Top Right-to-Know Grocers · Southwest US

Spotlight on Natural Grocery Company

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

From managing a coffee house at UC Davis in the 1960s, to founding a thriving full-service, two-location company in the San Francisco Bay Area, to co-founding the Non-GMO Project, Bob Gerner, General Manager and founder of Natural Grocery Company, has steered the growth of his company toward a single goal: provide wholesome food that tastes good.

And along the way, he’s blazed the trail on providing products that are free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Gerner was part of a group that started the Natural Food Works grocery store in Davis, Calif., before opening Westbrae Natural Foods in Berkeley. Westbrae initially sold only granola and granola ingredients. But over time, Gerner grew the store, department by department into a full-service grocery. In 1981, he founded the Natural Grocery Company in Berkeley, followed by the opening of their El Cerrito store in 1988.

Gerner and the Natural Grocery Company were instrumental in launching the first retailer rebellion against GMOs. It all started in 2002, when three employees of the Berkeley store, concerned about GMOs, launched the “We Want to Know Campaign.” As part of the campaign, staff researched more than 700 products and engaged more than 150 grocers in a letter-writing campaign. Soon after, Natural Grocer and the Big Carrot Natural Food Market in Toronto founded the Non-GMO Project to create a standardized definitions of non-GMO for the North American food industry.

Today, Gerner and Natural Grocery continue to lead the way in demonstrating how retail stores can educate consumers about the negative health impact of GMOs and work with manufacturers to find alternatives to GMO ingredients.

OCA Star Grocer Article Questions

On GMOs…

Q. When did The Natural Grocery Company decide to take action to protect your customers from GMOs?

A. At our Berkeley store in 2003, a customer asked “Is the soy lecithin in this genetically modified?” That day, we couldn’t answer the question definitively. We believe in the right to know the full story behind the food we eat, so group of staff asked themselves “What can we do?”

Our staff began the “People Want to Know Campaign.” We contacted hundreds of stores, eventually galvanizing 161 grocery stores and co-ops to contact food manufactures regarding their GMO practices. The goal was to let manufacturers know that customers care, and to determine the GMO status of products. In 2005, The Natural Grocery Company and Big Carrot Natural Food Market teamed up to form The Non-GMO Project.

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

A. Since we opened our doors more than 30 years ago, learning about the process and people behind the products we carry has been characteristic of our company. Our GMO labeling, education and purchasing policies stem from the simple desire to share the full story behind the foods we carry. We see labels for non-GMO (along with organic and fair trade) as tools for telling critical parts of the story to our customers. The expansion of the Non-GMO Project and the increasing demand for non-GMO verified products underscores that people are hungry for information on their food. With educational campaigns and events, like our Non-GMO Celebration Day, we seek to spread the story and encourage people to continue asking questions and learning about the food they eat.

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

A. The most challenging aspect has been to balance providing our customers all the items they expect while realizing our ideal of GMO-free stores. We began our process of “flagging” items at risk of containing GMOs after the defeat of Prop 37. We marked items that are verified non-GMO with green shelf tags and highlighted items at risk for GMOs with red shelf tags. We explained the colored shelf tags with notes at each register and around the store. Along with an explanation of our shelf tags, we printed the contact information of several manufacturers, so that our customers could contact companies to encourage them to switch to non-GMO ingredients. We are proud to make this information available to our customers, but unfortunately we have not yet seen a significant change in the buying habits of our customers. One shortcoming we have identified is that customers must learn our color coding system. We seek to improve our signage so that it is more readily apparent whether an item may contain GMOs. We also highlight Non-GMO items and producers throughout Non-GMO Month with promotions, sampling, and educational materials on GMOS and producer practices.

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

A. We are often able to work with local vendors on replacing ingredients that do not meet our standards. Through the Non-GMO Project, we have also been able to advocate for the removal of GMOs with larger manufacturers. We helped fund the launch of The Non-GMO Project and served on the Board of Directors until earlier this year. When we come across ingredients that do not meet our GMO standards, we contact the producers to explain why we would like to, but cannot carry their products. For example, we worked with Natural Choice, a mid-sized local distributor, to improve ingredients in a new line of salads. They were able to make the changes within months and the salads are popular with our customers and staff.

