Several Boston College students and Greenpeace activists donned biohazard suits and a ‘killer tomato’ costume in front of the Shaw’s supermarket in Allston last Friday, protesting the store’s use of genetically engineered ingredients in its store brand products.
Protesters passed out literature and held signs highlighting the dangers of genetically engineered food. Some walked through the supermarket with bullhorns as part of a ‘toxic food tour,’ pointing out genetically engineered products to customers.
Friday’s protest was one of 25 held in the past week at Boston area Shaw’s and Star Markets, according to Sarah Rasmussen, a Greenpeace coordinator who attended Friday’s protest.
Greenpeace was conducting the protests because Shaw’s ‘refuses’ to stop putting genetically engineered ingredients in their store brand products, Rasmussen said.
‘Their parent company stopped selling genetically engineered ingredients in Shaw’s brand products [in Europe] three years ago,’ she said. ‘They have a dangerous double standard.’
Shaw’s products featuring genetically engineered ingredients include Shaw’s brand corn chips, pancake and waffle mix, taco shells and crispy corn puffs, according to Kim Foster, a Greenpeace grassroots organizer.
Consuming genetically engineered ingredients can have dangerous consequences, Rasmussen said.
‘Genetic engineering is a deliberate contamination of the organic food industry’ and causes increased pesticide use, cancer, an increase in antibiotic resistant diseases and an increase in food allergies, she said.
Despite their outdoor protests and bullhorn-aided ‘toxic food tours,’ Rasmussen said protesters had not had any problems with store management or security.
‘Typically when we go inside, they ask us to leave and we will,’ she said.
Rasmussen said reaction from Shaw’s customers had mostly been surprise.
‘A lot of people don’t even know [about genetically engineered ingredients],’ she said. ‘And when they find out, they’re really concerned.’
Hyunjoo Lee, a Boston College sophomore who participated in the ‘toxic food tour,’ cited similar reactions from customers inside the store.
‘I think they were surprised to see us,’ she said. ‘They don’t question what’s in their food.’
Lee said she came to the protest because ‘the consequences [of genetic engineering] to the environment, to human rights, to human health are very detrimental.’
Boston College senior Kaitlin Mara, who was dressed as the ‘killer tomato,’ cited the need for awareness among the general public. ‘I don’t think it’s fair people aren’t told about genetically engineered food,’ she said.
Rasmussen agreed, adding ‘[Genetic engineering] is a contamination of our food supply and we need to stop it.’