There was a time recently in the United States when Non-GMO and organic packaged foods were surprisingly rare, so much so that choice was a virtual non-entity and entire communities of people have no access to non-GMO options.
But now, non-GMO has officially gone mainstream: one of the country’s most recognized institutions, the Girl Scouts of the USA (formerly known as America) has announced its first-ever (officially speaking, anyway) non-GMO cookie.
The secret was spilled by the Facebook page Remove GMOs From Girl Scouts Cookies, which had the following to say:
HUGE NEWS!!!! Girl Scout Cookies Samoas® Cookies is introducing it’s first NON-GMO Verified cookie THIS YEAR!!!!!
Thank you Girl Scouts and Little Brownie Bakers!
The organization, which has made waves with its petition for Girl Scouts to remove GMOs, has supported 5-year veteran of the Scouts Alicia Serratos on her mission to clean up the popular cookies.
The two new flavors will be a take on the classic S’mores recipe in the form of cookies, and will be released in 2017 as part of the organization’s 100th anniversary.
It’s being said, however, that the Little Brownie Baker brand is the only variety that will be Non-GMO Project Verified; the aforementioned Facebook page is recommending its readers to only purchase their brand until further notice, when the cookies are released during the 2017 season — which is likely to begin with pre-orders in January and in-person sales in February.
To celebrate the new cookies, the organization held campfires this past summer. The new cookies are both an ode to the past, and hopefully, a link to a GMO-free future.
“The new Girl Scout S’mores™ cookies capture the adventurous spirit, love of the outdoors, and feeling of community that are synonymous with Girl Scouts,” said Sylvia Acevedo, interim CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. “As we approach the 100th anniversary of the first known sale of cookies by Girl Scouts, it only seems natural to celebrate it with a new cookie flavor that ties to our heritage and captures the adventurous, take-charge, and civic-minded spirit of our girls.”
In addition to the Little Brownie Baker brand’s upcoming non-GMO cookie, the company ABC Bakers also makes nine separate Girl Scout Cookie flavors, as shown on its Facebook page here. In order to bring the non-GMO revolution to the whole of the Girl Scout cookie catalog, the page is also urging people to contact ABC Bakers and ask them to begin making their own varieties non-GMO as well (you can leave a message by clicking here).
For more on the history of the Girl Scouts of the USA and their upcoming anniversary and new S’mores flavors, you can also click on this link.
