Organic Consumers Association calls for boycott

Payback Time: Boycott the Brands that Helped Kill Prop 37

They stomped on our right to know. Now it’s time to get even.

Prop 37, the California Right to Know GMO labeling initiative, was narrowly defeated last week thanks to a relentless, deceitful $46-million advertising blitz. Among the largest bankrollers of the NO on 37 campaign were huge multinational food and beverage companies whose subsidiaries make billions  selling some of your favorite organic and “natural” brands.

Brands like Kashi. Honest Tea. Naked Juice. Muir Glen and Morningstar Farms.

It’s time to boycott the companies whose dirty money confused and scared millions of California voters into voting No on Prop 37.  It’s time to plaster their facebook pages with this message: We won’t support you until you support us. It’s time to call their consumer hotlines, complain to their store managers. It’s time to tarnish their holy organic and natural images, to expose their hypocrisy and greed.

It’s time to raise a little hell.

The OCA is calling on all consumers to boycott these 10 organic and natural traitor brands:

• PepsiCo (Donated $2.5M): Naked Juice, Tostito’s Organic, Tropicana Organic • Kraft (Donated $2M): Boca Burgers and Back to Nature • Safeway (Member of Grocery Manufacturers Association, which donated $2M):”O” Organics • Coca-Cola (Donated $1.7M): Honest Tea, Odwalla • General Mills (Donated $1.2M): Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Larabar • Con-Agra (Donated $1.2M): Orville Redenbacher’s Organic, Hunt’s Organic, Lightlife, Alexia • Kellogg’s (Donated $791k): Kashi, Bear Naked, Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger  • Smuckers (Donated $555k): R.W. Knudsen, Santa Cruz Organic • Unilever (Donated $467k): Ben & Jerry’s • Dean Foods (Donated $254k): Horizon, Silk, White Wave Tell these companies that if they want your loyalty – and your grocery dollars –  they must do two things:

1.  Speak out publicly in favor of the pending GMO Labeling Ballot Initiative (I-522) in Washington State in 2013, as well as the pending GMO labeling bills coming up in Vermont and other states.

2. Contribute as much or more money to the Yes on I-522 Campaign in Washington than their parent corporations spent to defeat Prop 37.

Prop 37 was narrowly defeated, by dirty money and dirty tricks. But it spawned a huge, national consumer movement that is fired up and more determined than ever to fight this battle until we win the right to know if our food has been genetically modified.  We’re already collecting signatures in Washington State, talking to legislators in Vermont and Connecticut. A 30-state coalition is formulating a plan to collaborate on GMO-labeling laws and initiatives.

You are a part of this movement, and today we’re calling on you, on the millions of consumers who were outraged by the NO on 37’s dirty campaign, to send a clear message to the traitor brands who helped kill Prop 37, in the only language they understand: lost profits and lower sales.

TAKE ACTION: Join the Boycott!

Balancing your health while balancing your budget

Organic fruits and vegetables usually cost more than those that are conventionally grown and handled. At current levels of production, economies of scale are difficult to achieve and most people simply cannot afford to buy all organic food. Here is some important information, taken from Natural News, that will help in making the right food choices when you shop.

The dirty dozen

The EWG (environmental working group) cleverly calls the 12 fruits and vegetables listed below the “dirty dozen” due to their high levels of pesticides, when compared to other produce. If possible, purchase the following organic produce.

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Sweet bell peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/collard greens

The clean 15

This next group of 15 produce are known by the EWG as the “clean 15”. They are the lowest in toxic pesticides, so if you’re going to buy non-organic produce, these would be the ones to buy.

1. Onions
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplant
9. Cantaloupe
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

Consuming foods from the clean 15 will lower your pesticide exposure a whopping 92% when compared with the dirty dozen. By choosing five fruits and vegetables a day from the clean 15 list you’ll consume fewer than two pesticides per day, whereas consuming five fruits and vegetables a day from the dirty dozen will cause you to ingest as many as 14 different pesticides every day.

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