The January 4, 2000 issue of USA Today quoted Margaret Wittenberg, vice president of Whole Foods as saying, "There is an absolute anger among customers that food are being genetically modified and they don’t know what ingredients are in their foods."
So why then, has Whole Foods, a giant in the natural foods industry been dragging their feet in the labeling of their OWN private labels? The answer is a bit unclear.
In April of this year, activists rallied at the annual Whole Foods stockholder meeting in New York to express their dissatisfaction with their choices in GMO labeling. While activists out side the meeting carry this message, heavy weight investors such as Green Century Capital Management (Green Century) and Trillium Asset Management, will present a similar message to the company’s Board through a shareholder resolution. This resolution requests that Whole Foods adopt a policy to identify and label all Whole Foods brand products with respect to the presence or absence of genetically modified ingredients, and to report to shareholders by October 2005 on progress toward this implementation.
Although Whole Foods has made general knowledge that their own organic standards mandate the absence of Genetically Modified ingredients, they have yet to take the next step in keeping their loyal customers informed. It is imperative that Whole Foods set the standard in organic labeling practices, by bringing to light previous non-issues with health conscious consumers. Quite literally, the introduction of GMO’s has turned us into the largest human lab experiment, ever.
By the numbers:
- Over 2/3 of supermarket foods contain genetically altered ingredients
- Only 1/3 of Americans are aware of the presence of GMO’s in our food
- 2004 study conducted by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that 27% believe genetically altered foods are "basically unsafe.”
- Survey conducted by the Food Policy Institute found that less than half of those polled (45%) believed it safe to consume genetically altered foods
If you own Whole Foods stock, or would just like to express your dissatisfaction with their current labeling practices, feel free to let them know. Below are some helpful links:
1. Copy of Current Resolution
2. Letter to Sharholders Soliciting Support for Resolution
3. Send a Letter to CEO John Mackey to Support Labeling of GMO Products
4. Ecopledge’s ‘10 Reasons Why Whole Foods Should Tell the Whole Truth‘
5. Ecopledge’s GMO Food Facts