Stories by Ronnie Cummins

Ronnie Cummins is founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association. Cummins is author of numerous articles and books, including "Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers" (Second Revised Edition Marlowe & Company 2004). subscribe to Ronnie Cummins's feed

How Monsanto Can Be Defeated

Posted on: Jul 22, 2013, Source: AlterNet

The anti-GMO movement in the U.S. has achieved some preliminary victories in GMO food labeling but that's not all that needs to be done.

Secret Trade Agreements Threaten to Undo Our Last Shreds of Food Safety

Posted on: Jun 13, 2013, Source: AlterNet

You could soon be eating imported seafood, beef or chicken products that don’t meet even basic U.S. food safety standards.

How Monsanto Is Using Cronies in Congress to Take Away States' Rights to Label Genetically Modified Foods

Posted on: May 16, 2013, Source: AlterNet

Sources report that Monsanto has begun secretly lobbying its Congressional allies to attach amendments to the Farm Bill that would preempt or prohibit states from requiring labels on GE foods.

Biotech's Latest Creation: Franken-Apples Coming to a Store Near You

Posted on: Apr 17, 2013, Source: AlterNet

We hate to upset the biotech apple cart, but a pesticide-intensive GMO apple, produced through a possibly risky manipulation of RNA, doesn’t deserve a place on our grocery shelves.

The Biotech Industry Has Trotted Out a Flimsy Lie to Avoid Labeling the Food We Buy as Genetically Modified

Posted on: Apr 15, 2013, Source: AlterNet

The idea that labeling GMO food will burdensome and costly is phony baloney.

Monsanto's Next Target: Democracy

Posted on: Apr 8, 2013, Source: AlterNet

The battle for food sovereignty is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

The Whole Story Behind Whole Foods' Big Announcement That's Shaking up the Food World

Posted on: Mar 15, 2013, Source: AlterNet

While the grocery chain has good news, let’s take a look at what led up to the announcement, and where the plan falls short.

What it Means that Monsanto Holds the Patents on Life

Posted on: Mar 1, 2013, Source: AlterNet

How long are we going to let Monsanto bully farmers and politicians into controlling the very source of life on earth?

Exposed: How Whole Foods and the Biggest Organic Foods Distributor Are Screwing Workers

Posted on: Jan 31, 2013, Source: AlterNet

United Natural Foods Incorporated, the largest wholesale distributor of organic and “natural” foods in the U.S., is currently under investigation for 45 violations of federal labor law.

Shocking: Reporting Factory Farm Abuses to be Considered "Act of Terrorism" If New Laws Pass

Posted on: Jan 24, 2013, Source: AlterNet

Three states are the latest states to introduce Ag-Gag laws and lawmakers in 10 other states introduced similar bills in 2011-2012.

Why We Need Labels on Factory-Farmed Food

Posted on: Jan 16, 2013, Source: AlterNet

A new alliance will tackle the next big food labeling battle: meat, eggs and dairy products from animals raised on factory farms, or CAFOs.

Are Walmart and Big Food Lobbying for a GMO Labeling Law?

Posted on: Jan 10, 2013, Source: AlterNet

Could it be that consumer backlash has dulled the enthusiasm of biotech cheerleaders? Or is Big Food just cozying up to the FDA so they can derail the growing anti-GMO movement?

6 Reasons GMO Labeling Will Pass in Washington State

Posted on: Jan 3, 2013, Source: AlterNet

Initial polling shows that Washington voters will likely pass a ballot initiative, no matter how much money the biotech industry and large food corporations put into an anti-labeling campaign.

Why We Need a New Year's Revolution Against the Corporatocracy

Posted on: Dec 28, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Despite our best, often heroic efforts the New World Order of post-2012 is shaping up to be very difficult, indeed downright scary.

Dr. Oz Flip-Flops on Supporting Organics as High-Profile Attacks Intensify

Posted on: Dec 5, 2012, Source: AlterNet

America's most popular TV doctor seems to have forgotten his own words that organic food is "worth the investment" and is instead trashing organics.

Did Monsanto Win Prop 37? Round One in the Food Fight of Our Lives

Posted on: Nov 9, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Prop 37 has exposed the dark side of Big Ag and Big Food, and their desperation to keep U.S. consumers in the dark about whether or not our food has been genetically engineered.

Debunked: 6 Lies That Biotech and Big Food Are Telling Voters About Prop 37

Posted on: Oct 19, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Monsanto and the rest of the Biotech and Big Food gang have been pounding the California airwaves with nearly $36 million worth of boldface lies and twisted truths.

Is Whole Foods Sincere About its Support for Labeling Genetically Modified Foods?

Posted on: Oct 4, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Is it possible that Whole Foods wants to ride the GMO labeling popularity wave while it quietly works behind the scenes to prevent Prop 37, or any other GMO labeling law, from passing?

Why a Major Food Organization Is Teaming Up With Monsanto and Friends to Block Your Right to Know What's in Your Food

Posted on: Jul 31, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Big Food companies like ConAgra, Smucker, Hormel, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo want to block consumer protection legislation.

The 'Monsanto Rider': Are Biotech Companies About to Gain Immunity from Federal Law?

Posted on: Jul 6, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The Secretary of Agriculture would be required to grant a permit for the planting or cultivation of a genetically engineered crop, regardless of environmental impact.

Meet the Corporate Front Groups Fighting to Make Sure You Can't Know What's in Your Food

Posted on: May 31, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Here's a partial lineup of hired guns and organizations behind the anti-labeling advertising blitz soon to hit the California airwaves.

Is Vermont's Governor Surrendering to Monsanto?

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Vermont's governor has 2 weeks to stand with 90 percent of his constituents who favor labeling genetically engineered foods, or cave to Monsanto.

Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives

Posted on: Apr 11, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.

Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont if Legislators Pass a Bill Requiring GMO Food to Be Labeled

Posted on: Apr 4, 2012, Source: AlterNet

What it really comes down to this: Elected officials are abandoning the public interest and public will in the face of corporate intimidation.

Outrageous Lies Monsanto and Friends Are Trying to Pass off to Kids as Science

Posted on: Mar 20, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The claims made in a book from the biotechnology industry are laughable. But these blatant lies are passed off as 'science' for schoolchildren.