Organic Retail and Consumer Alliance

A Project of the Organic Consumers Association

A Project of the Organic Consumers Association

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Top Right-to-Know Grocers · Northwest US

PCC Natural Markets, Seattle, WA

Ashland Food Co-Op, Ashland, OR

LifeSource Natural Foods, Salem, OR

Terra Organica, Bellingham, WA

Spotlight on Terra Organica

Selected by OCA as one of the 2013 ‘Diligent Dozen” Right to Know Grocers

“Transparency is part of our culture and our business model. We value pure food and ethical behavior, and our product selection and business practices reflect that.”

As the first retailer in North America to label products likely to contain genetically engineered ingredients, Bellingham, Washington-based Terra Organica is clearly the “right to know” industry leader.

When Terra Organica launched its GMO education campaign in 2006, customer interest was minimal. But that changed in 2012, during California’s high-profile Proposition 37 ballot initiative to label GMOs. As consumers became more aware, and more educated, about GMOs in the food supply, Terra Organic surveyed its customers to find out if they preferred that products containing GMOs be discontinued over time, or labeled. Ninety percent of the respondents said they wanted the store to label GMO products.

Once the decision to label was made, customers embraced it. “To say that our customers love our GMO policies would be an understatement,” said Stephen Trinkaus, owner and general manager. “They are proud to shop at a store that labels GMOs. Many go out of their way to shop here just because of that.”

Terra Organica’s labeling policy not only made consumers happy, it helped sway some of the store’s suppliers to go GMO-free. “I can probably name 15 or 20 companies that were compelled to either begin, or to expedite, non-GMO certification as a direct result of our labeling,” said Trinkaus. He credited the power of social media with influencing some of those companies.

“Either we would post a photo of a product with one of our GMO Alert tags on social media, or a customer would,” Trinkaus said. “The photos would then be shared and soon it’s a PR headache for the company.” The store’s first GMO alert tag posted on Facebook was viewed by 200,000 people!

Terra Organica was founded by Trinkaus in 1997, with the intent of carrying only the purest and most ethically produced food available, as well as educating customers about nutrition, transparency in labeling and fair trade.

“We research each product we sell to ensure it is ethically produced and the purest available,” said Trinkaus. “Every item has a reason for being on the shelf. Our GMO Alert!’ labels in front of products that are likely to contain GMOs is just the tip of the iceberg. We go out of our way to tell the stories behind the products we sell, including who grows them, how they are processed, how much nutrition is retained or lost.”

Today roughly 95 percent of Terra Organica’s products are organic or wild-crafted. “We have more organic products than you can shake a stick at, including the area’s only all-organic produce department, a recently updated organic bulk food section, frozen meat that goes way ‘beyond organic’ and a gazillion other organic products,” said Trinkaus. “Plus, all of our produce is 20% off every Sunday!”

Trinkaus traces his embrace of organics back to a speech by Cesar Chavez on the plight of farm workers. Trinkaus heard the speech in 1991, and soon after became involved with the migrant worker cause. Learning about the social injustices they faced and the terrible effects of the synthetic chemicals they were exposed to motivated Trinkaus to adopt an all-organic diet—a drastic change for him at the time.

“As many have found, when one begins to question the dominant assumptions of society, one’s life can change on many fronts. I found my desire to work in international business supplanted by the goal of working in organic agriculture.”

Given Trinkaus’ solidarity with exploited farm workers, it’s no surprise that he’s committed to offering organics for all, including those with limited income. Along with 20 percent off produce Sundays, he created Bargainica, a discount store within a store that provides an ever-changing assortment of organic and natural foods at discount prices, with much of it deeply discounted. And on Wednesdays seniors get 10 percent off everything in the whole store!

Terra Organica also caters to customers on special diets by offering a 100-percent gluten-free section and a raw foods section. And the store carries products for the Weston A. Price Foundation macrobiotic, paleo, vegetarian and vegan diets.

OCA honors Terra Organica for its unmatched commitment to transparency, and for the high degree to which it fulfills its lofty mission: “We seek to be an inspiration to our community and our world by engaging in business that thinks forward to the needs of future generations. Our goals include meaningful work, economic vitality, wise stewardship of the Earth, and service to others.”

On GMOs…

Q. When did your store decide to take action to protect your customers from GMOs and how did your GMO education, labeling and purchasing policies and practices come about?

A. Our store was founded in 1997, with the idea that we would carry only the purest and most ethically produced food available. That meant from day one that almost all of the foods we sold were organically grown. Genetically engineered foods went into commercial production the year before we opened. They were always a concern of ours, and as they became more prevalent we became more focused on them.

