Brent Patterson (right)
In September 1999, the Council of Canadians and Greenpeace Canada launched a campaign in front of a Loblaws store in Toronto calling on “the country’s food retailers and producers to give Canadians the same environmental and health protection that Europeans receive and take genetically engineered foods off retail shelves.” Our media release for that launch highlighted, “The groups called on consumers to pressure Loblaws to remove GE products from ‘President’s Choice’ and ‘No Name’ brand products, phase out GE from all other products in the store; ensure that all fresh produce remains GE-free and, in the meantime, label all GE products on the shelves.”
We did many actions with this campaign. In December 2000, chapters picketed outside Loblaws stores in 31 communities to pressure the company to eliminate genetically engineered ingredients from their products. By August 2001, Council of Canadians activists picketed Loblaws stores again after the company issued a letter to all of its health food suppliers ordering them to remove all GE free labelling claims from their packages or lose their shelf space at Loblaws stores. We also voiced our concerns at the Loblaws annual shareholders meetings in 2001 and 2002, including by handing an open-letter to every shareholder. We also delivered more than 15,000 postcards from our members to Loblaws corporate head office in Toronto.
A new Change.org petition notes, “Recently, Whole Foods announced that their American and Canadian stores would phase in mandatory GMO labelling by 2018. If Loblaw Companies Ltd. were to follow Whole Foods’ lead, and enforce mandatory labelling of GMO food products through all their food store chains, it would allow the majority of Canadians to actually make a choice as to whether they want to buy GMO foods or not. While this isn’t a replacement for mandatory labelling laws, it would be a major step towards giving Canadians choice.”
To sign that petition, please go here.
For more, please read:
Greenpeace and Council of Canadians Expose Food Industry Double Standards On Genetically Engineered Food
Council of Canadians Gives Loblaws Its Holiday Wish List: Get GE Foods Off the Shelf!
Loblaws removes GE-free labels this weekend: Memories of Consumer Choice?
