Whole Foods Market Caves to Monsanto

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.)

Comments

This doesn't surprise me, big corporations can not be trusted! It's all about profits at the end of the day, plus the CEO HAS to get a huge bonus after all, right?!?!?!?!?!?! Make sure to spread this important piece of news....

American consumers are going to have to come to the understanding that until We the People rise up and directly challange the corporations and their political and Wall Street backers we will ALWAYS have problems like this. Their greed knows no boundaries - over growing and not resting the soil has stripped it of valuable minerals and nutrients so much so until we need large amounts of fertilizer to cause plant growth; without it nothing would grow because basically the soil is dead - its sort of like keeping a comatose patient alive with machines; the minute you unplug the patient dies. My father told me years ago to learn how to grow your own food - I think I'm going to have to practice some of the things he showed me when I was a teen. These are not isolated situations. These problems have been created using the helping hands of paid politicians - our so-called representatives in DC - that have passed laws to facilitate the plunder of our way of life; the Occupy Wall Street Movement, 99% Movement and even the original Tea Party Movement started to challenge this kind of crap. Unfortunately the Tea Party got way laid and became defenders of the very people screwing them and us.

I have done some research on this subject, and in my view, the swing towards
the engineered crops is the WRONG direction for agriculture choices and plantings. Briefly, the huge ag businesses have pounded the small farmers out of business, and sued those farmers for cross pollination of their vast
crops. The general public is not very informed on this subject, and should be tuning in to see what decisions are being made FOR them. The public is not given any information about testing of these engineered products.

Testing should be done on all agriculture products. How else will we know WHAT we are eating? This is also my concern with all the imports from out of the USA that are grown abroad. Where is the testing? Is any being done? As for Whole Foods, I am sorry that they caved. I am also unhappy that Wh. Foods sells frozen veggies imported from China. On the back of those packages, in very small print, it states that the vegetables are from China. I think it is clear that there is no testing done, at all, on those products, and here they are on our shelves. Do you care??? The desire companies have to make a profit has been steamrolling the farmers who DO produce non-GMO crops. Can we find ways to protect our health, and our choices?? How do we assure that the foods that are sold on the market are not GME and totally untested?

WFM never claimed to carry only Organic products. They have a mixture of Conventional, Natural and Organic products. There is a rigorous process by which items are divided up into these 3 categories. WFM is a certified organic grocery store and it's farmers must follow specific regulations in order to be considered organic. If they do not meet these regulations the product cannot be labeled as organic. Their produce is clearly marked as to what is organic versus what is conventional or natural.

I don't believe ANYONE claimed WF to be strictly organic, not in the article I read. So, is it your banter you claim to be the incorrect information? The only thing I get from your comment is that WF labels their foods the same as every US market, which is an extremely rigorous process......oh, I know....after 29 years in food service I know how complex a chicken chef salad is.

I don't believe ANYONE claimed WF to be strictly organic, not in the article I read. So, is it your banter you claim to be the incorrect information? The only thing I get from your comment is that WF labels their foods the same as every US market, which is an extremely rigorous process......oh, I know....after 29 years in food service I know how complex a chicken chef salad is.

The best advice has always been, grow your own and buy local. I know you have to do without certain produce at different times of the year. But it seems the only way to fight corporations is to be more self sufficient. After all we are the ones who made these corporations so powerful.We wanted conveinance and access and they gave us what we wanted.

Monsanto ---------the people who brought you Agent Orange. You want to know why everyone seems to be getting one type of cancer or another.........Monsanto has been poisoning American for decades.

What's really sickening is that Whole Foods knows this and they caved into big money.

Whole Foods IS big money. Small businesses break their necks to get on those shelves and can't compete with the likes of Kraft, Frito Lay, Hain Celestial, Unilever, Sara Lee, Dean Foods, Tropicana- these behemoths already own the shelves there. This is just another step in their decay. Looking forward to the uprise of a real competitor. In Chicago they stand, at least on a large grocery level scale, uncontested.

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