In 2006, we became concerned about the proliferation of GMOs in the agricultural landscape. That’s when we began in earnest to educate our customers about GMOs. We began by simply displaying Jeffrey Smith’s books Seeds of Deception and later Genetic Roulette, then by adding non-GMO shopping guides and other information at our point of sale. For our customers, it kind of simmered on the back burner with only a small percentage taking a real interest in it. Then when Prop 37 was launched in California, it seemed all our customers became aware of the issue, and wanted to know more about how they could avoid GMOs in their diet.

In November of 2012, just after Prop 37 lost, we asked our customers if they wanted us to label the few GMO ingredients on our shelves, discontinue them, or just continue to minimize our purchase of them. Over 90 percent of our customers who responded chose labeling as the best option. It took us about four months to develop a system, and we put the first labels up in March of 2013.

The system we developed is a “GMO Alert!” shelf tag the size of business card. On the card, we write the brand, product and likely GMO ingredient(s) in the product. We will list either the crop (i.e. corn) or the ingredient derived from the crop (i.e. citric acid). If the ingredient or the product is indicated on the product label as being organic or non-GMO, then we don’t label the item. We also contact the companies to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. If they are in transition to non-GMO ingredients, then we use a “GMO Information” shelf tag instead that explains what they are doing. It gives us the chance to present more of a narrative about the process of switching to non-GMO ingredients.

The reality is that we have never carried very many foods with possible GMO ingredients in the first place. They are mostly found in our gluten-free section and in products we rotate in on monthly specials.

We also engage the community through creative GMO education efforts. For example, our town’s largest parade is the Ski to Sea Grand Parade leading up to a multi-staged relay race. (The race attracts participants from around the world. It starts on the slopes of Mt. Baker Ski Area and ends with a sea kayak leg on Bellingham Bay.) Terra Organica entered a contingent into the parade last year called, “Watch Us Grow: Organic, Local and Non-GMO.” We held signs, wore costumes, and sang a song written for the occasion while we marched the parade route. We got a lot of applause, whoops and hollers from the spectators and we were able to reach beyond the “choir” in a fun and non-confrontational way. It was a great way to start a conversation in the greater community.

We also have a GMO costumed mascot named GENO (Genetic Engineering – NO, get it?!) I wear the GENO costume around the store and out on the street. He has three eyes, looks both funny and freaky, and has Velcro attached to him. We hand labels with Velcro to people and challenge them to label GENO the GMO. So they run around after GENO, who tries as hard as he can to avoid labeling. But in the end, he always gets labeled. It’s hard not to laugh the whole time, and we get the point across—we CAN and WILL label GMOs!

Q. What has been the most difficult aspect of keeping GMOs out of your store?

A. The most difficult aspect of keeping GMOs out of our store has been getting accurate information from our suppliers before introducing a new product. There is still a lot of confusion out there about what ingredients are likely to contain GMOs, and we still find that some people in the industry are confused on the difference between GMOs and hybrids. We’ve also found some suppliers to be in complete denial. For example, they will insist that their soy supplier is non-GMO, yet they have never asked for verification of this. Many people in the industry still operate on a handshake. That’s not good enough in today’s GMO-saturated marketplace, especially when you take cross-pollination into consideration.

There is no doubt that all of our suppliers are now far more aware of the GMO issue than they were even a few months ago. I think the efforts of the Non-GMO project, Washington’s GMO labeling initiative (I-522), and general awareness-raising coming from the activist community has had a lot to do with that.

I think that taking this to the next level—getting GMOs out of a significant portion of the food supply—will require that more that consumers and stores raise the issue directly with the food companies. Now that they are aware of the issue, we need to push them to take action.

Q. What do you think about GMOs and livestock feed as they relate to your local and regional meat and dairy producers?

A. On the store level, we label any meat or dairy product where the supplier cannot guarantee a non-GMO feed supply.

On the macro level, we are very concerned with the proliferation of GMO feed crops. Corn and soy are bad enough, but now we also have to contend with the recent approval of GMO alfalfa. It seems inevitable that with cross-pollination, in a few years it will be impossible to guarantee that even organic feed stocks will be free of DNA from genetically engineered varieties. That’s why it’s so important to fight like hell now. In a short time, the genie will be completely out of the bottle and we will have very few non-GMO options. Once GMOs are commercially grown on a large scale, their DNA is going to get out there and you can never recall it.

Q. Please share a few stories about your success in persuading manufacturers to remove or replace GMO ingredients in their products.

