A Walk for GMO Labeling
Plan to Walk across America to Include Dialogue on Genetically Modified Organisms
On January 5, Santa Barbara resident Taylor Lancaster, 31, will go on a walk — a very long one. Beginning at Santa Monica beach, the Los Angeles–born Lancaster, who currently works at Yoga Soup as a desk yogi, intends to continue walking eastward, through the major cities of the desert, upward through the plains, and finally ending in Manhattan, in a transcontinental walk intended to cultivate discussions on genetically modified organisms (GMO).
Equipped with a GoPro camera, samples of organic garlic-based condiments to pass out along the way, and what he hopes will be a stroller stocked with survival materials and freeze dried organic meals, Lancaster intends for his journey to spark conversations about the nationwide lack of GMO labeling, testing his own spirit and endurance in the process. He will camp, sleep in strangers’ houses, parks, and possibly jail cells and wear through at least one pair of shoes a month, with all efforts and materials financially backed by the Omega Point Institute, a nonprofit affiliated with the Ojai- and Ventura-based Seven Oaks Farm and its Garlic Gold product line. Lancaster has allowed himself the entirety of a year to complete the walk.
A self-described lifelong adventurer, Lancaster’s decision to walk took root in his 2007 trip across New Zealand, working on organic farms. Lancaster visited the island nation to shed a Los Angeles lifestyle filled with junk food, drugs, and long, stressful work hours.