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

A. We frequently receive appreciation from our customers for our non-GMO practices and activities. They are proud of our past actions and we partner with some customers on advocacy activities. On the flip side, we also receive comments of concern from customers when items with GMOs are replaced. The spectrum of customer comments underscores our need to continue our efforts to educate on the impacts of GMOs.

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

A. We thank the OCA for recognizing both the importance of right-to-know actions, as well our stores’ activities. We think that continuing to highlight positive examples in these areas will help inspire more action.

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

A. Instead of simply removing the items, ensure through awareness campaigns that customers understand why the items are no longer carried. And also, highlight alternatives. We found that when the changes are not proactively communicated, some customers ask why the items are no longer available and some simply seek them elsewhere.

On Mission and Values…

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

A. We are proud that since the beginning of our store, organic, non-GMO and local foods have become much more widely available. Our store remains competitive in the expanding marketplace because we hold firmly to our guiding values of seeking out the best producers. Our customers know that the items on our shelves have been thoughtfully researched and held to high standards.

Q. Describe your store’s mission and values.

A. From the beginning, our purpose has been to provide the community with wholesome food that tastes good. We do this by seeking out thoughtful and sustainable producers. Our staff honors the hard work of producers by delivering knowledgeable and helpful customer service in a welcoming neighborhood market environment.

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

A. In the ever-changing natural food world, our purchasing standards have been our foundation. Since our start, we’ve sought to provide wholesome food that tastes good. Because of our standards, we have earned our customers’ trust. They know we have done the due diligence to continually research and procure quality products. Our entirely organic produce department was the first in the Bay Area to be designated as a Certified Organic Retailer (by CCOF).

Q. What are your store’s goals?

A. Our goal is connect our community with the highest quality producers and to promote wellness through food. We do this by creating a welcoming neighborhood market environment where our staff provides helpful and knowledgeable service.

Personally speaking…

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

A. The simple pleasure of connecting people around an essential need –food. We are honored to be part of the cycle that links seeds sprouting in the field to satisfied smiles at the dinner table.

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

A. Our leadership has been a part of the natural food movement from its beginning. In 1970, Founder and General Manager, Bob Gerner, met with other natural foods enthusiasts at Mount Shasta for a meeting of the Organic Merchants. The discussions from that meeting have guided our ingredient standards ever since. Determined to increase the availability of organic and wholesome foods, Bob formed Westbrae Natural Foods. The pleasure of connecting customers with the quality foods ignited Bob’s passion for food retailing and continues to guide The Natural Grocery Company. Jennifer Sandkuhler, our Assistant General Manager, also began in production by working on a CSA during college. Jennifer loved the moment of delivering the farm fresh food to the members. Bob and Jennifer have stayed in the food retailing business because of this passion and they enjoy being continually challenged by the changes in the industry.

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

A. We are currently expanding! Our El Cerrito location will soon open a Prepared Food ANNEX where we will offer the neighborhood organic and fair trade coffee, fresh-squeezed juices, organic deli foods & baked goods, sustainable wine & beer, artisan cheese, sandwiches, salads, pizza, hot soups, and more. The ANNEX will also host culinary classes, wine-tastings, and special events. We are excited for the future possibilities with 65 additional staff and a space for gathering around delicious and nourishing food.

Spotlight on Jimbo’s…Naturally!

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

Fifteen years ago, Jimbo Someck – grocer and father – set out on a mission: “A piece of organic fruit in every child’s recycled lunch bag.”

Today, Jimbo’s success as an industry-leading natural foods grocer is the perfect example of how strong ethical values and a passion for providing the best quality products can generate commercial success.

Jimbo’s…Naturally! is a thriving four- (soon-to-be-five) location natural foods retailer in the San Diego area with humble beginnings. Jimbo’s interest in the natural foods business took root in the early 1970s, when he traveled to California to visit his brother. He took a job cutting up cardboard at what has since become the Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Co-op, also an OCA Diligent Dozen Star Grocer.

As his passion for organic foods and the retail business blossomed, Jimbo opened his first store in 1984. The original small, cramped store has since grown into nationally known chain. Throughout the company’s evolution, Someck has remained true to the principles he espoused early in his career regarding organic foods. Today, 95 percent of produce sales at Jimbo’s…Naturally! Stores are organic.

Jimbo uses the company website to educate consumers. Here’s an excerpt from the site:

Why buy local and organic produce?