A. As a result of our efforts to label products with likely GMO ingredients, we have seen some unintended positive consequences. One of them is that it has persuaded manufacturers to go non-GMO. This was never the intent of our labeling program, but it has worked out that way.

I can probably name 15 or 20 companies that were compelled to either begin or expedited non-GMO certification as a direct result of our labeling. The reason for this is simple: social media.

Either we would post a photo of a product with one of our GMO Alert tags on social media, or a customer would. The photos then get shared and soon it’s a PR headache for the company. To either avoid this scenario, or because of it, many companies have really gotten on the ball about going non-GMO.

The first time we posted a photo of our GMO Alert tag on Facebook, it went viral and was viewed by over 200,000 people. We deleted the photo at the request of the company whose product it appeared in front of. We deleted it because we are not trying to punish companies, just inform our customers. But with social media, things can get to a wide audience quite quickly and we can’t control that.

Several manufacturers that ship direct have pulled their products from our store because of the labeling. They don’t want their products to be associated with GMOs on our shelves or in social media. However, almost all the products we have labeled come to us via a distributor so the manufacturer can’t refuse to sell to us unless they pull the product out of distribution.

We also don’t bring in new products that contain GMO ingredients. In doing so in conjunction with so many other stores, we are part of the movement to put pressure on manufacturers to (1) remove GMO ingredients and (2) get certified by the Non-GMO Project.

Q. What customer feedback have you received about your GMO policies and practices?

A. To say that our customers love our GMO policies would be an understatement. They are proud to shop at a store that labels GMOs. Many go out of their way to shop here just because of that.

Q. What tools could OCA or the natural foods industry provide that would help you and other grocers keep GMOs out of the food supply?

A. Consumer education is everything, and especially in dispelling the many myths about GMOs that are promoted by biotech companies and the grocery industry. I think we need to be more confident in our portrayal of GMOs as a threat to human and environmental health. We have to stop buying into the lie that there is scientific consensus that they are safe. This just isn’t true! The science that says this has been bought and paid for by the people who profit off GMOs and they go to extreme lengths to discredit anyone who contradicts it. Plus, there has never been even one peer reviewed study of the long-term effects of GMOs on human health.

I also think we need to keep pushing for mandatory labeling – state by state and/or at the national level.

Finally, we need to urge companies to certify with the Non-GMO project. And that includes manufacturers of more mainstream products, not just the usual suspects in the natural foods aisles. I dream of a day when products with Non-GMO certification are more the rule than the exception. That will have a HUGE ripple through the industry and could put the brakes on GMOs in a big way.

Q. What would you like to tell other grocers thinking about taking products with GMO ingredients off their shelves?

A. I would tell them that the increase in business they see as a result of removing GMOs and/or labeling them will outweigh the loss in sales from those products IF they can effectively and sincerely communicate to their customers why they are doing it. Customers want to feel we are looking out for them. This is one way grocers can do that.

On Mission and Values …

Q. What makes your store special in the competitive natural foods marketplace?

A. The main thing that sets us apart is our ingredient standards. We have a list of literally hundreds of ingredients that we do not allow in our store. These standards apply to all departments, not just food. Our personal care section has some of the strictest standards in the whole store.

Also, transparency is part of our culture and our business model. Our “GMO Alert!” labels in front of products that are likely to contain GMOs is just the tip of the iceberg. We go out of our way to tell the stories behind the products we sell—who grows them, how they are processed, how much nutrition is retained or lost. I regularly give store tours to customers. These often last an hour or two as we delve deeply into what really goes into a product arriving on our shelves. We are never afraid to tell the truth, even if we lose a sale as a result. In the long run, it does pay off in customer loyalty and increased sales.

Q. Describe your store’s mission and values.

A. We value pure food and ethical behavior and our product selection and business practices reflect that. Our mission statement is as follows: “We seek to be an inspiration to our community and our world by engaging in business that thinks forward to the needs of future generations. Our goals include meaningful work, economic vitality, wise stewardship of the Earth, and service to others.”

Q. What are your store’s goals?

A. Ultimately our goal is to put grocery stores out of business, including our own. As we say on our website, “One day our food will not be so processed, so packaged, and come from so far away from our communities. Children will no longer think that food ‘comes from’ supermarkets and restaurants because it will come from the people who grow it, raise it, fish it, hunt it, bake it, and otherwise create it. It won’t be paid for by bank cards, and nor will the costs to produce it be externalized in the environment and our health bills. If this world comes to be in my lifetime, you may find me once again living off the grid. Until then, or until the day I retire, you will find me here, doing my best to fill your shopping cart with the most nourishing foods I can convince you to buy.”

