Whole Foods Market Caves to Monsanto

by PRW Staff — January 28, 2011 - 3:09pm
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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

Comments

Perhaps you couldn't find any

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 10:54am.

Perhaps you couldn't find any tomatoes of the organic variety last week because it's JANUARY and one should not be eating tomatoes IN JANUARY. Wake up people!

_You_ can't eat tomatoes

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 12:52pm.

_You_ can't eat tomatoes because it's January, but here in the south my tomato plants are producing just fine. Just because you think something is out of season doesn't mean that it isn't available. Grow up - you're not the center of the eating world.

Tomatoes grow just fine in january.

Submitted by Grow your own (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 12:37pm.

I have two vines that are loaded with blooms and several 1- 2 inch fruit. If the weather holds I will have tomatoes in 20-30 days. Granted they are not going to produce heavily till summer but produce they will.

THE GAME COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT THE PLAYER

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 11, 2012 - 10:51am.

To tout 'not hating the player' is to say 'ignore the fact that the player is complicitous in the wrongdoing'. Whole foods has profit in mind, not the community. That is why they are so ridiculously expensive. It is no surprise to me that they did indeed sell out. If you're in San Francisco, go to Rainbow Grocery. Find cheaper organic grocers, or start a community garden. Find other places thar sell organic, like Trader Joes. You may have to shop in a few different places. Whole foods is a giant because we allow it to be. Now it is untrustworthy and has sold us out. End the giant.

Whole Foods Market sells out its customers to GMO POISONS

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 4:20am.

Whole Foods Market has now officially sold out its customers to what I consider to be POISONED MONSANTO GMO GARBAGE DISGUISED AS "FOOD"...... It is time to stop patronizing the co-conspirators with MONSANTO. PUT THE GMO POISONS MARKET OUT OF BUSINESS. TIME TO VOTE WITH MY WALLET AND WITH MY FEET.

Its not just Whole Foods, its

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 11, 2012 - 9:08pm.

Its not just Whole Foods, its also companies that make products that are sold at pretty much all "health food" stores.

this is an opinion and not information

Submitted by Ryan Dylla (not verified) on January 11, 2012 - 3:12am.

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.

nice

Submitted by SDeLeon (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 9:29am.

Ryan, I appreciate your candid and valid opinion. You bring up some excellent points for us to consider - that is if the 'general public' really wants to know. The information is out there if consumers really want to know, yet in our 'busy' lives - convenience and consistency outweighs everything else.

Thank you for a well written comment.

Main Subject of article

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 7:43am.

your forgetting the main argument of the article, that they have given in to Monsanto in their fight against GMO's.. this is an important issue, and shows how smaller corporations are caving in to the Corporate led autocracy we are living under. All you have to do is look at the positions of government office held by Monsanto CEO's and executive's to know the real behind the scene behind WFM's decision in this matter. We look up to corporations such as Whole Foods to 'have our back' on issues like GMO. This decision as well as the current decision by communities like the one I live in here in Boulder, shows how strong Monsanto really is. Next they will make it illegal to grow any crop anywhere, unless it's Monsanto's special blend. (ya. I'm gonna ride that slippery slope....)

I agree

Submitted by Ryan Dylla (not verified) on January 12, 2012 - 1:39pm.

However, there is a difference between supporting, promoting, and advocating.

Whole Foods is a business with many people(s) involved. Because of this, businesses are rarely advocates because it is hard to placate everybody.

Example: Remember the lash-back on John Mackey's article on health reform? Here is a link just incase:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

While you might not agree with this his conclusions, he did state his opinion and while there are many that agreed, the ones who didn't were much louder.

It is very risky for corporations to be advocates. When so many people are involved (about 170 stores with about 230 employees each, also regional offices and distribution centers), any action or decision that might rock the boat is not wise.

I do really loathe monsanto (lower case intentional). They really need to be held in check. Instead of blaming Whole Foods for backing down, I'm proud that they put up a fight. I'm sure outside of this specific issue, we'd agree on almost everything.

Lastly, remember that there is also a difference between a battle and a war.

It might be wiser throw your energy and support into an advocacy group, not a corporation (sorry for using the "C" word).

Thanks for the response.