This is it,
I have become
aware that your company is willing and able to provide products that are GMO
free to your customers in Europe. As an American Citizen I am angered and
offended to find that this is viable option for your company but that you are
unwilling to provide these same products to us here in the United States. Your
products are on the shelves of many American households, including mine. They are feeding us and our children. As an American I am deeply concerned about
Transgenic Agriculture and its presence in the food that I eat. To know that you can provide GMO free options
but don’t here in the U.S. has provoked me to seek an option from a company
that values my right to know and choose for myself the ingredients that are
right and healthy for my family.
Give us here
in the United States a GMO free option.
Inform us on your labels that GM ingredients are present. Show us here
in the United States that our lives, our health and our business is just as
valuable to you, as in Europe. I would
like to know your response and look forward to hearing it.
As I look
forward to your response, understand that I have read and copied here directly
from The Unilever Website your position on Biotechnology.
Here it is.
Biotechnology
and the use of genetically modified ingredients and organisms (GMOs) are a concern
to some consumers. Here we present Unilever’s position statement on genetically
modified crops.
Our position
We support
the responsible use of biotechnology within the framework of effective
regulatory control and provision of information about its use. The use of this
technology to improve food crops can bring important benefits to mankind and
individual applications should be judged on their merits.
We
acknowledge that the public's view of biotechnology, such as the use of GM
ingredients in foods, is still evolving and that the debate and public
acceptance are at different stages in different regions of the world.
Our companies
are free to use ingredients derived from genetically modified crops that have
been approved by the regulatory authorities and which meet our own standards
for quality and acceptability.
The decision
whether or not such ingredients will be used is made at local or regional
level, taking into account public perception, national legislation,
availability and costs of alternatives, and attitudes of our customers,
including the retail trade.
Unilever,
You would be
wrong to assume that there is universal acceptance of this technology and its presence
in our food system here in the U.S. You
would be wrong to assume that efforts to reclaim control over our choices
within the Nation’s food system is full of nothing but “Activists” “Foodies” “Radicals”,
“Tree Hugger’s” and “Vegans”. It is the refusal of the industry, of which
you are a major player, to acknowledge our right to choose an option that
matches our belief that the presence of GMO’s in our food is wrong and will
prove to be unhealthy that is creating this activism. The stance that you and companies like you
are taking may be legal and it may be the industry standard. It may leave you thinking that all is well
and you can just move on with business as usual. It appears to me that it is the Industry’s stance
that, if “I” don’t like GMO’s and don’t want them in my food then, “Oh Well”, I
can just go buy organic food. The truth
is, that is more and more what you are forcing me to do. I will do what is right for my family. Did you hear that…? YOU are forcing me. Is that what you really want? Do you really want to force me to stop using
products that I have come to rely on, which you produce? Here is a representation of what I am hearing
as I talk to my friends about this issue.
Many have no idea what GMO’s are and had no idea that they are eating
them. I have not met one person who has
said to me, I know what GMO’s are and I support it and am happy that they are
in my food! Mostly I hear people who
admit that they don’t want to be eating GMO’s because they are unsure about
their safety or, they believe they are dangerous. Yet they feel that they have no choice. They are busy trying to make ends meet so
they don’t have time to research their options or they are too financially
strapped to consider organic options.
You, and the Food industry at large are pushing the American public into
a corner and Americans do not like being forced into a corner. Bit by bit you will find us standing up and
fighting back. Why would you want that? I do not understand why, if you are already
producing the GMO free options that I am looking for, you won’t sell them to me. What I am asking is that you label your foods
containing GMO’s and make your GMO Free options available to me so that I can
buy them. Your refusal to do so, and reliance
on a statement that simply covers you legally, says to me that my right of
choice and my value as a customer are meaningless to you. I will not stay with a producer that does not
care about my choice. Yes it is
inconvenient and in many cases more expensive but you have motivated me with
your refusal to reevaluate your business practices within the U.S. Unless you provide me with a GMO free option,
the Buitoni Pasta, Hellman's Mayonnaise, Wish Bone Salad Dressing and Knorr Stocks,
which I have trusted for many years and in some cases all of my life, will be
replaced with something else.