And really, that last sentence covers everything , except that it’s not just the food – it’s also the personal care items, cleaning products, personal supplements and every other think you can buy in our store.

Q. What actions can OCA take on behalf of your store and customers?

A: Continue to advocate for the organic movement, not just as far as what products are available and how they are produced, but also in creating a culture of true sustainability where it is cool to eat nourishing food grown in a high integrity food system. I think the OCA has a leadership role to play in defining that culture and giving it a voice.

Personally speaking …

Q. What do you find most enjoyable and gratifying about the retail grocery business?

A. I got into the business because of my passion for natural health and sustainable agriculture. But truth be told that’s not what motivates me most to come to work every day all these years later. What I love most about my job as the owner and general manager of Terra Organica is the community that revolves around the store – the staff, customers, suppliers, etc. I can’t wait to come to work every day because I can’t wait to hang out with these people. It’s a dream come true. As a kid I was an outcast and experienced extreme bullying. I never fit in. Here I not only fit in, I’m appreciated for who I am and I’m utterly in love with these people. That we can provide such nourishing food is just icing on an amazing, tasty, home-made, home-grown, organic, non-GMO cake.

Q. How did you get interested in natural foods retailing?

A. If you could travel back in time to the early 1990’s to seek me out, you would never guess that the guy you would meet would someday own an organic grocery store. In 1991, I was attending Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, finishing up my degree in Latin American Studies. My goal was to go to grad school, then work in international trade. I spoke fluent Spanish and had spent a couple of years living in and traveling through Latin America. I also ate the Standard American Diet (a.k.a. SAD), in other words, lots of processed food. To put myself through college, I worked for Domino’s pizza and often survived on over-cooked pies and cancelled orders that we could take home.

During the summer I worked at Bellingham Frozen Foods, a food processing business that used to sit on Bellingham’s waterfront. Because I spoke fluent Spanish, I was often called on to translate for the many Mexican workers who worked there.

In 1991, the great migrant farm worker organizer and union leader Cesar Chavez spoke at WWU. Through the efforts of local groups who were in solidarity with his cause, I learned not only about the social injustices suffered by migrant workers, but also about the high incidence of birth defects, certain cancers, and other degenerative diseases common in the migrant population due to their exposure to synthetic agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.). When I thought about what I didn’t know about the lives of the migrant workers I had befriended, it motivated me to commit to an all-organic diet – a drastic change!

As many have found, when one begins to question the dominant assumptions of society, one’s life can change on many fronts. I found my desire to work in international business supplanted by the goal of working in organic agriculture. I forfeited my comfortable rental to live off the grid in a school bus that I converted into my home. I began to grow my own food and live closer to the land in every way. And I started working for Omega Nutrition, a local company best known for pressing organic flax seed oil. My journey into the world of sustainability and organics had begun.

People who start businesses usually do so for passion for the product or service they offer, for the profit potential, or both. The pioneers of the organic movement definitely fall in the passion category. However, one aspect of being in business is that when the business grows, the person or people who started it end up doing very different jobs than those they did initially. For better or for worse, I have found this true in my business as well. I now spend a lot of time dealing with finance, marketing, strategic planning, managing the managers, and such, rather than the things I used to do such as working with farmers and talking to customers.

When I worked for Omega Nutrition, the owner found himself in a similar predicament. This, however, worked in my favor as he took me under his wing and enabled me to do many fun and inspiring things. I attended farming conferences and industry trade shows, and partook in nutritional workshops. I met and worked with many pioneers in the organic field.

The result of this is that my eyes were opened wide to the realities of the industry. I saw that the organic values were being corrupted by greed for money and market share. Large corporations, with little interest in planetary or human health, gobbled up small companies. At the retail level, slick marketing and nutritional double-speak were becoming the norm. I had been under the assumption that health food stores sold healthy food. Silly me!

My solution? I would open up my own store and we would do the research for the customers. This would be a back-to-the-roots endeavor of integrity, where people and planet would always come before profits.

In 1996, Omega Nutrition burned to the ground in a devastating fire. Luckily, nobody was hurt. During the chaos that followed, I lost my job there and decided to live out my crazy dream—to open an all-organic grocery store! Whatever products we sold would be researched by us for purity of ingredients and for manufacturers’ ethical standards. After living off the grid in a school bus all those years, and working my butt off, I not only had paid off my student loans, but had savings. With my savings, investment capital from friends and family, and a few credit cards, I opened Terra Organica in March of 1997.