Economy: You are supporting small, family-owned farms and businesses, while building a sense of community.

Consumer: Fresher foods keep us healthier because we avoid food which has been prematurely picked, preserved using unnatural methods or transported long distances.

Sustainable Agriculture: Organic farms use natural resources to produce food in a regenerative and non-deteriorating way. They farm in harmony with nature so as not to compromise planetary life support systems or the capacity of future generations to nutritionally sustain themselves.

Jimbo’s ethics are front and center in the store’s mission: “We do the right thing, by providing the highest quality organic and natural foods.” From Jimbo’s 22-point product policy, to the Jimbo’s…Naturally! Bill of Rights, Jimbo’s store policies are a natural extension of Someck’s values.

Jimbo also takes seriously the “recycled lunch bag” piece of his mission. In 2008, Jimbo’s…Naturally! stopped providing customers with plastic bags. Every customer who brings in a reusable bag receives credit via a wooden nickel. All proceeds from the wooden nickels go to local nonprofits.

Jimbo says he’s happy the stores are doing well financially, as it lets him support local organizations and causes. The company recently donated $10,000 to support Washington State’s YES on 522 campaign to label GMOs. Last year, JImbo’s donated $10,000 to a similar initiative to label GMOs in California, Proposition 37.

Jimbo’s…Naturally! believes in providing transparency about the company’s purchasing standards, as evidenced by this statement on the company website:

Jimbo’s…Naturally! Ingredient Standard: Avoidance of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)

We do not claim to be GMO-free, we are moving in that direction. Going forward, we will do our best to limit any products that contain GMOs. In that vein, we prohibit ingredients that are most likely to contain GMOs.

Specifically, at this time and to the best of our ability, we will not accept any new items with non-organic corn, soy, canola, sugar beets, alfalfa, or Hawaiian papaya unless the Non-GMO Project certifies that item as GMO-free. This includes ingredients such as fructose that are produced using corn or soy. We strongly encourage any manufacturer that is making a non-GMO claim to verify that claim with the Non-GMO Project and to label their products accordingly.

Furthermore, to the best of our ability, Jimbo’s…Naturally! will not promote any item that contains an ingredient that is at risk for GMO contamination unless that product is certified organic (95% or more organic ingredients), verified as non-GMO by the Non-GMO Project, or the at-risk ingredient itself is certified organic.

Jimbo works at the national level to improve retail practices, and has won several awards. For example:

• Jimbo was one of the four retail grocery owners who in 2005 founded the Independent Natural Foods Retail Association (INFRA), a cooperatively owned and governed resource for sharing best retail practices and for leveraging members’ operational experiences and collective purchasing power (127 stores doing a collective $714 million in annual sales).
• Jimbo’s…Naturally! was chosen as “2012 Socially Responsible Retailer of the Year” by the Natural Products Association for its success in integrating social responsibility into multiple aspects of the company, including volunteerism, education, employee empowerment, environment and health.
• Jimbo’s…Naturally! was named “2012 Retailer of the Year” by Whole Foods Magazine.
• Jimbo’s…Naturally! was recently selected as one of the OCA’s “Diligent Dozen” Right to Know Grocers. Here are excerpts from an interview with store owner Jimbo Someck.

On GMOs…

Q. When did Jimbo’s…Naturally! decide to take action to protect your customers from GMOs?

A. I had been hearing about GMOs for several years but did not initially recognize that this would turn into an industry-wide threat. I wanted to do something as an individual and as a grocer to address the issue. So five years ago, I signed our stores onto the Non-GMO Project as a participating retailer and later joined the project’s retail advisory board.

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

A. When I became a member of the Non GMO Project’s Retail Advisory Board, the board sent letters to all major manufacturers stating its opposition to GMOs and requesting they remove GMO ingredients from their products. After receiving only a handful of responses, I realized that we needed to create our own non-GMO policy.

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

A. Our staff is removing suspect products that have been “grandfathered in” department by department. It’s been especially difficult to find non-GMO alternatives for chips and for nutritional supplements and bodycare products.

Also, I had to address the concerns of our store managers about losing sales of GMO products to competitors. But once the decision was made, we found that we were actually building additional customer loyalty.

