Position on GMO's
Lundberg Family Farms recognizes the importance of a natural
environment, purity of the foods we eat and sustainability in
agriculture. We recognize the consumer's interest in knowing how their
food was produced and what ingredients are present. Lundberg Family
Farms' goal is to be able to market its rice in all countries worldwide
in accordance with those countries' GMO acceptance levels. We will
promote a non-GMO philosophy as a way of doing business.
Lundberg Family Farms opposes the creation and propagation of genetically modified food and fiber for the following reasons:
- They may cause adverse health conditions in humans
- They may have adverse environmental and ecological impacts, as well as reduce the biodiversity of crop varieties
- They have the potential to cross over to conventional, non-modified types
- They are not generally accepted in world trade
- They have an adverse impact on organic agriculture
- They can cause a proliferation of chemical use, negatively affecting agricultural sustainability of soils and water
- They create dependence on chemical suppliers
- They create dependence on proprietary seed corporations
- Oversight of development is ineffective and once released, GMO’s may be uncontrollable
- There are not clear liability protections for farmers whose crops become contaminated with GMO’s
Lundberg Family Farms is an official Participant of the Non-GMO Project.
The
Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization, created by leaders
representing all sectors of the organic and natural products industry
in the U.S. and Canada, to offer consumers a consistent non-GMO choice
for organic and natural products that are produced without genetic
engineering or recombinant DNA technologies.
The
Non-GMO Project started in Berkeley, at The Natural Grocery Co., in
2003 when a group of employees initiated the "People Want to Know
Campaign," rallying 161 grocery stores and co-ops throughout the United
States in a letter-writing campaign. The goal was to discover the GMO
status of products, as to inform consumers.
Prior
to this, in 2001, The Big Carrot Natural Food Market in Toronto,
Ontario implemented a non-GMO purchasing policy after a year and a half
of research. They simply discontinued those product lines that were not
confirmed by the manufacturer to be non-GMO. It was a radical and very
successful move for the store.
In 2005,
The Natural Grocery Company and the Big Carrot Natural Food Market
teamed up to form the Non-GMO Project, with a common goal of creating a
standardized meaning of non-GMO for the North American food industry.
Click here for a list of Verified Non-GMO Lundberg products.
For more information about the Non-GMO Project, visit: www.nongmoproject.org