Q. What else would you like us to know about your store?

A. Our store is part of a larger community within the Bellingham Public Market. We are a conglomeration of small locally owned businesses under one roof. We are the largest tenant and thus act as the anchor business. Most of the businesses here use sustainable practices. I talked earlier about the community that revolves around the store, and the Public Market is a huge part of that.

One of the great things about the Public Market is that we share resources; everything from bathroom maintenance to all chipping it to pay the heat bill in the winter. It took a number of years for the tenant mix to gel into a cohesive unit, but once we got there it’s quite a magical place.

Sundance Natural Foods, Eugene, OR

Spotlight on Sundance Natural Foods

Selected by OCA as one of the 2013 ‘Diligent Dozen” Right to Know Grocers

Sundance Natural Foods, Nourishing Community

When it comes to GMOs, Sundance Natural Foods couldn’t be more clear about store policy:

“No product that is known to contain GMOs will ever be introduced in our store as a new item. Products which are currently on our shelves and contain suspect ingredients are thoroughly evaluated, and to the best of our ability we pursue verification from manufacturers about the nature of their products, and we remove products unless verification of non-GMO status is obtainable.”

This no-nonsense approach to non-GMOs stems from a phrase that Sundance’s grocery manager and GMO expert James Mattravers says is the store’s source of inspiration and guidance: “Individuals nourishing community nourishing individuals.”

GMOs? They don’t nourish people or community. So they’re out.

Sundance Natural Foods is based in Eugene, Ore., at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The region is home to what Mattravers describes as “some of the best certified organic farms and farmers in the country.”

And Sundance does all it can to support the region’s local farms and farmers.

Just ask Sharon and Jim Blick, who operate Living Earth Farm,  a small diversified CSA farm 15 miles west of Eugene. The Blicks use organic production methods, though because of their small sales volume they’re not certified. Eggs are the only product they can sell to retail stores. But they face challenges because their egg supply fluctuates significantly throughout the year.

“I love Sundance Natural Foods,” says Sharon Blick. “As my first retail account they’ve been so patient and supportive in being flexible about accepting whatever I can provide. They keep space on their shelves whether I have a large or a small delivery.” (More on Living Earth Farm here and here).

Customers love Sundance, too, if local Yelp reviews are any indication. One happy customer recently posted this glowing review:

“My favorite health food store in town!! Not only do they have the most beautiful looking produce you have ever seen but they also have a very high standard for what they order, which companies they order from, and the ethics of those companies. I know for a fact that the owners research where the food is coming from and the practices of the companies, and if they are using questionable ingredients or using questionable practices, this place will no longer carry their products. I love that. I know that I can trust the products.”

Sundance’s highly acclaimed produce department is 99.2 percent certified organic. The rest comes from wild-crafted plants. Sundance’s prepared foods, consisting of soup and salad bar, hot buffet table and a grab-and-go case, are entirely vegetarian, mostly vegan and feature many raw foods. Ingredients for all prepared foods feature a wide variety of local products that are 95 percent or more organic.

Closely linked to the store’s “Individuals nourishing community nourishing individuals” mission, is its commitment to protecting the health of customers. “Sundance practices and promotes the ethos of ‘Gatekeeping,’” Mattravers said. “We believe we have a moral and practical duty to educate our community about all issues surrounding the responsible production and sustenance of local, national and global food markets and agriculture, and to protect our food supply from those who would compromise and destroy it for profit.”

Sundance’s buyers use the following guidelines for selecting products:

  • Health: We endeavor to provide healthy alternatives to the fare found at the average American grocery store.
  • Ahimsa: We try to select products on the basis of their harmlessness. For instance: Organic over commercial to spare our topsoil and to not contribute to toxic degradation of the environment or our bodies; products from organizations that pay livable wages to workers and/or are not engaged in unscrupulous or immoral activities; products using reusable or recyclable materials.
  • Bioregionalism: We give preference to products from local farms and businesses in order to support our community and to minimize our carbon footprint. Whenever possible we select the products of small businesses over those of large ones.

On GMOs…

Q. When did your store decide to take action to protect your customers from GMOs?

A. Sundance has, as a result of our proactive support for the National Organic Program (NOP) and local and regional producers, taken steps to limit and remove GMOs from our products and shelves since the very early development of the GMO issue. GMOs are a threat to our food supply and our way of life. We’ve done our best since the inception of GMOs to pursue continuing education and resistance to this pernicious presence.

