Join us at Bent Northrop Memorial Library on May 12th, at 6:30pm to learn about the food labels in our grocery stores.

Today, when we buy food, there are far more labels than ever before bombarding our senses and decision making capabilities – labels for such features as Gluten Free (GF), non-GMO, Organic, Fair Trade, Humane, Vegetarian, Vegan and All Natural. What do all these labels really mean? And which labels have real "value" in terms of the quality of the product and which are really just for marketing purposes? In this informative Q&A session, Maarteen Samsom will talk about all of the labels that you will encounter in the grocery store, how to interpret them and how to decide which ones are important to you and which ones are not.

Maarteen is an organic, Non-GMO and Food Safety inspector and consultant with 16+ years' experience conducting audits at farms as well as food manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout Vermont, the US, and Canada. He has also farmed in both Vermont and New Mexico. He lives in Fairfield and holds an MSc Degree in Food Marketing from Wageningen University & Research Centre in The Netherlands.