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

A. Our buyers have persuaded several manufacturers, including Endangered Species, Angie’s Kettlecorn, Popcorn Indiana, Turtle Island (Tofurkey) and Sunfood Superfoods to switch out suspect ingredients for GMO-free ingredients, and whenever possible, organic ingredients.
I believe in working cooperatively with manufacturers to go GMO-free. But we also let manufacturers know that we will eventually replace their products with GMO-free alternatives if they do not have a plan for removing GMO ingredients. Our buyers meet with manufacturers and brokers, who now understand our position and don’t offer GMO foods. Our stance on GMOs has led several manufacturers to enroll in the Non-GMO Project in order to keep us as a customer.

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

A. We were initially worried that we’d lose customers. As it turns out, customers have been appreciative of our stance, which has actually led to an increase in sales.

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. SPINS collects retail grocery sales data (like Nielson ratings) from thousands of grocers. What would be most helpful would be a database listing of at-risk ingredients in products sold by UNFi and other main distributors. Currently each store has to go product by product and section by section. Finding replacements for at-risk products is difficult and time consuming.

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 our GMO policies have created a loyal customer base. Also, it’s important to be clear with store staff about why non-GMO policies are being adopted, so staff can communicate more knowledgeably with customers.

It’s also important to communicate a clear policy to your customers. We notify our customers when we plan to discontinue at-risk brands. Retailing involves a delicate balance between wanting to do what is right and best for industry and providing customers with what they want. If you educate your consumers, help them understand your policies and decisions, they will support you.

On Mission and Values…

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

A. Our focus on local, organic producers is key to cultivating customer loyalty and staying competitive.

Q. Describe your store’s mission and values.

A. Doing the right thing, regardless of the impact on our bottom line. We’ve found that if we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers.

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

A. We have a strong internal policy about using organic ingredients in our deli whenever possible, even though those ingredients are more expensive. We’re also committed to helping manufacturers switch to organic ingredients. And we won’t carry products with at-risk ingredients.

Q. What are your store’s goals?

A. We want to grow the company in an organic way, not in a way that hurts our employees. We want employees and customers to always feel that Jimbo’s . . . Naturally is meeting their needs.

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

OCA provides a very valuable service in educating consumers about GMOs and the importance of GMO labeling and pushing for more organics. I appreciate OCA’s passion on these two issues, these are the two issues Jimbo is most passionate about.

Personally speaking…

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

A. In the early days, it was working with farmers and bringing in the best produce possible. But as the company has grown, I’ve been less able to be personally involved in this aspect of the business. Now, I find it satisfying to create a positive and happy work experience for employees. I also really enjoy hearing from customers, especially those who say they will always need to live close enough to a Jimbo’s store to do their grocery buying there!

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

A. I first became interested in the early 1970s when I worked for a food co-op. Now, I’m hooked having a positive impact on employees and customers, and on continually improving the company and building our local organic business so we can support local producers.
We’ve supported local and organic produce growers for over 25 years. We use a “Local and Organic” label for products grown on a farm in San Diego County. Once harvested, the produce is usually delivered directly to the Jimbo’s stores, to maximize freshness and quality, and minimize the carbon foot print.

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

A. Nothing, really. Just keep telling stories about non-GMO grocers to continue the critical work of educating retailers and the general public about the value of organics and the threat of GMOs.

While it certainly makes me proud that our stores have gotten many accolades over the years and now especially in light of our stance with GMO’s I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the others who were in the forefront of this issue way before I was. Specifically Mark Squires from Good Earth Organic and Natural Foods and Bob Gerner from the Natural Grocer Company deserve a great deal of credit for being pioneers on this issue! They are the real heroes!

Spotlight on Good Earth Natural Foods

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

Mark Squire has one of the most celebrated resumes in the organic food industry. Since 1977, he has been a co-owner and manager of Good Earth Natural Foods in Fairfax California. An “organic oasis,” as one of OCA readers nominating the store described it, Good Earth provides a wide selection of produce, much of it sourced from within a 100-mile radius.

But it’s Squire’s passion for organics and his dedication to preserving and raising organic standards, growing the organic industry and working to keep GMOs out, that set him apart.

