One way to avoid GMO's is to buy Certified Organic produce and products (at least until Corporate Food succeeds in further corrupting the USDA's organic standards).
- Question: "Aren't foods labeled "Natural" the same or similar to Organic, but priced less?"
- Good question! And the answer is... NO!
As a food label, "Natural" is worse than meaningless.
It is meaningless
because there are no labeling standards attached to the word. It is
WORSE than meaningless because it succeeds in fooling people into buying
"Natural" because that word "sounds" better or healthier.
When people buy "Natural" products in the mistaken
belief that they are as good as Organic,
the Organic market suffers, and if Organic farmers and grocers fail, we all lose. PLEASE don't be fooled by Big Corporate Food's cynical
manipulation of words and pretty pictures. Many, if not most, products tooting the label "Natural" contain GMO and/or synthetic ingredients.
If
you want to buy healthier, buy Organic.
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| Local Sources of GMO-free Products |
Your local Lake County Community Co-op, click HERE and health-food stores are active in the fight to protect consumers' right to choose non-GMO food (see list below).
You can also buy direct from our organic farmers! click HERE
The Non-GMO Project constantly updates its catalog of name brands that have joined the non-GMO family -- check it out HERE
FARM AID has good information about avoiding GMOs HERE and several links to free shopping applications that can be accessed via smart phones:
- True Food Shoppers Guide (available for Android or iPhone )
- Non-GMO Project Shopping Guide (available for iPhone )
- ShopNoGMO (available for iPhone )
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Local (or near-local) retailers supporting the Non-GMO Project
(Note: there are more venues in Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa, but we only list the ones closet to Lake)
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Lake County
Nature's Own
14089 Lakeshore Dr.
Clearlake, CALIFORNIA
95422
707-994-3080
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Mendocino County
Ukiah Natural Foods Coop
721 S. State St.
Ukiah, CALIFORNIA
95482
Corners of the Mouth Natural Foods
45015 Ukiah St.
Mendocino, CALIFORNIA
95460
707-937-5345
Ukiah Natural Foods Coop
721 S. State St.
Ukiah, CALIFORNIA
95482
Mariposa Market
500 S. Main
St.
Willits, CALIFORNIA
95490
707-459-9630
| Sonoma / Napa
* * Santa Rosa
Community Market * *
(this is a GREAT store! check out their website!)
1899 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa, CALIFORNIA
95401
http://www.srcommunitymarket.com/
Whole Foods Market Santa
Rosa
1181 Yulupa
Avenue
Santa Rosa, CALIFORNIA
95405
http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/santarosa/
Whole Foods Market Santa Rosa/Coddington
390 Coddington Mall
Santa Rosa, CALIFORNIA 95401
http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/coddingtown/
Whole Foods Market Napa
3682 Bel Aire
Plaza
Napa, CALIFORNIA
94558
http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/napa/
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Safeway carries products labeled "non-GMO" plus the Safeway store-brand Organics (which are non-GMO). HOWEVER -- Safeway is a continued supporter and financer of efforts to DENY Americans the right to know what is in their food -- so we urge you to BOYCOTT SAFEWAY
Walmart also carries some non-GMO products, but they are not easy to find. And, Walmart continues to contribute to the decline of the American working class and middleclass, by underpaying its employees (you can work fulltime for Walmart and still live in poverty) and by importing cheap goods from other countries. Therefore, we urge you to BOYCOTT WALMART.
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| Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's has multiple locations in Napa and Sonoma (google for store locations). According to their website, if you buy the TJ brand you are buying GMO-free ( http://www.traderjoes.com/about/customer-updates.asp ):
Trader Joe's Products are Sourced from Non-GMO Ingredients
Our customers can be assured that all products in Trader
Joe's private label are sourced from non-genetically modified
ingredients. Our efforts began in 2001, when we determined that, given a
choice, our customers would prefer to eat foods and beverages made
without the use of genetically engineered ingredients. Our process has
been to identify any product containing ingredients that could
potentially be derived from genetically engineered crops and work with
our suppliers to replace offending ingredients with acceptable
alternatives.
Next time you shop at TJ's, let them know that you wish ALL products carried were clearly labeled, so you can easily avoid those items that may contain GMO ingredients.
Better still, ask them not to carry any product that contains GMO ingredients or which came from CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feed Operations, which is another way of saying GMO ingredients, since CAFO's feed GMO products to fatten the livestock).
Whole Foods
Multiple locations in Napa and Sonoma (google for store locations). While this chain has issues (the recent announcement of accepting myth of "coexistence" with GE crops as one example, health care another), they are nonetheless savvy to the fact that costumers prefer non-GMO products.
Per Natural News, (http://www.naturalnews.com/027495_Whole_Foods_GMOs.html ): Whole Foods Market has announced plans to have all of its store-brand
products independently tested to certify that they are made without the
use of any genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"Since there is
no U.S. regulation regarding disclosure on products manufactured with
GMO ingredients, we are committed to helping our shoppers make confident
choices by knowing that what they are buying has been verified as
meeting the standards of the Non-GMO Project," said Senior Global Vice
President of Purchasing Michael Besancon. ..."Whole Foods is the largest retailer to ever take part in the Non-GMO
Project's Product Verification Program in order to prove its GMO-free
claims."
WARNING: Though it is good news that Whole Foods' brand label is GMO-free, the bad news is, Whole Foods stocks many items that DO contain GMO's, so you do need to be careful. See the hazards of the meaningless label "Natural" at top of this page. And next time you are in Whole Foods, stop by the manager's desk to tell them that you want clear labeling of GMO and CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feed Operation) products (so you can avoid them).
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