Submitted by PRWatch Editors on
After 12 years of battling to stop Monsanto's genetically-engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's organic farmland, the biggest retailers of "natural" and "organic" foods in the U.S., including Whole Foods Market (WFM), Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm, have agreed to stop opposing mass commercialization of GE crops, like Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa.
In exchange for dropping their opposition, WFM has asked for "compensation" to be paid to organic farmers for "any losses related to the contamination of his crop." Under current laws, Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not subject to any pre-market safety testing or labeling. WFM is abandoning its fight with biotech companies in part because two thirds of the products they sell are not certified organic anyway, but are really conventional, chemical-intensive and foods that may contain GMOs and that they market as "natural" despite this. Most consumers don't know the difference between "natural" and "certified organic" products. "Natural" products can come from crops and animals fed nutrients containing GMOs. "Certified Organic" products are GMO-free. WFM and their main distributor, United Natural Foods, maximize profits by selling products labeled "natural" at premium organic prices. (A typographical error in the second sentence of this story was subsequently corrected. We regret this minor error.)
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Anonymous replied on Permalink
What did Hippocrates do to
What did Hippocrates do to you?
Anonymous replied on Permalink
THE GAME COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT THE PLAYER
This original quote is ridiculous. Made by those who want to slide for being complicitous in a toxic system that they know is wrong. NO GAME COULD EXIST WITHOUT THE PLAYER. Anyway, whole foods has always had the eye on profit, not community, or they would not be so expensive. It is no surprise to me that the did indeed sell out.
Anonymous replied on Permalink
What does the ancient Greek
What does the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates has to do with this?
Do you mean hypocrites?
soilman replied on Permalink
Why not?
No...the reason organic is so expensive, because it is so labor intense to raise animals/crops with no medicine or chemicals is absolutely ridiculous! Especially, since it has never been proven by a non bias scientific research that GMO products have ever hurt anyone!
Anonymous replied on Permalink
so far with all the farm
so far with all the farm animals I have ...it has not been my experience that it is more labor intensive to feed organic feed than non organic feed....there is not more labor administering holistic products than chemical products....However, the cost of organic feed is even more off the charts out here in Hawaii than the already Totally Off the Chart cost of feed for animals and people alike. One way for us all to "take care" is to find a way to grow our own...just like my/some of your grandparents and parents did. It is super frustrating...and yea I have put off that garden, right now we grow bananas and guava's....I've got my seeds...just got to get going and start planting....in the past my friends/neighbors....we share our fruits, vegis, eggs...we trade n barter :-) it is good stuff and we know it is fresh and where it comes from :-)
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Except real salmon will eventually just be extinct.
GMO crops may not have "hurt anyone" directly but it has definitely hurt the eco-system... which hurts everyone. I wish corporations like Monsanto had never played God, it has opened a serious can of worms.
Love the Earth replied on Permalink
Organic is also expensive
Organic is also expensive because there is less demand in the market foe it. More demand would lower prices. Large scale food production lap makes organic the small portion of the market and therefore expensive. Many years ago when people lived closer to the Earth and naturally, EVERYTHING was organic! Going back to this would greatly assist the Earth, reduce pesticide air, soil and water pollution, save many lives, Yes the poor workers who spray pesticides, several hundred die every year from the hazardous and harsh pesticides and fungicides they spray. This is proven by fact and research on the agri industry.
What has also been proven by Scientists is that GMO crops are dangerous to ecology. Pests become resistent to the repellants that are grown into the crops (by genetics), this creates Super Pests as the term has been coined, that are resistant to any pesticide, so what is there to eat or kill them? They can be rampid, throwing off ecology. Scary. Would we rather eat food made from Mother Nature or made in a lab?! Common sense go with the way nature intended it!
Re: animals, it is cruel and inhumane to inject them constantly thru their short life with medicines that then ooze out of them after they have been slaughtered. This has also been proven, the meat industry doesn't want us to know this. Cameras, reporters, etc have been blocked by law. Even Oprah was sued millions for speaking badly about the Meat industry.
Watch Food, Inc the movie. They uncover a lot. The filmakers who made it and how they expose our food system, would shut down many meat and farming practices if only the Public knew. Most Americans are good willed and caring people toward animals, farmers, etc.
Anyone who does watch it and understand, would wake up, start to appreciate and love the earth and animals, and eat a whole food diet of all natural and organic, when possible food.
I agree with yo... replied on Permalink
Spelling, how does it
Spelling, how does it work?
Although I did laugh my ass off at Hippocrates, the Greek doctor. I'm assuming you meant hypocrites.
TCV replied on Permalink
Organic vs. Traditional
Your comment about organic being more expensive than the usual is wrong. Read this article that proves organic is not more expensive.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401047/Which-Is-Better-Conventional-Or-Organic-Farming.html
Ryan Dylla replied on Permalink
this is an opinion and not information
The brevity of this "article" should be a warning sign.
This is really two different arguments: 1 - Cross contamination of crops, and 2 - Whole Foods selling conventional, non-organic products. It is unfair to draw conclusions based on information (in this case, a lack of information) on two separate issues.
1 - Cross contamination
This happens all the time with all almost all crops. You can not stop the insects in one crop from venturing into another crop without completely encasing the field. This is impractical.
Obviously the issue with cross contamination is very complex. This article does nothing to explain this complexity or why Whole Foods chose to "drop their opposition" ( I normally wouldn't use quotes here, but Anne seems to like them).
2 - Whole Foods sells conventional products
I worked for Whole Foods for over 4 years at 4 different locations in 3 different departments.
Yes, Whole Foods sells conventional products. This is not new information. The amount of 100% organic could not fill a grocery store larger than 15k sqft. In addition to selling conventional, Whole Foods promotes and actively supports organic growers and companies. This is evidenced by their first core value: Selling the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available.
However, when it comes to produce, customers would rather have conventional than not at all. So there is one reason why. Another is that conventional is cheaper and some (not all) customers prefer the lower prices. Outside of produce, food manufacturers need reliability. Many organic farms haven't yet met the consistency needed by food manufactures. These are just some of the reasons. If pressed, I'll be happy to give more.
In response to the conclusion,
Yes, there is a difference between "natural" and "organic". This was news-worthy back in the 90's. There is also a difference between "no added preservatives" and "no artificial coloring/flavoring". There is also a difference between the sell-by date, use-by date, and best-by date.
I'd like to ask Anne if she knows the difference between "organic" and "certified organic". Does she know who these certifying agencies are? While the USDA has their standard, so do various states. California's standard is higher than the federal. So is it still organic if it meets Federal but not California standards?
What really makes this article worthless is the last sentence, "WFM and their main distributor, United Natural Foods, maximize profits by selling products labeled "natural" at premium organic prices". Again, a lot of attack with out much weight behind the accusation.
Go to http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/sourcing.php. If the customer is truly concerned about only eating organic, the labels on the products and shelves almost always give the customer the information they need. If not, a team member is usually easy to find and can almost always answer the question (good luck getting the same service at Safeway, Kroger, HEB, Walmart, etc).
I put my name on this response because I'm confident in this rebuttal. While Anne Landman might be fighting the "good fight", this 'exposé' doesn't really expose anything.
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