Alicia, a Girl Scout, is leading the charge for non-GMO Girl Scout cookies
“Please take the GMOs out of the cookies, because they are not natural for our bodies, and I bet Australia doesn't want them, or Texas, or Santa Ana or anywhere. And, because if we don't know that they're safe, we don't want them in our food.”
You might not expect it, but this compelling statement comes from 6-year-old Girl Scout, Alicia Serratos. Alicia recently started the Change.org petition, “Girl Scouts: Please make cookies without GMOs,” that has over 8,000 supporters so far, and urges the Girl Scouts to see the dangers of GMOs and to make a positive change in their cookie recipes.
Selling upwards of 200 million boxes of cookies every year, the Girl Scouts could have a huge impact on the availability of non-GMO foods and ingredients, and Alicia is spreading the word to get us there.
We recently interviewed Alicia about her activism:
Green America (GA): Why do you think it’s important to get GMOs out of the Girl Scout cookies?
Alicia: Because they are dangerous. They make bugs’ tummies explode, and the rats get tumors. GMOs are not natural. I don't want my family to eat them, or my friends, or the whole world.
GA: How do you tell other people about this?
A: On the computer. By sending emails, posting it on Change.org, on my Facebook, and I can tweet it. And we pass out fliers [about] GMOs and that they're not safe and not natural for our bodies.
GA: Do you think there are other girls across the country who also want non-GMO Girl Scout cookies?
A: Yes, like in America, New York, Colorado, Australia, Florida, and Louisiana. I think I'm helping everyone in the world and I think I’m doing the right thing.
We think she’s doing the right thing too. There are an increasing number of studies linking GMOs and the chemicals they are sprayed with to food allergies and auto-immune diseases. These health concerns, along with the damage that GMOs cause for the environment and farmers (both here and abroad), should be reasons enough to make the switch to non-GMO cookies. Millions of Americans enjoy Girl Scouts’ cookies every year, but we agree with Alicia from Troop #2753 – we deserve cookies that we know for certain are safe for humans and the environment.
Please help Alicia and sign her Change.org petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/girl-scouts-please-make-cookies-without-gmos.
And visit the Girl Scouts’ Facebook page to tell them that you love their cookies, but that next cookie season, you want ones that are free of GMOs: https://www.facebook.com/GirlScoutsUSA.
For updates on Alicia and her non-GMO quest, you can visit her blog: http://rickyrosie.wordpress.com/.
Green America is dedicated to educating consumers and businesses about the impacts of genetic engineering and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), shifting corporations away from a reliance on toxic herbicides and GMOs towards organic and regenerative farming practices. Learn more about our efforts against genetic engineering.
