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The Official Whole Foods Market® Blog
Weekend Sale: Non-GMO Project Verified Products
| Meet the Blogger | More Posts by Paige Brady
As American consumers, we have a right to know what we are eating. One of the important choices anyone can make is whether or not to eat foods containing GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms, also called genetically engineered ingredients). Because GMOs are pervasive in our food supply, many familiar foods we sell may contain them. And because food manufacturers are not required to label them, many Americans are not even aware that GMOs are in many of their favorite foods.
As America’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods, Whole Foods Market® is proud to support GMO choice and transparency, such as supporting labeling efforts like Proposition 37 in California and also by providing our customers with the most Non-GMO and organic products available anywhere. And we are really excited to announce that all Whole Foods Market® stores in the US and Canada will have hundreds of Non-GMO Project Verified products on sale this weekend, from Friday, October 19 through Sunday, October 21.
We’ve supported mandatory product labeling measures over the years, most recently California’s Proposition 37 and Washington State’s Initiative Measure 522, with the hope that these state efforts will lead to one federal standard. We also work one-on-one with hundreds of our supplier partners to encourage them to get their ingredients from Non-GMO sources.
Here are some ways you can avoid GMOs while supporting ingredient choice and transparency:
- Go organic! The USDA National Organic Standards do not allow genetically engineered seed and ingredients in the growth and production of organic foods.
- Look for the Non-GMO Project Verified seal, which indicates the product has passed a third-party verification program indicating that a product has been produced according to best practices and procedures to avoid the intentional use of GMO ingredients.
- Buy 365 Everyday Value® organic food products and plant-based non-organic 365 Everyday Value® food products -- both sourced to avoid genetically engineered ingredients.
- Shop our Non-GMO Project Verified sale this weekend!
Please celebrate Non-GMO month with us by taking advantage of our sale this weekend. Beyond this weekend and this month, if having non-GMO options are important to you, purchase from companies whose products are non-GMO verified and show your support for organics.
146 Comments
Comments
Thank you for your efforts in regaining our trust for your market. We want to be believe that our health is your priority.
10/19/2012 2:01:44 PM CDT
I'm really glad to see you making a stronger commitment to non-GMO foods and the labeling of such. As a Washington State resident I will be sure to vote to support Initiative 522. Thanks!
10/19/2012 2:56:40 PM CDT
finally - a major play is taking a stand - hard to find non-gmo in seattle until now! thank you whole foods!!
10/19/2012 7:57:04 PM CDT
I went to this Non-Gmo Project Verified sale this evening because this is big news, and a chance for Whole Foods to show the world that it does support non-GMO foods and the labeling of same.
When I entered the store, I asked if there was a way for me to easily see the non-gmo foods on sale and what kind of sale was it: A percentage off all GMO-free foods, for example?
No one seemed to know.
Indeed, there were more than the usual number of sale tags hanging from the shelves, and an associate led me to an aisle containing many of these sale tags. Upon pulling one of these sale items from the shelf, however, I found that it did not contain the Non-GMO seal. The whole reason I went to this sale, besides to save money, was to be able to easily discover the non-GMO products.
This sale is a great idea, and I would like to see it repeated, with the addition that each sale item that is non-GMO says so clearly on the sale tag.
This would be of great assistance!
Thank you for all your efforts to bring more GMO-free foods into the market place.
10/19/2012 9:01:12 PM CDT
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE back your words with financial support for Prop 37!!! It is sooo important to see such a leader for whole, organic foods behind such an important issue such as genetically modified organisms, not just by words alone, but by their dollars and practices!
Whole Foods is very corporate. Whole Foods has pushed out a lot of smaller, family-owned grocery stores because it had the largest selection of organic produce and foods available. And it was so disappointing and devastating to find out that there were unlabeled GMO's within your own organization! It is time to make it right. It is time to be the leader in the right-to-know movement. It is time to stand up against a wretched system that favors individual gain over the American people's health and wellness. We have a right to know what we are eating. We have a right to safe, healthy, unprocessed, chemical-free organic produce and foods. Please be this beacon that we need and deserve!