Q. How did your store’s GMO education, labeling and purchasing policies and practices come about?

A. Our purchasing practices follow the general ethos and philosophy of the business, which is reflected in one of our core operational concepts: “Ahimsa,” a Sanskrit word which communicates the ideal to “do no harm.” This principle compels us to seek out products that do no harm. We choose to support Organics for many reasons, and in the context of Ahimsa, we do so to spare the topsoil from the harm caused by the toxic and petrochemical transfusions of conventional chemical agriculture. Likewise, as soon as enough information was available regarding GMOs (primarily during the trial and research phases of development), it became quickly apparent to us that this was a technology and practice diametrically opposed to our core values of supporting, nourishing and sustaining our local, regional, and global communities and means of food production. As outlined in our Staff Handbook, our core beliefs provide us with a framework that requires us to look beyond the marketability or dollar value of products, and instead focus on the degree to which they adhere to our most fundamental principles: Does this product/process sustain and nourish or does it harm?

Our philosophy precludes us from supporting much less selling GMOs, so our labeling policies have remained rather simple: Instead of labeling products that could potentially be contaminated with GMO ingredients, we track down the manufacturer, contact them and attempt to follow the product down the supply chain until either a manufacturer or our own research can confirm for us the cleanliness of an ingredient or product. In the absence of that confirmation or reasonable certainty, we replace the product with a better, cleaner alternative. Our customers have been great responders over the years to this policy, so much so that part of our educational outreach is to continue to insist they read the labels and ingredients, despite how confident they are in our store’s product selection.

Q. What has been the most difficult aspect of keeping GMOs out of your store?

A. It isn’t limited to just one challenge. Our wholesale support for the NOP helps us in our purchasing strategy. Anything that is not certified organic is immediately scrutinized. But there are issues ranging from deceptive manufacturers, an industry which supports GMO usage and cultivation (as well as certain deceptive practices of their own), lack of education and awareness of key, critical concepts and facts among not just consumers but retailers, industry and governmental officials, and the biotech companies themselves that can figuratively throw money at a problem until it goes away. I believe that our purchasing and store philosophies prevent 99 percent of situations in which we would be concerned that a product we had brought in was at risk for GMOs. It’s the older, grandfathered products that have been on our shelves for years and years that have been the subject of most of our auditing and review efforts.

Q. What do you think about GMOs and livestock feed as they relate to your local and regional meat and dairy producers?

A. This is an area that is regularly overlooked by retailers and consumers. The debacle created when Organic Valley, Whole Foods and Stonyfield Farm supported the “co-existence” bargain regarding GM Alfalfa made with Monsanto in the early part of 2011 is a great example of why this is such a huge issue. Numerous studies have demonstrated the ability of GMOs to leap from their genetic host organisms to other species; bt toxin and glyphosate-resistant genes have been found in the gut bacteria of multiple species, including humans, other mammals, birds, etc. These transgenes have been verified to survive digestion. As we strive to avoid GMOs in our produce diets, and avoid GMO oils, corn and soya in packaged goods, we may be missing the fact that not being just as assiduous about our meat, dairy, poultry, and egg selection could have equally devastating consequences for our health and planet.

Sundance takes the feed and natural resources available to our dairy and egg producers (Sundance does not sell meat or poultry products, with the exception of some tuna and organic chicken broths) very seriously. We ask for verification of feed for the hens of local vendors bringing us eggs, and we sell only organically certified milk (the raw goat milk from a local dairy being the only exception). Unfortunately, laws can’t defeat nature, and at any point in time an organically raised, grass-fed and free range milk herd can be compromised by a field of GMO crop from even several miles away. At that point, there is very little that will prevent the contamination of this resource by genetically engineered crops. In many ways, the problems presented with this and similar scenarios are more challenging to address, as the ability of producers to provide guaranteed verification of their products are compromised by the lengthy and difficult-to-track chain of production. Thankfully, our local producers are also acutely aware of these issues, and are passionate about safeguarding their flocks, just as we are of ours (the difference for us between birds and humans being not much at all).

Q. Please share a few stories about your success in persuading manufacturers to remove or replace GMO ingredients in their products.

A. One success is that many of our local manufacturers and producers have become as passionately engaged with this issue as we are. Others, especially new manufacturers, are open to educational outreach and take our position and our guidance seriously. We also are blessed to have so many wonderful local and regional distributors willing to source organic and non-GMO products, not just for our purchase as a retailer, but also as supply for many of our local vendors. The ability for us to tell a manufacturer, local or otherwise, that we like their product but require them to source organic or non-GMO verified inputs has been a very validating process. Once we bring this up, there are some suppliers we never hear from again. But the serious ones, the ones who care about food, people and the planet as we do, change their inputs and sourcing every time. This helps us determine just which vendors are appropriate for our business and customers, given our resistance to profit before people.

