GM-Free Communities Campaign

Educational and legislative activities addressing the issue of genetically engineered foods and crops are underway at the community, county, region, state and national levels, worldwide. GM-free zones have been created at local and regional levels. There are GM-free farmers markets, GM-free restaurants, chef groups, campaigns against GM trees, pharmaceutical crops, new crop varieties, and more.
 
In the US, there was a series of significant legislative victories in 2004. In particular, GM-free zones have been established in three counties and one city in California, and the Vermont legislature enacted a seed labeling law. In 2005, their senate passed a biotech liability bill. The Institute helped with a public education program in these two states through speaking tours, articles, handouts and media appearances.
 
What You Can Do – Recommended Steps

1.Educate yourself, and stay informed.

A good place to start is with this website, as well as the Institute’s publications, which present a compelling case for the dangers of GM foods. Plus sign up for our newsletter, Spilling the Beans, to stay up-to-date on the issues.

2. Educate and inspire others you know.

We have found that the best way to do this is to share one or more of the Institute’s publications with them.

3. Buy non-GM food.

Buying non-GM not only helps address you and your family’s health concerns, it also can influence the decisions of food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Food manufacturers worldwide have switched to non-GM ingredients to appeal to consumer demand--make a change or lose the customer. We’re at the top of the food chain and we can move the market.
 
To learn more about buying non-GM in grocery stores, click here.
 
To learn more about eating non-GM in restaurants, click here.

4. Get involved in efforts to make your schools, grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals and other local institutions GM-free.

• If you are part of an institution or retail establishment ready to convert, partially or completely, to GM-free and need recommendations on how to do this, click here.
• If you are interested in Institute support for a local GM-Free Communities campaign, please send your contact info and a brief description of your goals, plans, campaign status, and anticipated resource needs to info@responsibletechnology.org.  

The Institute can support your efforts to create a GM-free community by providing written and audio-visual materials, web support, and guidance to local campaigns.

The Institute works with local campaign organizers in the planning and implementation stages. We currently make available our publications, which organizers have found to be an effective way of educating the public about the dangers of GM foods. Campaigners can purchase DVDs, CDs, and Seeds of Deception book at a special rate so they can make money showing the video and selling products afterwards, as a way to generate funds to support their local campaign. 

We are currently refining campaign materials, media kit, and how-to-kit. These will evolve as we get input from local campaigns. We can also provide local campaigns with their own homepage, list serve, calendar, database, and useful links.