10/19/2012 10:48:42 PM CDT
awesome work with this weekend sale!
10/19/2012 10:56:33 PM CDT
It is important that our food is labeled due to the correlation of cancer, Celiac disease, autism, cancer and the many food allergies that is being linked to GMOs. The big companies are donating millions of dollars each day to fight yes on 37 label genetically modified foods. These companies don't want to put labels on Foods. Why because this will educate people about GMOs and it will be easier to see the correlation of what these foods do to people and what they cause like cancer, autism, celiac disease and etc. Whole foods, I urge you to take action and help donate money to Yes 37. we need funding so we too can fight all these no on 37 ads. We need to educate the public and keep America safe. Please WHOLE FOODS donate for the cause so we as AMERICANS have the right and freedom to choose Whole and Real food.
10/19/2012 11:08:39 PM CDT
How much money have you given to support Prop 37?
10/19/2012 11:35:37 PM CDT
I refuse to eat food with GMOs
I have a mentally ill daughter who is much better since I have only been feeding her organics
We deserve the right to know what is in our food. Come on Americans let's fight for our rights! Whole Foods put a petition at your registers.
Thank You
10/20/2012 7:27:06 AM CDT
This is a huge gamble you are taking, WF.
If prop 37 passes *in spite* of your $0 contributions, you will still be remembered for sitting out the battle. If it *does not* pass, and you have still contributed nothing, you are going to be ruined and at the mercy of your customers. The only way to come out of this looking even "OK" is to distribute literature in every store and actually, you know, do something (anything). Monetary support would be great, but I'm sure you have your corporate logic to back up your stance.
Such stubbornness can turn into brinksmanship, and that is where you are now. You only have a couple weeks to determine a critical part of your reputation/legacy. Don't sleep on this! WF is *not* too big to fail, and there are many employees who will be cut if/when WF is ruined in Nov. If you continue to play it all aloof, things will get very bad for your brand...
10/20/2012 11:14:25 AM CDT
Now people view this subject as important, in the future it will be viewed as a key point of human survival. We must preserve the wisdom and engineering that has been proven over millions of years and reject engineering that favors economics or food politics. Humans seek to live healthier and longer, but modified foods undermine this process.
10/20/2012 12:13:44 PM CDT
please urge whole foods to make a proportionate donation to Prop37. Why has whole foods taken so long to endorse this proposition and after endorsing it, has not made any donations? It seems whole foods should be pushing for this to pass. Do the right thing...whole foods always has done the right thing. Please step up.
10/20/2012 1:04:57 PM CDT
Thank you for supporting Non-GMO month, but you need to do more to help Prop 37 pass. Put your money where your mouth is Whole Foods and donate a million to the cause.
10/20/2012 4:01:41 PM CDT
Put your money where your mouth is!!! Support Prop 37 financially or you will loose me and my family as customers! We use to shop at Whole Foods multiply times a week!
10/20/2012 5:06:04 PM CDT
After all the bad press directed at Whole Foods recently regarding their lack of support financially and publicly for California’s Prop 37 and for coasting on the majority of WFM customer’s assumption that the All Natural All the Time store didn’t sell GM foods, I appreciate Whole Foods making an effort to call attention to the Non-GMO foods it offers. While I am still disappointed in Whole Foods for not taking a lead in getting GMO labeled in our country, I at least acknowledge highlighting Non-GMO Verified products as a passive aggressive way of saying ‘check the label on the other stuff ‘cause it might be GMO’. It isn’t perfect, but it is a start.
Normally my perishables come from the famer's market, but for my dry goods I confess to moving away from Whole Foods more and more and making an effort to spend my money with online stores like The Green Polka Dot box who make an effort to keep all GMO products out of their offerings. This is a company that stands behind the values it advertises it has. http://www.greenpolkadotbox.com/home-li
10/21/2012 11:29:23 AM CDT
Not only do I want to be assured that Whole Foods does its best to avoid GMOs but that you can stand behind this non-GMO claim and guarantee this to your customers.
