by Phil Howard

With little fanfare, on November 13, grocery chain Trader Joe's announcedplans to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its private labelproducts.

This is not insignificant news, as 85 percent of the products sold by TraderJoe's are emblazoned with the store name. It also brings the fast-growingcompany into a small group of grocery chains, including Wild Oats and WholeFoods Market, which have made similar pledges.

Prior to the announcement, the CEO was receiving more than 100 letters a daydemanding the removal of genetically engineered (GE) food from storeshelves. In addition, a coalition of grassroots groups organized anti-GEdemonstrations in front of Trader Joe's stores in more than 20 cities.Similar campaigns in Europe led to removal of GE ingredients from storelabels of most major grocery chains, as well as a moratorium on planting orimporting new GE organisms since 1998.

Why has it taken so long for a movement against GE food to achieve a victoryin the United States? Conventional wisdom has it that Americans do not careabout the quality or purity of their food. This was the rationalization fora double standard over the past three years, as manufacturers removedgenetically engineered ingredients for European markets, but took no suchsteps for the US market.

For example, Aldi stores in Europe removed GE ingredients from store brandsin 1999, but Theodore Albrecht (from one of the wealthiest families in theworld) did not extend this policy to the Aldi or Trader Joe's stores he ownsin the US.

Recent surveys suggest that in point of fact, most Americans were unaware ofthe recent introduction of GE organisms into the food supply. A Gallup pollreleased April 11, 2000 indicated that only 14 percent of US citizens hadheard a great deal about the issue. This lack of awareness is intentional.

Chemical and pharmaceutical corporations like Monsanto have deliberatelyintroduced genes from viruses, bacteria and other organisms into our foodsupply, nearly in secret. Monsanto, through its influence on politicalappointees in the EPA, FDA, and USDA, has successfully prevented GE foodfrom being labeled as such, despite opposition from scientists within thesegovernment agencies.

Genetic engineers are well aware that consumers will reject food pollutedwith foreign genes, if given a choice. The power of the industry is suchthat they were successful in taking away this choice from US citizens in1993, when the first GE foods slipped into grocery stores unannounced. As aresult, as much as 70 percent of the processed food in a typical grocerystore contains GE organisms, according to the Grocery Manufacturers ofAmerica.

Trader Joe's recent decision suggests that the chemical and pharmaceuticalindustry victory may have been Pyrrhic. As activists expose governmentcomplicity with these corporations, faith in the safety of the US foodsupply is weakening and resistance to GE food is growing.

In response to the campaign against it, Trader Joe's recently conducted apoll of customers and found that more than 90 percent would avoid GEproducts if given a choice. This mirrors survey results from Europe, andsuggests that Americans care just as deeply about food. The rapid growth insales of organic foods, which do not contain GE organisms (unlesscontaminated by neighboring fields), underscores this concern. As awarenessof GE foods reaches levels seen in Europe, the wholesale rejection of whatthe British have dubbed "Frankenfood" is likely to be duplicated in the US.

Phil Howard is a Ph.D. candidate in Rural Sociology at the University ofMissouri. He presently lives in Portland, Oregon.

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