December 31, 2013

2013 was the year of the Food Awakening.

Consumers and Wall Street got in on the food movement like never before.

Thanks to social media and online networks, eaters around the country used their voices to create change. The courage was contagious and inspired countless acts. The list below highlights just how much we can do when we leverage our collective talents.

Some of these changes happened with lightning speed, others were years in the making with many out in front, that finally came to a head in 2013.

The message is clear: The bottom line is that we impact the bottom line of companies, and companies that are moving with the consumer, bringing transparency to their products, are being rewarded in the marketplace.

As the food awakening continues, the food industry has a choice: to step forward, respond to consumer demand and be rewarded in the marketplace or to entrench, using obsolete technologies and artificial ingredients, and ignore the growing concern of Americans around the country over the health of their loved ones. There really is only one answer.

Here’s a list of just some of the incredible accomplishments of 2013 as shared across social media. It reinforces that while none of us can do everything, all of us can do something, and together, we can create incredible change.

1. The Chipotle Scarecrow film getting 11.6 million views in just a few months.
2. Kashi admitting GMO and producing a FB reply…then they created some Organic cereals with Non GMO verification project.
3. A teen’s online petition gets Gatorade to kick a nasty additive out of their sports’ drinks.
4. Whole Foods March announcement that all products in their stores that contain GMOs must be labeled by 2018 (or reformulated to not contain them).
5. Kroger, which launched its Simple Truth line of organic and natural foods in August, now says it will double the brand’s lineup early next year, the Dayton Business Journal said. The original lineup included 200 foods
6. Connecticut passing a GMO labeling law
7. Chipotle’s commitment to going non GMO in 2014, and the market’s response sending the stock soaring
8. Hawaii’s legislation, a win to get GMOs off Kauai and a win to require pesticide disclosure and buffer zones of the 4 of the 5 top biotech companies there.
9. Elimination of trans fats and looming FDA deadline
10. The rise in Annie’s stock & products
11. Chick-fil-A changing the ingredients in their food
12. Chipotle labeling its menu of GMOs
13. Whole Foods no longer selling Chobani yogurt due to GMO concerns.
14. Helping Houston ISD to get msg out of their food items!
15. Lawsuit against “Naked” juice for being loaded with GMOs and claiming to be “natural.”
16. Trader Joe’s certifies that all of the products in its stores that carry the TRADER JOE label are NON-GMO (buyer beware, though, as these products are not third party verified by the Non GMO Project.)
17. Explosion in Non GMO Project verified products
18. Twinkie maker hostess filed for bankruptcy then reemerged talking about a gluten free Twinkie!
19. Canadian Superstore brought in an entire large isle of organic foods last month. Did our emails make a difference?
20. Target is planning a new line of “natural food” products and it will be non gmo. (Walmart is also planning a line of “natural food’ PRODUCTS, but Walmart’s line will be all genetically modified ingredients.)
21. Raising awareness in Washington State and beyond with I-522
22. Starbucks dropping the beetles from their menu!
23. Ben and Jerry’s commitment to going non-GMO by mid-’14 and already having a dozen flavors sourced and labeled non-GMO
24. Kraft finally ditching artificial dyes from a handful of their mac and cheese products
25. A mom starting a movement called “March Against Monsanto” that led to 2 million people in 56 countries peacefully standing up for food freedom
26. A lot more brands coming out with gluten free/dairy free and non GMO products!
27. UNREAL candy taking on the big guys by making America’s favorite candy without the junk
28. Unilever for deciding, after supporting the No on GMO Labeling side and receiving criticism from consumers, to actively advocate for Yes on 522 in Washington State.
29. Kellogg’s having to downsize because consumers quit purchasing their products. “Would prefer Kellog’s be a better business model and remove the GMO’s so that we can purchase more instead of boycott.”
30. Monsanto having to run commercials lying because we are impacting their bottom line.

And while there were countless others, some were personal:

“My daughter realizing she’s been eating organic ketchup poured into a non-organic bottle…and when the charade was revealed, saying she wondered why the ketchup tasted better lately.”

“I’ve lost 42lbs…dont drink energy drinks anymore..dropped all my bad blood levels …went from 40 inch to 32 inch waist…just cutting out processed food with HFCS and GMOs.”

And from a Navy Seal: “Nothing spectacular, had heart operation, found tumors same time, got sick, went whole, got better, kicked the cancer end of tumors, and watch with shear amazement at what we had been brainwashed into eating, have gotten a few of my seal buddies now on organic diets and transformation is amazing, keep at it, you have people like me watching…”

Keep at it. 2014 is going to be a great year. Companies and investors are paying attention. The food companies that do not adapt will find their 20th century products, loaded with artificial dyes, growth hormones and GMOs soaked in pesticides, becoming an obsolete technology in the 21st century.

Keep an eye on legislation and labeling laws, as well as things like the Trans Pacific Partnership which protects patented products (like the chemical industry’s GMOs in our food), send an email to a Congressman’s office or share a YouTube video with a friend.

Hedge funds are paying attention, Wall Street is paying attention and parents are on the front lines sending messages every day, as they navigate the grocery store aisles differently.

A quick look at how UNREAL candy is revolutionizing the candy aisles in Target shows just how quickly it can be done.

Just because we have inherited a food system that no longer works for us today does not mean that we have to embrace it going forward. Together, leveraging our collective talents, we can build a smarter food system, so that clean food, free from genetically engineered ingredients regulated by the EPA as pesticides, becomes a freedom afforded all Americans.