New Frontiers Supports the Non-GMO Project October 19, 2011

October is Non-GMO Month.

To mark the occasion of Non-GMO Month, all New Frontiers stores will donate 5% of sales from Oct. 19 to the Non-GMO Project to support the work of ensuring viable non-GMO alternatives into the future.

GMOs are organisms that have been created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology. This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

In 2009, 93% of soy, 93% of cotton, 86% of corn, and more than 90% of canola grown in the U.S. contained GMOs. As a result, it is estimated that GMOs are now present in more than 80% of packaged products in the average U.S. grocery store.

New Frontiers actively seeks to avoid GMOs, and wants shoppers to know that buying USDA Certified Organic products is an effective safeguard against the presence of GMOs. New Frontiers owns and operates its own certified organic farm and serves as a broker for several other small, independent organic farmers supplying fresh organic produce to its stores.

As a further safety measure in combating GMOs, the Non-GMO Project created a standardized definition of non-GMO and a third-party verification program to assess product compliance with this Standard. The verification program is voluntary and participants are companies who see the value of offering their customers a verified non-GMO. Buying products with the Non-GMO verification label provides further assurance that your food does not contain GMOs.

New Frontiers has put up labels on their shelves indicating which products are verified Non-GMO.

For the second year in a row, New Frontiers Natural Marketplace is joining with more than 600 other natural food retailers around the country to designate October as Non-GMO Month. The event, which was organized by the non-profit Non-GMO Project, celebrates consumers’ right to choose
food and products that do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

“Working with the Non-GMO project is consistent with our mission to educate ourselves and others, and to improve the quality of life in our communities and our world,” said Priya Drews, marketing manager at New Frontiers in Flagstaff. “Since our donation is based on a percentage of sales, you can help raise that amount by shopping in our store on that day.

For more information on the Non-GMO project, visit www.nongmoproject.org.