Whole Foods Market Caves to Monsanto

by Anne Landman — January 28, 2011 - 4:09pm

WholeFoodsMarket 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.)

Main Source:

CounterPunch, January 28, 2011

Comments

Story is misleading

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 17, 2012 - 2:58pm.

Please take down this old, bogus and misleading story. http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2012/02/gmo-monsanto-buyout-rumors-untrue/

ha ha whole foods is shady i

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 11, 2012 - 2:59pm.

ha ha whole foods is shady i worked for them for 5 years and you would not believe how shady they. Only suckers shop there.

Whole Foods Markets and Monsanto

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 12, 2012 - 8:05am.

People will do, become, or say anything for money and/or power.

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10

This article is bullshit.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 21, 2012 - 1:31pm.

This article is bullshit. They did not cave to monsanto.

Monsanto

Submitted by Windmaker (not verified) on April 13, 2012 - 4:39pm.

Is this really a fake article. I will never shop at Whole Foods if they did. I guess I need to investigate this More. I hope Not.

Monsanto, no

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 8, 2012 - 12:00pm.

this is grounds for boycott. How do we find out which other companies, besides Whole Fooods, Stoneyfield and Organic Valley, have participated in the cave in?? And, by the way, how is that GMO labeling law in California doing?

nooooooo Monsanto, NO!!!!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 13, 2012 - 11:03am.

Drugs, which are, in fact, Monsanto's final products (drugs), should not be legal under any circumstances, whatsoever! This company has lied, and lied, and lied, to the American people too many times for us to continue to take them seriously! Just listen: I heard on an Npr-relevant news source that the Monsanto company had denied the deadly effects its "Round-up Ready" corn or some s*** like that had had on Rats. These were bona-fide studies conducted by French scientists, smart ones, in fact, and they discovered, after a 90-day study the results of which Monsanto refused to acknowledge, the "toxic hepato-renal effects" caused by GM'd, Monsanto Maize. You can call this what you will, but I smell a cover-up( hepato-renal implies the kidnesy as wellas teh other organs, including the liver. Basically, the toxins from these Round-up-Ready-tainted Foods were so great, the toxicity showed up in the urine of these Rats!). You call this ethical behavior? Their products are the health-equivalent of "Twinkie" foods, and they must be stopped. Thank you, and have a nice day!!!!

(pronounced like, "Soo-fie")

NPR takes money from

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 2, 2012 - 10:43am.

NPR takes money from Monsanto and runs Monsanto ads. I sometimes wonder about their objectivity anymore...

We eat, breathe and wear Roundup.

Submitted by CyberCelt (not verified) on February 11, 2012 - 8:57pm.

If you are not worried that Monsanto has cornered the market on GMOs, you should be. Monsanto has made their seeds Roundup resistant, so Roundup is used without caution.

What is Roundup? If you are curious, please read my post here:
http://endangeredspaces.blogspot.com/2012/01/take-deep-breath-of-roundup.html

Whole Foods is anti-union

Submitted by concern for humans, health, and the planet (not verified) on February 6, 2012 - 12:42pm.

Whole Foods should use their full weight to fight GMO's as hard-line as possible, anything less feels like collusion whether traceable or not. Buying local from small producers is the way to go. Join a CSA or start a farmer's market in your area, if there isn't one already.

I know Whole Foods is very conveniently located for many and most Americans are still use to the big grocery store model. However, they are virulently anti-union and prevent smaller producers from entering or expanding their share of the market. So support smaller producers and they will eventually become more prevalent and convenient. Support workers' rights!