http://www.robynobrien.com/_blog/Inspiring_Ideas/post/made-to-matter/

Why We Are All Made to Matter
Robyn O'Brien - Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Fifteen years ago, I covered Target as an equity analyst. I learned the business model.

I've learned the business model as a mom. So when someone inside of Target's headquarters reached out, I responded.

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I spoke for 45 minutes. They were quiet, leaning in. I could feel it. There is a responsibility in this work that is so real that every time I am in front of an audience, I feel the enormity of it. So many were moms, I could feel that, too, and I could understand the heartache of learning something after the fact. If American companies had formulated their products differently for moms, pregnant moms, families in other countries - without genetically engineered ingredients, artificial growth hormones or artificial dyes - why had they dumped that stuff into our food here?

Why? It hung in the air. You have to land that carefully, as it can break your heart.

So I spoke about the opportunity in front of all of us, to build a better food system, one that meets the needs of 21st century families, one that instead of using our taxpayer resources to build a food system dependent on chemicals, builds a food system for all of us, as we take on diabetes, obesity, cancer, food allergies and autism for the people that we love.

"There is nothing more patriotic that we could be doing", I said. This is a fundamental human right, to be able to keep our families safe, especially given that food companies are already formulating their products without artificial ingredients for families in other countries. We are not asking them to reinvent the wheel, simply to place the same value on the lives of our families that they have already placed on the lives of families in other countries."

Target has already committed to removing genetically engineered ingredients from their private label, Simply Balanced, by the end of 2014.

"We can do this," I said. "The opportunity in front of us is enormous. The stock market is rewarding companies leading on this issue. One look at the share prices of Chipotle, White Wave or Kroger tells you what is happening, as these companies embrace a 21st century food system, one that is free from all of the junk."

And I looked up. In the back of the room, a man, slowly, as if in a total daze, wiped his eyes. One side, then the other. And as I was finishing, he gently got up to leave, slipping out just before the end.

That is the moment I will remember from today. Because it doesn't matter who we are or where we work, when someone we love is hurt by cancer, allergies or any of these diseases or conditions, our hearts hurt the same way. It is that force, that love, that will propel us to change this system, one family, one company, one product at a time.

Written in memory of Randy Benson.