People’s Food Co-Op, Ann Arbor, MI

216 North 4th Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Website: http://www.peoplesfood.coop

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peoplesfoodcoop

Owner:

General Manager: Lesley Perkins

Founded in: 1971

Organic Sales: 75% of overall store sales are organic; 75-80% of produce sales are organic

Annual Sales: $2.5-10 million

GMO Practices

Manufacturer Communication

People’s Food Co-Op lets manufacturers know that the store gives preference to foods that are minimally processed and packaged, organically grown, fairly traded, cooperatively produced and locally sourced. Co-Op purchasing staff communicates to manufacturers that the co-op will not accept any new products containing ingredients that likely have been genetically engineered.

Product Removal Process

People’s Food Co-Op is working to replace as many products containing GMOs as they can. Suspect products were audited throughout the store over the past two years, with many products containing suspect ingredients being discontinued. Store staff do occasionally find unlabeled suspect ingredients, such as corn oil in Newman's Own salad dressing, in which case the products are discontinued.

Labeling

People's Food Co-op opposes the proliferation of GMOs in our food supply, and strongly believes in consumer's right to know what's in their food. Any GMO-suspect products that are not replaced are labeled as likely containing GMOs . Along with labeling likely GMOs, the co-op also labels foods that are potential allergens, using a color-coded labeling system. Some products with suspect ingredients produced by manufacturers the co-op wants to support are brought into the store and labeled as likely to contain GMOs. People's Food Co-op is a Non-GMO Project Participating Retailer.