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Subscribe & Read Past Issues | OCA Homepage | Donate  ESSAY OF THE WEEK The Whole Truth About Whole Foods GMO Labeling Policy Whole Foods made a huge splash in the media last week when the company announced that its U.S. and Canadian stores will be required to label all genetically engineered (GE) foods in its stores, by 2018. But five years? Surely the largest national organic grocer in the country can do better than that. After all, Whole Foods is already labeling in its European stores. Don’t get us wrong. This is great news. It’s a clear victory for consumers and the GMO labeling movement. And a serious blow to Monsanto. And it’s proof that marketplace pressure works, that consumers have the power to change food policy. So let’s take it a step further. Whole Foods makes billions of dollars a year selling products that carry the misleading “natural” label. Not only do most of these products contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but they’re also full of pesticides, synthetic chemicals and a host of very unnatural additives. It’s time for Whole Foods to clean up its whole act, by creating a policy that says no product in its stores can be called “natural” if it contains GMOs. Or any of that other unnatural stuff. Read the essay Read the press release TRAITOR BOYCOTT C'mon Ben & Jerry. How about Throwing Some Dough into the WA and VT GMO Labeling Campaigns? TAKE ACTION: Tell Ben & Jerry’s You’re Boycotting Their Products Until They Throw Some Dough into the Washington State Ballot Initiative and the Vermont GMO Labeling Campaign Ben & Jerry’s sat silently by last year while its parent company, Unilever, dumped almost half a million dollars into the campaign to defeat Proposition 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling campaign. Now the GMO labeling movement is working feverishly in Washington and several dozen other states, including Ben & Jerry’s own Vermont backyard, to get a statewide GMO labeling law passed. But the so-called socially responsible ice cream maker claims it can’t help out with a donation in Washington or Vermont because it wants to get the “dough out of politics.” Seriously? C’mon guys, you can do better than that. Sure, you’ve got a statement on your website that says you support the consumer’s right to know. And great that you’ve promised to get GMOs out of your own products by the end of this year, we’ll hold you to it. But Washington and Vermont consumers – you know, those consumers who put you on the map when you were just a couple of struggling nobodies – need your help. And your dollars. And a promise from you, not a suggestion, that Unilever will keep its money out of all future anti-labeling campaigns. TAKE ACTION: Tell Ben & Jerry’s You’re Boycotting Their Products Until They Throw Some Dough into the Washington State Ballot Initiative and the Vermont GMO Labeling Campaign   Download your wallet-sized boycott guide (PDF) Download a poster-sized boycott guide (PDF) Sign the boycott pledge Order printed copies of the boycott guide or poster