Dannon The Latest Company To Announce It’s Going GMO-Free In The Wake Of Vermont Passage Of GMO Labeling Law
Sometimes change is slow and incremental, and sometimes it comes down like a hammer on the unsuspecting. And although it usually seems like it’s the good changes that take forever to be implemented, that is not the case in the wake of Vermont’s recent passage of its first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law.
Dannon is the latest in a string of companies that has announced plans to go ahead and go GMO-free nationwide in order to comply with Vermont’s new GMO labeling law, joining such corporations as General Mills, Mars and Chipotle.
The nation’s leading yogurt maker, Dannon has announced the change to non-GMO ingredients for its three leading yogurt brands, Dannon, Oikos and Danimals, which taken together represent 50 percent of the company’s profits.
Milk is of course a major ingredient in yogurt, and Dannon seems to be serious about changing its ways. From a company announcement released last week:
“For the company’s foundation ingredient–milk–Dannon is going one big step further,” the statement read. “Starting in 2017 and completing the transformation by the end of 2018, Dannon will work with its farmer partners to ensure that the cows that supply Dannon’s milk for these flagship products will be fed non-GMO feed, a first for a leading non-organic yogurt maker.”
The company has also stated that it will be working with their source farmers to develop procedures and standards regarding animal welfare and soil standards.
Mario Lozano, CEO of Dannon had this to say: “For the last many decades, we’ve had a system that encourages short-term efficiencies at the expense of soil health, animal welfare and biodiversity. We want to play a part in changing that system.”
And while caution is surely a wise watchword when it comes to corporations making sweeping announcements of plans to do the right thing, the momentum of history certainly seems to be on the side of changing the way we do food in general towards a more sustainable, environmentally friendly, natural path. Obviously these corporate changes have only come due to pressure from consumers concerned with their health and secondarily the well-being of the planet, but really, so what? As long as we hold these companies to their promises, as long as we trust but confirm, as it were, what difference does it make why they are doing what they do in this regard?
What we are witnessing could well be the leading edge of a wave of change toward a healthier standard of life and food for all of us. And we have little ol’ Vermont to thank for pushing the equation to critical mass.
Here’s to healthy eating!
http://www.nationofchange.org/news/2016/05/02/dannon-yogurt-remove-gmo-ingredients-source-milk-non-gmo-fed-cows/
Laughable praise. Driving their small farmers who cannot afford nongmo grain out of the supply chain. Sourcing 40% milk from just 7 chosen mega farms is progress?