Moms Across America Objects to Impossible Burger Products in School Lunches

May 06, 2021, Impossible Foods announced that they had secured Child Nutrition Labels (CN Labels) for its Impossible Burger products, clearing a hurdle towards widely entering the K-12 market in fall 2021. Moms Across America’s director Zen Honeycutt states. “We object to this GMO branded product being provided to our children in school lunches due to health concerns. We also object to the misleading marketing claim that Impossible Food’s fake GMO meat will help reduce climate change. Our children deserve better than to have a branded product promoted to them at their school that is risky for their health and bad for the planet, especially when there are safer non-meat, more earth-friendly alternatives.”

Moms Across America understand that Impossible Foods is claiming that their products reduce climate change compared to the beef from cattle raised in Confined Animal Feeding Operations. However, compared to black bean burger ingredients grown on regenerative organic farms, this claim is inaccurate. Compared to regenerative organic practice, GMO mono-crop farming, from which the Impossible Foods fake meat are derived, these fake meat products increase climate change. The GMO farming practices and agrochemicals decrease microbes in the soil (organic matter), increase chemical fertilizer inputs such as nitrogen, and pollute the water. These practices reduce carbon sequestration and increase nitrous oxide release, which is 300X more harmful than carbon.

The following is the letter in our campaign that will go directly to PTA leaders, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the School Nutrition Association. We also suggest separately emailing it to school staff and Food Directors.

Dear PTA Leaders, Principals, Food Directors, and School Board Directors, 

Impossible Foods has recently been approved to sell their fake GMO meat products to schools. I am concerned that our school might soon be providing this branded, GMO Impossible fake meat for the following reasons:

1. There are many reports of people getting sick after eating this lab-produced product. 
   Children are especially vulnerable, as their livers and immune systems are still developing. Do we need to risk making our children sick?
   
   
   
   
2. As reported by Friends of the Earth, the Impossible Foods fake meat contains 46 proteins never before approved for human consumption. The FDA simply classified it as GRAS- Generally Recognized As Safe- which means the manufacturer could determine its safety without FDA-reviewed studies.
   
   
3. It is made of genetically modified soy which has been shown to be substantially different from non-GMO soy, having lower nutrient content and higher pesticide residues.
   
   Test results of glyphosate and its residue, AMPA, which is even more toxic, in soy samples.
   
   
   
4. GMO soy is engineered to withstand toxic chemicals, which decrease microbes, organic matter, and nutrients in the soil.
   
   
5. Decreased soil quality and organic matter reduces carbon sequestration, increases greenhouse gases and climate change.
   
   
6. GMO-related agrochemicals pollute the air and water, increasing toxic algae blooms. Toxic algae can cause fish die-off and are suspected of decreasing whale populations, which can lead to a decrease of carbon sequestration in the ocean water.
   
   
   
   
7. Compared to regenerative organic farming, Impossible Food products that use GMO mono-crop ingredients, grown with high use of agrochemicals that require higher chemical fertilizer inputs, and tilling, do not decrease climate change as the manufacturer states; instead, they increase it! Our school staff and children deserve the truth, not fancy marketing and fabrications.

According to the highly respected Rodale Institute and their study, “Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change: A Down-to-Earth Solution to Global Warming, “Rodale’s recommendations focus on soil health, biodiversity, and avoiding farming methods that contribute to a net release of carbon, including the overuse and misuse of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and unnecessary tilling. The regenerative techniques include crop rotation, cover crops, mulching and green manure, composting, and no-till practices.”

Can you please tell me what our school district is doing to protect our children’s health from genetically modified foods? Please note that GMOs contribute to climate change which will impact our children’s future.

Are you advising the school Food Directors to allow this food to be served to our children? I ask you to instruct the Food Director not to order this branded GMO product, which is a health risk to our children and harmful to our planet. 

Our schools must provide a safe school environment for our children, including the food provided to them. Not all parents have the resources to provide their children with their own lunch and avoid school lunch foods. This is not the time to be taking risks and introducing potentially harmful foods to our children. Our children deserve the assured safety available when we make decisions based on the Precautionary Principle.

The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) is a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to innovations with the potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes caution, pausing, and review before leaping into innovations that may prove disastrous.

I am requesting that we make safer, more eco-friendly options available instead. For example, Costco has been making an organic black bean burger available for years at a price point that is competitive with the Impossible Burger.

Thank you for your response.

Join our campaign and send the above pre-written letter to your State PTA leaders and the national School Nutrition Association now!

Click here.