Q. What customer feedback have you received about your GMO policies and practices?

A. On the whole, it has been overwhelmingly positive. Our customers rely on us to do the due diligence required to offer them the cleanest, most nutritious foods that we can. Part of that process includes a constant dialogue between us as retailers, the consumer and manufacturers. The gratitude of our customers for the work that we do validates our commitment to what we do, and the philosophies that we espouse. Very few customers hold on to a product, even one they feel strongly about, once we lay out for them our opinion and research, and convince them that we have their best interests at heart. Through these efforts I believe we continue to raise the bar for standards within this industry, and as we educate more customers on a continual basis we discover that the groundswell of support only grows. Rare is the customer that walks through our doors, and after a conversation with any one of our passionate and educated staff, believes that GMOs belong in foods.

Q. What tools could OCA or the natural foods industry provide that would help you and other grocers keep GMOs out of the food supply?

A. The toolkit for going GMO-free for retailers is a great resource. Continued pressure and educational opportunities are the best way to create the grassroots support necessary to change policy, whether we’re talking locally, nationally or globally. Support and awareness for the NOP, and even the non-GMO Verified Project, are important as both are great resources for providing alternative product sourcing. Manufacturers, once they reach a large size, are typically moved more by consumer demand and response than by the health, sustainability or ethical imperatives for removing these products and food crops from our food supply.

Non-profit organizations which are ready and willing to table outside of grocery stores or engage in community-based education and awareness outreach are a huge asset to retailers. And the more support retailers have, the more effective we will be in changing the industry. So much of the issue regarding GMOs is tied to the ability of organizations and retailers to change the dominant paradigm, and to re-empower citizens to take an active part in our democratic process and to speak truth to power; whether that power be a large corporation, the USDA and FDA, or the food and retail industry in general. If we can change the narrative, then we can change the world.

Q. What would you like to tell other grocers thinking about taking products with GMO ingredients off their shelves?

A. “Do it!” is what I would say to those retailers considering removing GMO or at-risk products from their shelves. More important, I would tell them that we have an ethical and practical duty to safeguard our food and planet. If we continue to compromise it for short-term gains and profit, we lose everything. If toxic super weeds choke out our fields, it won’t really matter whether the crops we plant contain GMOs or not. We won’t be able to plant at all. And once-fertile, arable land will become weed and pest deserts. When health problems become so widespread as a result of exposure to toxic pesticides and herbicides, and our gut bacteria are functioning as pesticide factories, this conversation will become irrelevant. An old colleague of mine once said “Really, it all does really come down to food.” And another, adapting an old proverb, said: “Wisdom is knowing the righteous path. Courage is taking it.” I think any sane person should find it hard to give high priority to the profitability or popularity of an item or concept which is in direct opposition to the healthfulness of our populace and planet. Once the recognition exists in the mind that this technology is so radically destructive to our health and our ability to feed ourselves, as well as the earth that sustains us, there can be no co-existence or compromise with it.

On Mission and Values…

Q. What makes your store special in the competitive natural foods marketplace?

A. I would have to give full credit and much sincere thanks to our passionate, always self- and co-educating staff. They believe fully in the values we espouse, and are of critical importance to our continued success in engaging and educating our community about the issues that require us to take such hardline stances against GMOs, and more broadly, chemical-intensive conventional agriculture.

Our uncompromising stand against GMOs, and our support for organically grown foods, has built our reputation in the community as one of, if not the, most consistently responsible and ethical retailers. Sundance’s passionate engagement with the community and our customers about GMOs and other food-related issues has garnered widespread local admiration and, we hope over time has added to the ranks of those resistant to the pressures of dangerous food production in the interest of profitability. I would hope, and I believe this to be the case, that our local community members see us as a resource for food issues dialogue and education, and that we maintain our identity as such even as much of the natural marketplace begins to be co-opted by large entities with little interest in the common or individual good.

Q. Describe your store’s mission and values.

A. Sundance has many missions and values, but the most salient for us are our commitment to our mission statement, “Individuals Nourishing Community Nourishing Individuals,” and our core values, specifically the concept of Ahimsa. We strive to provide the most nutritious and clean food available to our community, as well as products that meet our standards for ethical labor and trade practices, minimal impact upon the environment (such as non-toxic household cleaning and body care products), and products that sustain local economies. Our vision is a sustainable and holistic marketplace, both within our local community and in the food and personal care industries at large.

