Whole Foods Market Caves to Monsanto
Share this
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.)
- 381125 reads
Printer-friendly version- Add new comment
- permalink
Today's popular content
- Resources for Investigating ALEC/NRA Gun Bills (27,371)
- Wisconsin Bill Would Treat Organic Milk, Sharp Cheddar, Brown Eggs as "Junk Food" (22,725)
- Marco Rubio, Geo Group, and a Legacy of Corruption (17,563)
- The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform (15,722)
- Blessed Unrest for a Wiser Earth: John Stauber Interviews Paul Hawken (15,152)
- How Far Have We Really Come from the "One-Drop Rule"? (10,266)
- This Is Going to Hurt: What Your Doctor Doesn't Say Can Cost You (9,575)
- Backgrounder: the History of the NRA/ALEC Gun Agenda (9,150)
- About ALEC Exposed (7,798)
- A Side of Climate Change Denial with Your Coffee? ALEC Dishes up Some Hard to Swallow Spin with the Heartland Institute (7,434)
Readers' Comments
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: pbarnrob
-
Submitted by: EarlBowden
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: Anonymous
-
Submitted by: AndrewG
Comments
GMO...
lol...you people crack me up...GMO products have never been proven to harm anyone! It has been proven that non GMO products have!
what's important
Other than bullying and buying off farms and farmers, what's important to remember here is that Monsanto genetically modifies their seeds so their pesticide "RoundUp" is effective. It is not effective on non-GMO seeds and other pesticides do not work on the Monsanto seeds. When a crop gets contaminated, they have no choice but to use Monsanto's RoundUp. It becomes a nasty catch 22 that leaves farmers in a bind making decisions they don't necessarily approve of, but really have no choice if they want to continue farming.
And, about those GMO'd foods...doesn't it give you the creeps that conventional tomatoes are genetically modified to include scorpion DNA? This was done to make the fruit more shelf stable and resilient to bugs and bruising during shipping and while on the grocery floor. It's true, what a blessing to have our produce last longer, less wasted money and product. A Sta-Fresh tomato that doesn't rot 3-4 weeks after harvest, however, is a bit unnerving. If you argue that GMO'd foods don't have an effect on us humans and our planet, there are countless ways to counter that opinion. The least of which is hydrogenated oils! Remember when Crisco was every bakers dream? It's not GMO'd (or is it??) but we all know now how awful it is for our bodies, arteries and hearts. It takes about 50 years for researchers to have those results. Hopefully, with the rapid advancement of technology, we'll come to these conclusions faster.
Hip Hip Hooray for the bullying Monsanto Monster? No way.
How do you feel about Soylent Green? It's not too far fetched...
It is really sad that our
It is really sad that our country is more concerned with politics and who supports who, than being concerned about our neccessities (daily needs- sustinence, clothing, shelter and health) Instead of large interest groups spending millions of dollars on their interest, pay down the debt of the government!
whole foods selling out
no reason to shop at Whole Foods anymore and pay their high prices if what I get there is just like what I would get every where else. Thanks a lot guys. You just sold out Your Special Purpose in the World.
Their prices are not high.
Their prices are not high. Their home brands are half the price of regular chains like Gristedes.
YES... they are
Compare to wal-mart, aldi, save-a-lot and any of the dillons/gerbes franchises... we did a comparison shop, item per item... and their prices on the whole are 3-5 times as expensive
It not the same! Did you read
It not the same! Did you read the ingriedients?!
You can't compare prices of two completely different products
That aren't even close to the same quality!
can't compare.
ummm you can't compare Wal-Mart to whole foods.
Whole Foods & Monsanto
Whole Foods is hands down more expensive than Fred Meyer,Safeway, Smith's, Albertson's, Lowe's, Sunflower and Trader Joe's on pretty much everything except tofu and maple syrup. Now their greed shows through clearer. Same as mortgage and finance corps, just a different medium to get there.
goes to show, put in your own
goes to show, put in your own garden. the only way to REALLY know what you are eating.