Protest held against genetically modified foods.
By: Pat Tanner
The Whole Earth Center natural foods store, Princeton’s locus of healthy eating issues for the last 30 years, participated in a national day of action to raise consumer awareness of the prevalence of genetically engineered foods in the products we buy. Princeton joined 170 cities in the United States, Canada and Australia to hold supermarket demonstrations on Feb. 6 under the title, "Genetically Krafted Foods, Not in My Kitchen!"
The yearlong campaign is the work of a coalition of consumer and environmental groups whose members include the Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, the Organic Consumers Association, and state Public Interest Research Groups nationwide.
At the Whole Earth Center, as at other protest sites around the country, customers encountered petitions to sign, background information to read and take away, and informed staff members eager to chat earnestly about the risks inherent in tampering with nature when its comes to food.
But only in Princeton did consumers encounter singing broccoli.
For while the subject is serious, the mood in front of the Nassau Street store was kept light-hearted by two Whole Earth board members who dressed up for the occasion in head-to-toe costumes and serenaded passers-by with a cappella renditions of "The Funny Food/Broccoli Song." Bobbi Parmet was a vibrant green stalk of broccoli ("organic, of course") and Susie Waterman a Kraft single with a big red stripe proclaiming, "Not in My Kitchen."
Ms. Waterman explained that "this particular day’s action is designed to put Kraft on notice" by getting people to sign postcards to be sent to Kraft Foods’ president, Betsy Holden. The postcard demands that the company stop using genetically engineered corn and corn derivatives, start labeling products containing other genetically engineered ingredients and pledge not to use genetically engineered wheat, which may come to market in 2003. "The point," Bobbi Parmet added, "is to get their attention."
Fran McManus, the Whole Earth Center’s marketing director, explained why Kraft is the focus of the campaign: "Kraft is the second largest food company in the world, the first largest in the U.S."
Kraft boasts that its products can be found in 99 percent of American households. Among these are Post Raisin Bran, Taco Bell taco shells, Oreo Cookies, Wheat Thins, Lunchables and, of course, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinners.
Kraft itself is a subsidiary of Philip Morris, the tobacco company. Ms. Parmet said many customers are surprised and dismayed simply to discover that fact. (In June 2001, Phillip Morris sold off a portion of its stake in Kraft, but it retains 84 percent of Kraft’s shares.)
Many of Kraft’s products are likely to contain genetically engineered ingredients, organizers of the "Not in My Kitchen!" campaign say, simply because an estimated 60-70 percent of processed foods in the U.S. do, with corn and soy being the most common genetically engineered crops.
For its part, Kraft has issued statements saying its food products are safe and that "in all likelihood, some of our products do contain biotech ingredients from (genetically modified) crops."
Among those customers clearly entranced by the larger-than-life broccoli and the human cheese slice were the tiny Blaom girls of Princeton, age 11 months and almost 3 years. Their mother, Thyra, came because she had heard via e-mail about "Not in My Kitchen!" day. "I knew about some of the issues, but not about the cereal," she said, referring to the possibility of products such as Post Raisin Bran containing genetically modified organisms.
As Ms. Blaom spoke, a box of all-natural raisin and bran cereal jockeyed for space next to a box of Post Raisin Bran. Staffers at the Whole Earth Center had amassed samples of various Kraft foods and placed them side by side with organic and natural versions of the same, plucked from the shelves of the Whole Earth Center. Next to the familiar packages of Kraft Singles was Galaxy Foods’ Wholesome Valley American Slices. Side-by-side with lime Jell-O was Hain Super Fruits Naturally Flavored Strawberry gelatin. And next to the blue box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was Annie’s Totally Organic Whole Wheat & Cheddar."
Chris Verni, the Whole Earth staff member who is credited with bringing the anti-Kraft campaign to the attention of store management, says he finds it distressing that because products from big companies such as Kraft cost less than their all-natural counterparts, "underprivileged kids get to eat the Kraft stuff. So wouldn’t it be great to get the GMOs [genetically modified organisms] out of there?"
The concern about genetically engineered wheat, in particular, highlights one of several fears which those opposed to biotech food hold. Genetic engineering moves genetic material from one organism to another across species boundaries that cannot be crossed in nature, such as implanting a fish gene into a strawberry thereby creating new genes. Potential concerns about health and food safety revolve around the transfer of allergens into new foods, the creation of new allergens and altered nutritional value. Since pesticide resistance can be transferred from a genetically engineered plant to related wild species, some fear the creation of superweeds that will be difficult to eradicate.
There is no way for consumers who wish to avoid genetically engineered food products to do so, because products containing them are not required to undergo safety tests or be labeled as containing them. Yet consumer polls over the past decade have shown that 80-95 percent of Americans surveyed want genetically engineered foods to be labeled. "People are not knowledgeable on this issue even Whole Food customers," said Ms. McManus.
As customers filtered in and out of the store that day, many were drawn to the costumes, the table and the discussion. By the end of the day, the Whole Earth Center had collected about 100 signatures. The staff plans to keep the petition available for signing through the end of the month.
Jess Pasko of Lawrence Township signed, even though she stated, "I wasn’t before and still am not so concerned about the issue." She had stopped by the table, she said, "because I need to become more knowledgeable about this."
Ms. Pasko considers the biotech issue complex and multi-sided. A recent college graduate, she said that her experience this past summer working on a (nonorganic) farm in Pennington had shown her that farmers face hard economic decisions just to survive, so she wouldn’t dismiss genetic modification out of hand.
Like Ms. Pasko, most people who visited the table wound up signing. And if the literature, the free samples of organic corn chips or the costumes didn’t get them, the cheery song did. Composed just that morning by Ange Chianese of Ewing, who is known to area residents for his company, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Singing Telegrams, it is sung to the tune of "Baby Face," (as in, "you’ve got the cutest little … ").
Funny Food. This stuff could really make you come unglued.
Those GMOs should not be cheered but booed.
Don’t be wooed.
If your food is Krafted, your digestive track gets shafted.
So beware, of things experimental getting into you.
Altered genetically? Well please don’t count on me
to eat or buy the things you do.
Broccoli! You can be sure if you eat broccoli.
It’s healthy and it tastes good so you see,
it’s broccoli!
Please don’t panic. Not irradiated, it’s organic.
But beware, genetic scientists are lurking everywhere.
All our food used to be pure,
but if you wanna be sure
tell Kraft they’d better not go there.
"As of now none of the big food companies have taken a stand until they are put on the spot," Ms. McManus said. "Europeans have shown us that consumers will drive the acceptance or rejection of genetically engineered foods." Mr. Verni added, "In Europe, Kraft has vowed not to use genetically engineered foods because of public opinion."
The little Blaom girls don’t know or care about any of this, of course. But they know what they like. When their mother tried to walk away after about 15 minutes, the elder girl threw herself down on the ground and cried loudly, voicing one emphatic consumer vote for organic chips and singing broccoli.
The following Web sites provide information on the subject of genetically engineered foods:
• www.truefoodnow.org (includes a list of products sold in the United States that are known to contain genetically engineered substances);
• www.gefoodalert.org;
• www.purefood.org, and
• www.organicconsumers.org.