10/21/2012 6:55:13 PM CDT
Too funny, Why don't you pay up and put an easy 30 million to help California and their organic farmers defend against the GMO. How does shopping and buying your 360 brand (when it is also infected with GMO) serve California especially when you are buying your 360 products from China?
Better yet, how many farmers have you helped when monsanto went after them and took their farms away. You lost me.
10/21/2012 8:24:49 PM CDT
Has Whole Foods Market financially supported a Yes vote for Prop 37?
From what I have read Whole Foods has not given any financial support.
In which case, this statement is just greenwash. Whole Foods should at the very least have there stores worldwide support Prop 37 by giving customers the option of choosing it as one of three causes to donate to at checkout.
Whole Foods’ lip service to Prop 37 without any real action will make me take my business elsewhere. I suggest others do the same.
10/21/2012 11:59:18 PM CDT
I have recently heard of your stand to endorse prop 37 here in California. As of this weekend I have began to shop at your stores due to your commitment of giving us the choice and transperency of what we eat and put into our bodies and what our families eat. Kudos and keep it up... Now if only you would financially support this prop then would I be upmostly grateful of you. Note: I never give out my email to companys but you gave me a choice. Thank You and may you make the right decisions for us your paying customers.
10/22/2012 12:43:59 AM CDT
I have recently heard of your stand to endorse prop 37 here in California. As of this weekend I have began to shop at your stores due to your commitment of giving us the choice and transperency of what we eat and put into our bodies and what our families eat. Kudos and keep it up... Now if only you would financially support this prop then would I be upmostly grateful of you. Thank You and may you make the right decisions for us your paying customers.
10/22/2012 12:45:42 AM CDT
I LOVE shopping at Whole Foods and LOVE the 365 brand products. For a few months now I have been avoiding products that contain corn, assuming they are likely GMO foods. It is harder to avoid things containing soy. I especially am concerned about things like peanut butter which is eaten daily in our home. I had received your email about the NON-GMO sale you were having Friday through Sunday. I made a special effort to do some stocking up of Nasoya Tofu etc. On reviewing my receipt I notice all I got off my Balance was the one coupon I used. Shouldn't there have been something that was applied to the NON-GMO products? Don't advertise a special sale if you aren't going to be doing anything different then business as usual! Thank you, Christine
10/22/2012 7:54:15 AM CDT
PLEASE label your GMO products. Or better yet, STOP selling them. The high prices that Whole Foods charges their customers at teh very least should ensure safe, organic products. I also want to know if you use any GMOs in your prepared foods section. If so, you need to tell your customers. Stop the greed. Stop the poisoning.
10/22/2012 11:03:59 AM CDT
I think this is great. Hopefully this will get the attention of people that haven't heard of prop 37, Will whole foods be donating for the cause?
10/22/2012 3:19:39 PM CDT
Please help this Proposition pass and put your money where your mouth is with a sizable donation!
10/23/2012 2:33:46 PM CDT
Time to right the ship. Even though it is disappointing that WF has not stepped up to lead in a way forward with integrity by voluntarily labeling GMO products, I am glad to see this dialogue now. I learned early in life that trust is a valuable asset that can be easily lost. So when I read comment after comment about those who trusted and / or assumed that they were purchasing non-GMO products whenever they shopped for anything at WF market, it is very disappointing and I can EASILY understand why those people won't shop at WF any longer. What would impress me is if WF executives declared that a portion of the profits from the un-labeled GMO products in their store, since the beginning of 2012, will be donated toward Proposition 37 and similar ballot initiatives for the rest of the US. That would be impressive. Taking a stand for the consumer without worrying about the bottom line...and then you just might gain a little trust back. And wouldn't know that with that trust will come more customers and then more revenue/profits...and then you have a name that means something again. So yeah, a chance to right the ship. Good luck and thanks for this blog.
10/23/2012 10:32:59 PM CDT