welch said. Reverend Jesse Jackson also denounced the legislation and urged President Obama to veto the GMO labeling bill, pointing out the discriminatory nature of such a labeling system; “100,000,000 Americans, most of them poor, people of color and elderly either do not own a smartphone or an iPhone to scan the QR code or live in an area of poor internet connectivity. The DARK act has also been condemned by many respected environmental and food justice advocacy groups including the Center for Food Safety, Rural Vermont, VT Right To Know GMOs, and the Environmental Working Group.

We’re deeply disappointed to see Vermont’s strong labeling law replaced by the DARK Act, but we also recognize that despite this heartbreaking news, we should all be incredibly proud of what we accomplished over the past few years. Today, if you go into grocery stores in Vermont and across the nation you will find genetically engineered foods labeled for the first time – Vermont was a driving force in making that happen. National food manufacturers like Campbell’s and Mars have announced that they will continue to label their products, and others are expected to follow suit. In the end, a lot more people know what is in their food because of what we managed to accomplish here in Vermont.

We’d like to acknowledge and appreciate the many consumers, farmers, political leaders, and industry groups who are working hard to make transparency in food labeling a reality. The fight for meaningful and clear food labels will continue. In the meantime, if you wish to avoid GMOs while shopping in the Co-op, look for the following:

Products bearing a certified organic label (see examples below)
Products bearing the third-party certification of the Non-GMO project (see below)
Ask questions about where food comes from and how it is made. Perhaps the product has been imported from one of the 60-plus countries around the world that have banned GMOs. Or, perhaps it’s a local product from a very small farmer or producer that may not bear an organic or non-GMO label, but can assure you that their products are grown or produced without the use of GMOs.

Order Overview

Vermont’s GMO Labeling Law