by Helen Tansey
The T-Room Blog
March 8, 2013

The sky just fell.

Whole Foods Market just announced they will label all GMO foods by 2018 including their meat and dairy products.

“We are putting a stake in the ground on GMO labeling to support the consumer’s right to know,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. Robb went onto say “We are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain to ensure we can continue to provide these choices in the future.”

You may be aware of the massive grassroots campaign launched in California last year to pass Prop 37 also known as “Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food.” The ballot measure lost by 353,657 out of 12,531,085 votes cast, although few can fathom why anyone, including Californians, would not want to know if the food they buy in the big-box stores is or is not genetically modified.

Seems like a no brainer to me. I am a consumer who wants to know.

If you read anything about that battle you will know that one of the stores who joined the coalition to defeat Prop 37 was none other than the store whose motto is “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.” They may have taken a back seat, but nonetheless did nothing to vocalize their support for consumer’s right to know in November, 2012. And it’s always useful to remind folks that the opponents spent a whopping $46 million to defeat Prop 37 compared to the $9.2 million raised by the pro labelers/pro consumers (Note: these figures were reported on November 6, 2012. There may be more updated numbers of which I couldn’t locate).

Now, amazingly, a mere four months later Whole Foods Market appears to have come to their senses by siding with the consumer and our right to know. Even more heartening is they are supporting labeling measures in Washington State and says they are looking “forward to supporting other state efforts that may finally lead to one uniform set of national standards.”

I’m not sure why it will take them five years, especially since they have seven stores in the UK where consumers have demanded laws to protect their food chain from GMOs. Although not a hundred percent clear, it appears Whole Foods Markets 2018 deadline is more of a goal to get all of their providers switched over from GMO back to good ole fashioned seeds.

Folks, this is great news, especially for the farmer and it is about the strongest evidence yet that American consumers are making a huge impact in the GMO labeling war by using their wallets. Whole Foods Market admits they are “seeing growing demand for products that don’t use GMOs. Products that get a ‘Non-GMO’ verification label see sales spike between 15 percent and 30 percent.”

As always, money talks. Let’s hope the other big-box food chains follow Whole Foods Market’s lead. Be sure that when you go to your local grocer to pick up whatever product(s) ask them if it is GMO or not. Of course, few will know but those who don’t will tell their managers and they will tell their district managers and so on. The pressure is on…

A hearty congratulations and sincere thank you to all of those who have been fighting this fight! The consumer, once educated, stands with you.

To read the Whole Foods Market press release go to http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/news/whole-foods-market-commits-to-full-gmo-transparency