Here are just a few of Squire’s accomplishments over the past few decades:

• Played a pioneering role in developing the state’s organic certification standards. In the 1980’s there were no certified organic standards in California. Realizing that the standards were a necessary prerequisite for the state’s organic food movement, Squire worked with like-minded retailers, farmers and other advocates to assemble and codify production practices and allowable inputs and to educate farmers about these new standards.
• Served on the Board of Directors for the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), an organization that took on the task of further developing California’s fledgling standards. Squire helped write some of the original organic certification standards that are still in place today in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program today.
• Serves on the Board of the Non-GMO Project, which he was instrumental in creating. Concerned that GMOs weren’t addressed under organic standards, because the standards were written before GMOs came on the market, Squire reached out to other like-minded food retailers to create what would eventually become the Non-GMO Project.
• Helped write Measure B, the Marin County initiative that prohibits 
the outdoor cultivation of GMOs. The measure passed by 61 percent of the popular vote in 2004.
• Served from 1988-1993 on the board and then on staff of the Organic Crop Improvement Association. OCIA was at that time the largest certifier of organic foods worldwide. Squire oversaw international certification staff training and operations for both farm and manufacturing

Squire can’t suppress his passion for organics. He says:

“Since 1969, Good Earth Natural Foods has been committed to the health and sustainability of our community. We were founded with the dream of offering the very best quality and most organic food that we could find. Never content to simply accept the status quo, we have always pushed the envelope and tried to encourage food growers and manufacturers to produce food of higher quality. Organic runs deep at Good Earth. We believe that organic foods offer us the best opportunity to heal our bodies and the earth . . ..”

Co-owner Al Baylacq shares Mark’s core beliefs about retailing natural foods in an industry filled with GMOs.

“We believe people have a basic right to know what’s in their food, especially when it comes to GMO technologies that change the basic proteins in food. Thereʼs a dangerous proliferation of GMOs in this country with GMOs now found in as much as 80 percent of conventional packaged foods. Good Earth is more committed than ever to helping people find safe, healthy non-GMO choices.”

GMO Specific Questions

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

A. From the time we opened our doors in 1969, our mission has been to support organics. From their first introduction into the marketplace we recognized GMOs as the latest incarnation of an agricultural system that was about controlling nature, and poisoning us with pesticides. The real problem with these technologies is the arrogance underlying them.

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

A. As soon as we realized that GMOs were showing up in the marketplace we sent letters to all of our suppliers. We asked them if they had GMOs in any of their products and if not, how did they monitor GMOs in their supply chains. Some of the responses were great and gave us a lot of confidence. But most responses made us realize how clueless many companies were about GMOs. We realized that we needed to do what we could to educate the whole industry and that we could not do it alone. That was when we got involved with the Non-GMO Project, seeing that the industry needed an organization to figure out how we could avoid GMOs and GMO contamination.

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

A. The biggest problem has been the minor ingredients. It’s now pretty easy to avoid the major crops: corn, soy, canola. We just buy certified organic or Non-GMO Project for products with these foods as one of their main ingredients. It’s the ingredients that make up very small amounts of the product, like flavorings and vitamins, where we realize we are powerless to really understand if they have some GMO content on our own. We hope that as awareness increases we will be able to determine definitively if these smaller ingredients contain GMOs. The Non GMO Project is gearing up operations. Prop 37 and Whole Foods 2018 GMO labeling announcement have driven demand for GMO-free products. There are definitely some challenges with manufacturer demand for GMO-free ingredients rapidly outpacing the supply. It may it take a while for the market to respond to increasing non-GMO demand. But we need to support the natural foods industry’s efforts to remove GMOs as quickly as possible. This is a difficult and time-consuming path, because of the need to certify multi-ingredient products and products that are transported long distances. Consumers need to understand the challenges manufacturers face in digging out of the very deep GMO hole that the industry is in. It shouldn’t be hard for the organic industry to get GMOs out, we’re most of the way already. But “natural” foods, which I prefer to call non-organic, have a lot of skeletons in the closet regarding how they are produced. These suppliers should really be moving toward organic production practices for many reasons, GMOs being one.

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

A. The Awareness of grass-fed for both animal treatment and health concerns is growing with our customers. Good Earth has been selling grass-fed dairy from the neighboring Straus dairy, which is one of the grass-fed pioneering farms for roughly 10 years. We rely heavily on the Organic label here with full knowledge that there are issues of GMO contamination even with organic feed. This is a sensitive issue for retailers. We hope that any contamination is minor and we encourage all our producers to use the Non-GMO Project to protect their livestock and their customers. Since the USDA approval of GMO alfalfa, contamination issues are real. And of course corn, a big animal feed crop, is the most compromised of all.

