Whole Foods Market Caves to Monsanto

Submitted by PRWatch Editors on

WholeFoodsMarketAfter 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
Topics: 
Agriculture
Food Safety
Environment

Comments

Anonymous replied on

It's unfortunate that the age-old saying, "everyone has a price", is actually true. :(

Florida Girl in... replied on

What a disappointment. Being an American in Sydney I often wish we had a Whole Foods here, now I find out they actually are just as untrustworthy as all the others who use marketing words to disguise what is actually not "natural" nor "whole foods". I will no longer speak so highly of Whole Foods Market, and that is sad.

Andrea Rosen replied on

What do contaminated sprouts have to do with Round-Up-Ready produce, Mr. Altmann?

As far as I'm concerned, accepting GMO crops and the blanket of highly toxic pesticides that GMO crops accommodate flies in the face of all that Whole Foods pretends it stands for. I guess I really will have to stop shopping there. Thank God for Mom's Organic Market!

Anonymous replied on

I worry about how this will affect the organic meat industry. If a rancher/farmer is found to have their forage contaminated with these GMO crops, I would assume this would affect their ability to keep organic status? I guess GE and Monsanto decided they had crop farmers firmly under their thumb and decided to see what else they could go after. My own small farm has been a labor of love. I spend a lot of time and money to sow in high quality organic forage for my horses and other animals. It is neither cheap nor easy, but I wanted to do what was best for the land and the animals. I'm tired of the heavy-handed bully tactics of these mega corporations who claim to want change for the better. All they care about is restricting choice for their own profit.

Anonymous replied on

I too have been told that Monsanto owns Whole Foods. Get Monsanto out of the White House. They've been there since the days of Nixon and there is also talking of Vilsak (a Monsanto friend) is going to run for Pres. Not this upcoming term but after. It's time for Congress to go. After all, they are the ones who are putting $ in their pockets while the big Corps pull their puppet strings. The Federal Gov is KILLING us.

vegan replied on

The best way to fight back is to go vegan (you won't have to worry about whether meat is organic) and growing your own garden with organic seeds (you won't have to worry about GMO in your food). I don't buy from Whole Foods anyway, only from farmers Markets who don't spray and local health food stores. So I stay healthy and strong in my older years.

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