Q. How does your store express these values through your purchasing policies?

A. We express our philosophy and ethics by purchasing only organically certified produce, providing an almost exclusively organic deli with organic grab-and-go items, salads and hot entrees. Our grocery department similarly strives to source as many products from organic options as possible. If a product does not meet our quality standards for organics or non-GMO inputs, it doesn’t get on the shelf. Our coffee and chocolate selections are almost exclusively fair or direct trade sourced, and are certified organic.

We support our main local distributor by sourcing organic, locally grown and processed bulk items (flours, nuts, grains, etc.). Our Chill department represents a wide selection of locally produced healthful and functional beverages and foods, with local dairy and eggs having primacy over national lines. We always source local and organic before national and non-organic, and any product that is non-organic must meet our sourcing requirements for inputs—namely non-GMO, sustainably cultivated and free of artificial flavorings or ingredients.

We are constantly working towards the removal of certain ingredients in our packaged foods, like carrageenan, titanium dioxide and others, and in most cases we simply do not bring in new products that contain those at-risk ingredients. Anything that contains a potentially at-risk GMO input does not make it into the store, and any grandfathered products are constantly under review for discontinuation.

Our supplements and body care departments similarly follow these guidelines, which include supporting small local manufacturers, and supporting wellness through natural products and processes.

Q. What are your store’s goals?

A. Our store’s main goal is to promote healthful and rightful living through the products, resources and education we offer our customers, staff and community. We do this through stringent product standards for all of our departmental buyers, through professional development for our staff and on-the-floor education for our customers. We wish to promote our vision of clean food and sustainable food practices, and use our connection to our community to effect further progressive change in our industry.

Q. What actions can OCA take on behalf of your store and customers?

A: I think by your continued outreach and passionate activism in the face of intense industry pressure, you provide excellent news coverage of these critical issues. This in turn improves our ability as retailers and community members to keep up the dialogue surrounding GMOs, food and farming practices, and any number of other political, environmental and food issues which affect us all. Continuing to pressure the production and manufacturing side of the food industry assists us greatly in our attempts to add new voices to the cry for agricultural and food reform, and helps us substantiate our claim that these really are critical issues that demand immediate research, review and reform.

Personally speaking…

Q. What do you find most enjoyable and gratifying about the retail grocery business?

A. The connections that I and other staff are able to make with our customers. Most of our customers are well educated about food politics. But without an inside view on the industry, many of the critical food issues are reduced to simple talking points. Having an opportunity to answer questions with critical and factual answers, as well as placing that information within a larger narrative of how these practices and problems affect all of us, has really opened my eyes (and I would hope those of others) to the reality of food production in our country. It’s a reality, unfortunately, that places profit before people and is dominated by corporate special interests. Support for our local food scenes and farmers is critical. Thankfully, I see many examples of movement in that direction. Working in this industry and in the capacity that I do, I’m witness every day to the concepts of mutual success, cooperation and interdependency—concepts that resonate with the many young people who are embracing a “back-to-the-land” philosophy as they push back against the “conventional” wisdom about health, food, and life.

Q. How did you get interested in natural foods retailing, and what keeps you in the business?

A. I fell into natural foods retailing right after college, by pure chance. In need of a summer job, while I figured out what to do next, I ended up taking a job at Sundance. It was regarded in the community as one of the best retailers and places to work in town. I was drawn to the company’s spirit of community, having come from a background of student cooperative housing, and what was clearly a drive to effect positive change in our community and world. I put in time in multiple departments at the store, working in our Deli, as a cashier, as the buyer for our beer department, before becoming grocery manager. Each step along the way here at Sundance has really impressed upon me the importance of what we do both big and small; the biggest lesson I think I’ve learned is that it really does all come down to food.

What keeps me here and in the industry is the knowledge that we are pursuing a righteous cause, one which attempts to reassert the significance of the health of individuals and communities through ethical and practical philosophies about the production and delivery of that one thing we all need, food. And it’s not just about the food itself, although that is a pretty large slice of the pie. It comes down to how these issues affect us in our day-to=day lives, the impact our actions and practices have on the environment, our health, the health and viability of our communities and local economies, and so many other examples of interconnectivity and interdependency.

Our culture’s desire for products sourced from the developing world can have catastrophic effects upon those communities and regions, yet those effects are unknown to the end consumers unless we have transparency around the procurement costs, and human cost, of doing business. Our food systems, supported by our federal government and the corporations that control production, rely on keeping the means of production hidden from the end consumer, with devastating consequences. Not knowing the content of our food, where it comes from, who makes or cultivates it, and the short- and long-term effects of all of these practices, for our homes and planet, is one of the greatest threats to our species. I believe our mission is to wake people up to this reality.

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