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

I think you miss the point.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 10, 2012 - 11:56am.

I think you miss the point. Monsanto's modified seed can even ruin YOUR garden. We all lose.

How?

Submitted by soilman (not verified) on January 11, 2012 - 11:46am.

Biggest BS comment I have ever heard!

good luck collecting from monsanto

Submitted by KC1964 (not verified) on December 28, 2011 - 3:26pm.

whole foods and "farmers" will collect about the same amount as the native alaskans have collected from Exxon/BP from the Valdez region...$0.

whole foods=fail.

Whole Foods is full of something...

Submitted by Todd77882 (not verified) on November 16, 2011 - 5:36am.

This just goes to show that they do not believe in anything but charging you a lot more for food that is no better than the crap you get at walmart. Whole foods = scam.

Monsanto

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on October 26, 2011 - 7:33pm.

I will check this out. After all oh I know yes Monsanto along with DOW chemical company manufactured Agent Orange, they claim there is no conclusive link and have settled out of court hmmmmmm. If you are not aware of the damage this chemical caused look no further than videos easily found on you tube of the cancers and the chromosomal deformites that are now down to third generation . Our military was exposed, but apparently As both companies claim there is not a correlation. But I am going to try and see if this is true or not Oh yes there was a rainbow of colors purple, check it out

The real issue & what you can do

Submitted by Anon2 (not verified) on September 6, 2011 - 10:23am.

For a site that says it's reporting on spin & disinformation, I'm sort of surprised to find such spin being reported as "news."
Yes, Monsanto would love to control our entire food supply. But the idea that one day Whole Foods (WF) said "OK" to the practice is misleading. In an LA Times story on June 22, 2011, the quality standards coordinator at WF said that stocking only non-GMO ingredients is difficult because there is no labeling standard. That's the real story here - we need labeling. From the article, which is titled Debate Rages Over Labeling Biotech Foods: "If companies say genetic engineering is fine, then OK, let's label it and let the consumers make their own decisions," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. "That's what all the free-market supporters say. So let's let the market work properly."
Boycotting WF is pointless. Buying organic solves the problem for you. Getting GMO products labeled is the solution for all. What can you do? Here's a blog with some suggestions http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2011/08/22/labeling-genetically-modified-foods/
Note: I'm not affiliated with Monsanto, WF or the blog I linked to. I just did some research; it's what I do.

GMOs vs Organics vs Natural: The real issue & what we can do

Submitted by LoneStarLaurel (not verified) on September 20, 2011 - 3:21pm.

THANKS, very much, for the clarifications re labelling & labelling regulations..
In these busy & changing times it isn't easy to keep up-to-date.
I intend to begin researching with your suggestions and see just what can be done about labelling issues, then follow up..

Next up: COUNTRY of ORIGIN labelling for all foods.
I'm really tired of looking in the produce section and seeing, "Mexico/USA".
Like, that is news you can use?
Or. zero origin info given with other types of foods.
For instance: grains, sweeteners, coffees, teas, nuts, dried fruits, herbs, dairy products prepared foods etc

Best kitchen supply solution is getting to be buying directly from producers or growing it yourself. Food co-opping w/ like-minded people works well for many reasons. Among them is that procurement & research duties can be shared and bulk orders save money. And much more. The adage, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". is proven w this.

Most reliable quality in prepared food? Food made in your own kitchen or in kitchens of those you trust.

It is worse than just WF vs Monsanto

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 29, 2011 - 2:55pm.

Monsanta has been systematically eliminating all farming that doesn't utilize its seed. It sells seed to farmer, and the farmer must promise not to 'keep' (recover) seed from the new crop. If they do they sue. So each year the farmer must buy new seed. Obviously, the seed will spread to neighboring fields, and then Monsanto will sue the neigbors for stealing their seed, and they usually win. When they do, they settle with the neighbor contingent upon THEM now using only their seed. Like the Nazi's crossing Europe, so goes Monsanto.

Is this even true?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on July 26, 2011 - 1:35pm.

Is this just hearsay, and a rumor? There's no documentation in the article, or quotes from any one at either Whole Foods or Monsanto -- there seems to be no documented research.

If the claims in the article are true, Monsanto and Whole Foods stocks would likely both be affected, along with many others' stock values, including any traded companies anchored in organic farming.

Yet NO major business reporting outlets seem to have picked this story up -- only organic farming sites have reported on this, and they seem to all be getting the claims and info from each other.

IS THIS ARTICLE EVEN TRUE? Please document in some way....

Monsanto's in this thread

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 9, 2012 - 9:27pm.

I believe this last post came from a Monsanto employee.