Natural Food Retailers Double Down on Support for GMO Labeling

For Immediate Release: April 13th, 2015

The Independent Natural Food Retailers Association and its members have demonstrated their continued commitment to consumers’ right to know whether the food they buy contains genetically modified ingredients by donating more than $60,000 to the Just Label It campaign.

“As the fight to label genetically modified foods heats up in the federal government, Just Label It is so grateful for the breadth and depth of support from our coalition,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of the Just Label It campaign. “We thank the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association for rallying its members in support of transparent labeling and for their generous contribution in support of our work to achieve this goal on behalf of consumers.”

The Just Label It campaign advocates for the labeling of foods containing GMOs so that consumers can make informed decisions about the food they buy, and how products are produced – a right already held by citizens in 64 other countries.

“It was truly impressive to see how our members rallied to support Just Label It when the word was put out along with a challenge to raise money. In a matter of days thousands of dollars were committed to this endeavor,” said Jimbo Someck, owner of Jimbo’s…Naturally! and a founding member of the natural food retailers’ group. “When our association was founded ten years ago, the hope had been that when issues arose that would impact our industry, independents would rally together as one to make our voice heard. Clearly this is a great example of our association and our members in action. I was humbled and blown away at how quick the response was and how generous our members were.”

Independent Natural Food Retailers Association, INFRA, is an association owned and governed by independent natural and organic food retailers of all sizes working together to leverage their voice in the industry.

Recently glyphosate – the most widely used herbicide in the world and a mainstay in the production of GMO crops – was labeled a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the United Nations World Health Organization. Production of GMO crops has led to an explosion in the use of glyphosate and other toxic herbicides across the country.

Just Label It, and supporters like the natural food retailers, are working to give consumers information they want about GMOs, so Americans can know whether their food dollars are going towards agricultural practices that harm the environment and human health.