A 313-mile march to raise awareness about what is on our dinner plates kicked off in Ditmas Park on Saturday — drawing more than 100 people from across the world.
The Right 2 Know march began outside of the Flatbush Food Coop on Cortelyou Road between Rugby and Marlborough roads, and will end on Oct. 16 outside of the White House, according to organizers.
The co-op has been a mainstay of the movement to eat healthy since before it was trendy, and helped organize Saturday’s meet-up.
“As a co-op, we’re into consumers’ rights to see labeling on products, and we have been on the forefront of the organized food movement way back in the ’70s,” said Sean Farber, assistant general manager of the Flatbush health food shop.
The organizers of the march said that their mission is to change federal laws to require that all food labels show if the product contains genetically-modified ingredients.
“The Right 2 Know March is an unprecedented effort to win genuine transparency on genetically engineered foods,” said Katherine DiMatteo of IFOAM and a lead coordinator of the march. “Most Americans agree they have a right to know what is in the food they put in their own and their children’s bodies, but current federal policy favors the pesticide industry and hides the facts. It’s time to reset U.S. policy on [genetically-modified ingredients].”