We encourage livestock producers to go organic and grass-fed but we try to realize the challenges of organic production in this area as well. Both production practices are very important, but grass-fed meat is a vastly superior product that will inevitably cost more. I look at grass-fed livestock products as an investment in health, well worth the extra price. Some of our beef producers are grass-fed but not organic because they haven’t figured out how to avoid the use of parasiticides. I think the real answer to combating parasites is to focus on prevention. We’ve seen significant progress with rotational grazing. I’m optimistic organic and grass-fed production will become the norm.

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

A. It’s hard to know what impact we’ve had. Sometimes we feel that we are a continual thorn in the side of our suppliers and brokers. We hope that it has made a difference over the years. We have tried to walk the thin line between demanding immediate change and understanding their limitations when it comes to finding GMO alternatives. As retailers we have a very important role to play in helping manufacturers understand what the public expects. So many problems result from the gap between customer expectation and the reality of food production.

Q. What customer feedback has your store received about your GMO policies and practices?

A. We continually get a lot of praise from our customers. Even when we discontinued popular items like Hava chips because they the company wasn’t willing to give us the assurance we needed, our customers supported our taking the high road. I believe that people will go out of their way to shop for food from a store they can trust. And it’s a great honor to have that trust. We need to constantly strive to deserve it.

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. It’s important that we all keep our sights on a food system free of all toxins as well as animal cruelty and environmental destruction. We have come a long way in that regard but we have a long way to go. Those that share that vision need to support and challenge each other to make it better and better. Labeling GMOs is the first step. We are sad that Prop 37 lost by such a close margin but are confident that we will get labeling in the end.

Q. What suggestions do you have for other grocers thinking about taking actions to keep products containing GMOs off their shelves?

A. Take the high road whenever you can. The trust you gain from your customers is invaluable. Be transparent about the problems we face and people will understand.

Store Mission/Values Specific Questions:

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

A. We strive to sell the best quality foods produced by the most organic methods. Since we have been doing so for almost 45 years, we have gained a very solid and committed clientele. We would not do it any other way. But I believe it has also been a smart business move.

Q. What are your store’s mission and values?

A. We strive to offer foods grown and prepared using a minimum of processing and with no chemical pesticides or food additives. If we cannot meet this ideal with a certain food item, we get as close as we can and make as much noise as we can to change it for the better. We always endeavor to remember that food contains spirit.

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

A. We have a 100-percent organic goal that we review annually. We are at about 95 percent for food items now, including in our prepared food section. We also try to inspire our buyers to be part of changing the food system by asking the hard questions and really understanding ingredient and quality issues.

Q. What are your current store’s goals? Goals in five years (if different)?

A. We would like a world where all food is Organic and GMO-free. We do feel that it is possible!

Q. What would you like OCA to tell Monsanto and its GMO allies on behalf of your store and your customers?

A. I would not waste your breath with those guys. I am convinced they listen only to money. They do need to hear that we do not buy their lies about feeding the hungry of the world with GMOs. Plant breeders were doing just fine before GMOs, without the dangers. I think a lot of us have forgotten the amazing work done by traditional plant breeders over the last few centuries. The only “problem” with that model was that we all owned the plant varieties created and there was no way that a corporation could come along and patent it. We also need to tell the biotech industry that we do not believe for a minute their rhetoric about GMOs being adequately tested. Proper testing must be long-term enough to pick up health problems that take many years to manifest. It must be truly independent of any economic influence and it must be transparent. Lastly it must be testing for subtle health problems like allergies. Anything less than that is not good enough.

Personal Questions:

Q. What aspect(s) of retailing do you find most enjoyable or most gratifying?

A. Feeling that you are making a difference in the lives of young people by providing superior nutrition. I also am the IT guy around here so I enjoy keeping all our systems working smoothly.

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

A. I was deeply affected by Rachel Carson as well as J.I. Rodale who showed us the road toward healing both our bodies as well as the planet. I feel that it is great to be involved in an industry that is improving the world in a major way. There is so much going on in a retail grocery store that there is never room to get bored.

Q. What else would you like to share about your store with OCA readers?

A. We are very mission-driven around here but we also like to have a lot of fun while we make a difference. We strive for better and better customer service so we can best serve our community. We thank you for the honor of nominating us!