July, 31 2013, 11:47am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Organic Consumers Association http://www.organicconsumers.org/,
Katherine Paul, 207.653.3090; or Zack Kaldveer, Zack@organicconsumers.org, 510-938-2664
OCA Calls on Safeway, Starbucks and Target to Support I-522 Campaign to Label GMOs
Three leading Consumer Companies Are Members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Largest Donor to the NO on I-522 Campaign in Washington State
FINLAND, Minn.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) today called on its million-plus network of consumers to ask the executives of Safeway, Starbucks and Target to support Washington State's I-522, a citizens' initiative to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products.
The OCA also is asking these three large retailers to demand that the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) stop bankrolling the NO on I-522 campaign, and if it won't, to cancel their memberships in the group.
"Consumers spend billions of dollars on products purchased at Safeway, Starbucks and Target," said Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the OCA. "It's time for consumers to exercise their spending power by refusing to support those businesses that support the GMA."
The GMA donated over $2 million last year to kill California's Proposition 37, a citizens' initiative that would have required mandatory labeling of GMOs on food products in California. The group recently contributed $472,500 (twice the amount given by the next largest donor) to defeat I-522 in Washington State.
"Safeway, Starbucks and Target are large, nationally recognizable brand names with a strong presence in Washington State," Cummins said. "It's time they stand up for consumers by denouncing the GMA's efforts to defeat I-522, by withdrawing from the GMA and by financially supporting the YES on I-522 campaign to label GMOs."
The OCA has launched a petition to the top executives of Safeway, Starbucks and Target.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots 501(c)3 nonprofit public interest organization, and the only organization in the U.S. focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation's estimated 50 million consumers of organically and socially responsibly produced food and other products. OCA educates and advocates on behalf of organic consumers, engages consumers in marketplace pressure campaigns, and works to advance sound food and farming policy through grassroots lobbying. We address crucial issues around food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability, including pesticide use, and other food- and agriculture-related topics.
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