The vast majority of American consumers don't care whether their foods contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Food executives and think tanks will tell you that and cite, for example, how Indiana local bakery Aunt Nellie's bombed when it introduced a specifically labeled "non-GMO" bread a couple of years ago.

But California isn't most of America, with a more health-conscious outlook than most states. That's why mainstream food companies are in a hot and heavy contest against GMO opponents over Proposition 37, The Right to Know Genetically Modified Food Act, a piece of state legislation that, if passed in November, would require GMO-containing products to disclose that on labels, and make California the first state to mandate genetically modified food.

Similar to what happened to automakers after California took an extreme position on cutting emissions, essentially imposing that higher standard on cars sold all over the country, food and beverage companies are concerned that California will serve as a bellwether in GMO labeling regulation as well.

In a particular bind in this fight are the many mainstream food conglomerates that now own organic brands, which by definition don't include GMOs: Kellogg, owner of GMO poster brand Kashi; General Mills, owner of the Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Larabar and Food Should Taste Good brands; Coca-Cola, owner of Odwalla and Honest Tea; PepsiCo; and Dean Foods, owner of Horizon Organics.Continue reading...

Some people use their 3D printers to create thousands of faces. Some just want to create 3D versions of the 2D video-game characters they’ve grown to love. Others use the technology to create wearable bikinis or replicas of the human jaw or a whole building.

Then there are the folks at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. The innovative researchers there are using the trendy technology to change lives. 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys is taking the month of August to showcase how the technology is doing just that via its Facebook page, YouTube channel and blog, and we dare you not to feel a little choked up as you read on.

First up is 4-year old Emma Lavelle, a preschooler with a congenital disorder that hasn’t allowed her to use her arms. Thanks to the wonders of 3D printing, docs and researchers in Philly can print out a custom-designed durable robotic exoskeleton that allows her to lift her own arms. Suddenly she can feed herself and simply play like other kids with her “magic arms.” It’s a transformative moment, as you can see in the video below.Continue reading...

New Yorkers are known for having big hearts (and, on occasion, big attitude and vocal chords to match) as they support their hometown teams. Now they're invited to "take a seat," regardless of team, and go to bat against cancer at the brand new M. Harf Stadium.

Haven't heard of the M. Harf Stadium with all the noise about the new Barclays Center home to the Brooklyn Nets getting ready to open? More than 350,000 seats are up for sale in this virtual (read: only only) stadium, which is co-sponsored by the New York Yankees, in a partnership designed to "Delete Blood Cancer."Continue reading...

In his address at the International AIDS Conference that wrapped in Washington, D.C., on July 27th, Sir Elton John told the audience that "I should be dead" for having not taken precautions against HIV in the past.

AIDS 2012, as it's better known, was the most attended global HIV/AIDS conference to date. It made headlines this year not only for its return to the U.S. for the first time in 22 years, but for companies including Levi Strauss and MAC who continue to support the fight against the disease and prejudice that surrounds it.

The MAC AIDS Fund (MAF), the philanthropic arm of MAC Cosmetics, announced two major initiatives at AIDS 2012, continuing its leadership position as the largest corporate non-pharmaceutical funder in the HIV/AIDS arena.Continue reading...

The Levi's brand fall campaign suggests getting dressed is an empowering action, continuing its message for the fourth year of “Go Forth,” and adding, “This is a pair of Levi’s.” 

The 2012 fall/winter "Go Forth" campaign pitches 18 to 34 year-olds on donning their daily armor to take on the world every day: “This is a pair of Levi’s, buttons and rivets and pockets and cuffs, and the thread that holds it together.”

The language is a call to action: “You follow your heart, follow the leader, you’re the leader. Are you joking, are you breaking, are you shaking? You’re the next living leader of the world. You’re a kid. Holding onto the thread. That holds it together. This is a pair of Levi’s.” Cue Twitter hashtag, “#GoForth.” And Levi's own call to action, tying a thread to its corporate commitment to take a stance on HIV/AIDS.Continue reading...

For a few years, Levi’s has been telling America and then, the world, to go forth, speak out, raise a ruckus, and, while you’re at it, buy some Levi’s. It’s all part of that idea of the jeans-wearing rebel America that was borne out of the Sixties.

Levi's Go Forth campaign launched in 2009 on the Fourth of July, the celebration of one of America’s greatest speak-truth-to-power moments. But this year, the Fourth came and went without Levi’s going forth and marketing. But just when you were at the tail end of your dismay, the San Francisco-based denim giant is delivering.Continue reading...

Funny or Die has tapped a droll troupe of Hollywood talent — Zach Galifianakis, Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Chloe Moretz, Marisa Tomei and Isaiah Mustafa — to join forces with Bono's anti-poverty group ONE on a new campaign, part of a larger global initiative to reach "the beginning of the end of AIDS" by 2015. 

The star-studded video from Funny or Die asks viewers to sign a petition on ONE to reverse proposed budget cuts to the life-saving AIDS program, PEPFAR, and fulfill America’s commitments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.Continue reading...

One woman, somewhere in the world, becomes a victim of sex trafficking, forced prostitution, gender-based violence, or maternal mortality every 90 seconds. Now, a powerful cabal of producers, NGO’s, gamers and celebrities have joined forces in a transmedia project of unprecedented proportion to address this heinous reality.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, the acclaimed book by Pulitzer Prize-winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is the centerpiece of the project which includes a four-hour PBS miniseries (trailer above), mobile games in India and Africa, websites and educational materials, and a social action game coming to Facebook in November.Continue reading...