Originally published March 20 2013
Petition to get GMOs out of girl scout cookies goes viral
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) For more than 100 years, the profits generated by their sale have helped make it possible for young girls all across the country to develop valuable life skills and make their communities better places. But today's Girl Scout cookies are loaded with health-destroying ingredients like genetically-modified (GM) beet sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and transgenic soy derivatives, and one young girl scout from California has had enough.
After discovering that Girl Scout cookies contained all sorts of processed, GMO-laden ingredients, young Alicia Serratos from Orange County asked her mother why the cookies could not simply be reformulated with non-GMO ingredients. Not knowing the answer, Alicia's mother initially thought of simply writing the Girl Scouts organization a letter asking it to remove the GMOs, but eventually decided that a Change.org petition might be more successful.
So the two created one together, entitling it "Girl Scouts: Please make cookies without GMOs," which quickly went viral gaining thousands of signatures from eager supporters. As of this writing, Alicia's Change.org petition has 6,000 signatures and counting, and many more concerned Girl Scouts and their parents are signing on to the effort every single day.
"GMO studies (in animals) have linked them to infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system," states the petition.
Girl Scouts organization claims GMOs are safe
On its frequently asked questions (FAQ) page, the Girl Scouts organization admits that its cookies contain GMOs, stating the following: "Our bakers determine whether to use genetically modified agricultural crops (GMOs) in Girl Scout Cookies based on a range of market-related factors." The organization goes on to claim that it "feel[s] confident in the safety of all the ingredients in Girl Scout Cookies, including GMO ingredients."
Apparently the Girl Scouts organization is unaware of the many recent studies showing the dangers of GMOs, including the widely-circulated review out of Europe showing that GMOs and the pesticides used to produce them can cause severe cancer tumors and early death. Surely those in charge of the Girl Scouts do not intend for their cookies to harm customers, but their insistence upon the alleged safety of GMOs without evidence is deeply concerning.
And though a Change.org petition is not necessarily the most prudent way to spark real change at the Girl Scouts, it is, at the very least, a spark that will help raise awareness about this important issue, as millions of Americans purchase Girl Scout cookies every year. So to help this process along, we are encouraging our readers to check out the petition and sign it if they are in agreement:
http://www.change.org
Another powerful way to send a clear message to the Girl Scouts about their use of GMOs is to simply stop buying Girl Scout cookies. As tough as it might be to resist those enticing Thin Mints and Samoas as you walk out of the drug store or supermarket, especially with all those cute smiles wooing for your support, refusing to purchase Girl Scout cookies until the company reformulates a healthier, GMO-free product line is arguably the best way to promote change by voting with your wallet.
You can also contact the Girl Scouts directly and ask the organization to reformulate its cookies without GMOs, and without toxic ingredients like HFCS, hydrogenated oils, and processed soy:
http://www.girlscouts.org/contact/email.asp
So as not to punish the actual Girl Scouts, since they are not the ones responsible for adding GMOs to the cookies they sell, you can support them in other ways such as purchasing magazine subscriptions through their Magazine Program: http://girlscouts.qsp.com/Magazines.aspx
You can also offer a donation directly to the Girl Scouts without purchasing their cookies:
http://www.girlscouts.org/support/
Sources for this article include:
http://www.change.org
http://gmoinside.org
http://www.naturalnews.com
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