Activism Forces Whole Foods to Adopt Mandatory GMO Labeling
Thanks to the same tireless activism that has led to national and international regulation of GMOs, the health food industry giant that is Whole Foods has announced that it will be rolling out mandatory GMO labels to indicate whether or not a product contains GMOs by 2018.
It’s a move that, despite a larger time window than most consumers want, signifies a massive shift towards a GMO-free food chain. Just the announcement will send many producers of ‘health’ products who currently use GMOs scrambling to find new ingredient sources in order to still stay competitive in the market. After all, it is the worst nightmare for a company to have a large “Contains GMO Ingredients” label amid rows and rows of ‘GMO-Free” products. It would be marketing suicide.
We can also examine how this single declaration by Whole Foods will ultimately span across numerous other outlets, namely competing natural foods markets. And these other markets could actually accelerate the labeling process in a competitive move as well. It could also influence the political sector as awareness is raised over the very existence let alone the dangers of GMOs and legislation is demanded.
But let’s not forget how this major victory came to be.
Your Activism Works
If you’re reading this article, chances are you have participated in the resistance against Monsanto and the contamination of our food supply. It is due to individuals like you that have made this victory possible, and it is among the many victories we have seen over the past few years. Ever since we declared Monsanto the ‘Worst Company of 2011‘ only to find a massive viral success from like-minded readers, activists, and even website owners themselves, I knew that it was possible for this resistance movement to conquer the lies and endless money pools of the opposition.
Granted we aren’t fully there yet, as GMOs and other problematic substances (don’t forget aspartame is made from GM bacteria waste as reported in 1999 by The Independent) are still in the food supply, however we are truly getting there.
We saw Prop 37, the California initiative to label GMOs, ignite with burning fire and ultimately fall due to Monsanto-backed deception tactics and questionable polling, but the spirit that drove Prop 37 is still alive and well. In fact, the motivation behind Prop 37 is now stronger than ever after the legislation actually brought the issue of GMOs even further to the mainstream.
In the past we have seen Peru enact bans on Monsanto’s GMO, Poland launch bans against GMO maize and potatoes, and even cities within the US banning GMOs. Now, through voicing your desires to corporations through finances, we are seeing this happen on a business level as well.
Wonderful news!
IT'S ABOUT TIME WHOLE FOODS HAD TO FESS UP!!!
Only we have to wait 5 years and it could kill us by then
Laughable: so another 5 years to do GMO damage?
Whole Foods should much more considerate of its consumers and not take FIVE years to label GMO's.
Five Years is just UNACCEPTABLE!
This news is not Wonderful Enough!
WF currently has Non GMO foods in stock; their website has a 22 page list of them. Many of them are their 365 private label.
Obviously Whole Foods does not care about its consumers.
Waiting another 5 years for GMO Labelling is totally UNACCEPTABLE!
What can be done to force GMO Labelling by Whole Foods ASAP?
Perhaps people should STOP buying at Whole Foods until they get their act together!
that is the only thing that will cause a recalculation.
Hole Foods is joke they are labeling many years from now, so the say, come 5 years you will then see, if anything. It is time to get suckered in, as Hole Food goes kicking and screeming into labeling. There is no altruism or wishfull thinking on their part, their actions calculated for you.
Five years is too long. Keep at them and have it done by the end of 2013 and the best thing that could happen is Monsanto goes out of business.
I agree – 5 years is too long! Especially as Whole Foods is already labeling its GMO products in its European stores!
Natural Society should join with organicconsumers.org in forcing Whole Foods to speed up the process.
I stopped buying veggies at whole foods long time ago.
GMO labeling is already happening for food shipped to Europe . This is a stall tactic for who knows what! We need to stop GMO not just label it! It is not sustainable, harmful to the environment and humans and can’t coexist with crops grown next to it without contaminating them . We are doomed if we allow this to happen . Monsanto and Sengenta own 56% of all seed companies in the world. Think about that!
Surely you all understand that 5 years may seem like a long time to us. But to the companies out there who already have GMO's in their products because they are already everywhere it's probably not a lot of time. They have to research to find and remove and replace any and all GMO's products now used to produce any of the foods that are sold. Whole Foods is letting their suppliers know that their customer's want GMO's labeled and if they expect to have Whole Foods continue selling their products then they have to spend the time and money to change the foods that are already out there. In the meantime, Whole Foods does have non-GMO products for you to purchase. Anything labeled as Organic is already GMO free so you have alternatives until the labeling is done. At least they are trying for their customers. Other places don't seem to care at all and would rather not have GMO's labeled at all. Also they can't just tell their suppliers that tomorrow you have to be GMO free because it's not possible to research and change all their ingredients and recipes that quickly. Give them a chance and buy organic until the change takes place. There are lots of producers who will move as quick as possible to change their stuff over so they can be first in line to say they are GMO free. It will be a race among their suppliers so will probably be over quicker than 5 years anyway. I think it's wonderful that they have put a time limit on their suppliers and are GMO free themselves on lots of products already. LOVE THEM!!!!