From the outset, Silver Hills has been committed to non-GMO foods. Co-owner Kathy Smith explains why. “There’s a difference in the way we’re farming today and how we’re doing our food production. I really think we have no idea what GMOs are doing to anyone who’s ingesting them and to our society. It’s scary to think that we aren’t told and that we’re just part of an experiment.”

GMOs – or genetically modified organisms – are plants and animal species created through genetic engineering. In the plant world, most GMOs were created to withstand pesticide applications or extreme temperature ranges (such as drought). The intended outcomes were improved nutrition or higher crop yields to aid in addressing world hunger.

The truth is that in many cases, GMO crops have demonstrated the opposite effect and have instead raised many questions about consumer and environmental safety. More than 50 countries have now banned GMOs, but North American governments have been slow to respond.

Stan Smith further outlines his company’s standards. “Every ingredient we use is selected from non-GMO sources and every item we sell in our store also comes from non-GMO sources. So if we retail a product, we guarantee it’s has been checked and that the company has confirmed it’s non-GMO. That’s an important foundation for what we have. We refer to it when we’re doing a new product development, when we’re working on communication to our customers, when we’re listening to our customers to find out what’s important to them.

“Part of our philosophy as a company is to share what we learn with our customers. We want to make sure they’re informed and that we have done our part as a food company to make sure people understand what they’re eating. And that we live this value in the foods we produce and in how we conduct ourselves as a business.”

Encouraging caution around GMOs is one of the six core values we’ve built our company around. Learn more about the other five here.