Our GMO Boycott is Changing
September 11, 2012
Getting genetically engineered foods properly labeled is an uphill battle, and Big Food is spending huge sums to make sure that doesn’t happen. Here’s what you can do about it.
Three weeks ago we told you about how the parent companies of some organic food brands are very quietly donating large sums of money to fight Prop 37 (theCalifornia Right to Know Act, a.k.a. Label GMO). On the one hand, they want to be seen as supporting organic; on the other hand, they don’t want you to know what food is genetically modified. We also pointed out that some of the companies’ “natural” brands even contained genetically modified ingredients.
In addition to spending millions to stop GMO labeling in California, these companies are also supporting disinformation campaigns in which wild charges are made, such as the charge that labeling GMO will greatly increase food prices—it’s complete nonsense, as we reported last month.
With so much money available to the other side, and so much disinformation to rebut, the Label GMO initiative is truly a David-vs.-Goliath battle. But if we mobilize effectively, we can still win.
We launched our boycott together with other natural health groups. Almost at once, we found that it was causing confusion in California—the front lines of the Label GMO battle. We intended to boycott the organic brands of the Big Food companies fighting against us behind the scenes. But some people thought we were boycotting organic foods in general! Definitely not the case!
So this week we are redirecting the boycott. Now we are targeting the food companies that are directly fighting Prop 37 with their donations—in some cases, over a million dollars, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Beware—it’s a looooong list, and could be much longer. That’s because each conglomerate may own dozens and dozens of different, well-known brands.
Here are the biggest financial backers of the front groups opposing Label GMO in California, so far as we can tell:
| Monsanto Company | $4,208,000.00 |
| E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. | $4,025,200.00 |
| PepsiCo, Inc. | $1,716,300.00 |
| BASF Plant Science | $1,642,300.00 |
| Bayer CropScience | $1,618,400.00 |
| Dow Agrosciences LLC | $1,184,800.00 |
| Nestle USA, Inc. | $1,169,400.00 |
| Coca-Cola North America | $1,164,400.00 |
| ConAgra Foods | $1,076,700.00 |
| Syngenta Corporation | $821,300.00 |
| Kellogg Company | $632,500.00 |
| General Mills, Inc. | $519,400.00 |
| Del Monte | $484,125 |
| General Mills | $388,798 |
| Bumble Bee Foods | $270,426 |
| Sara Lee | $246,766 |
| Campbell Soup | $179,545 |
| Dole | $125,681 |
| Ocean Spray | $60,546 |
| Land O’Lakes | $59,321 |
| Hero North America | $58,028 |
| Kraft Foods | $34,404 |
| Godiva | $30,666 |
| Smithfield | $14,286 |
| Reily Foods Co. | $13,214 |
| Heinz | $10,444 |
| Idahoan Foods | $7,181 |
| Mars | $5,773 |
| Bunge North America | $5,193 |
| Croplife | $5,000 |
| Abbott Nutrition | $3,918 |
We have set up a page on the ANH-USA website listing the various consumer brand names and products of the companies trying to prevent your right to know what’s in your food. We also include links to the company websites so you can see everything they produce—and learn what to avoid. When you see a name like ConAgra you may not realize that they make food to sell to consumers. Please use this link to find out who is who and help us send a powerful message.
Why is this GMO labeling fight so important? Once GMOs are labeled in California, it will bring a cascade effect in other states as well, since most national companies won’t create two labeling schemes, one for California and one for the rest of the country. Moreover, once products containing GMOs are labeled, people will stop buying them—and this economic pressure will be enough to force GMOs off the market.
That’s why all the companies that are actively working to fight the labeling of GMOs deserve a consumer boycott. They are trying to keep you and your family in the dark about what you are eating. They care nothing for your health, despite their propaganda to the contrary.
The only way they will listen is if it affects their bottom line. Hit them where it hurts—in the pocketbook. Refuse to buy their brands or products until they stop donating to the pro-GMO camp.
Please take action now!
Right now, please sign our warning message to the companies trying to stop you from knowing which products contain GMOs:
And also sign our letter of thanks to the companies that are supporting the initiative:
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