USDA Forces Whole Foods To Accept Monsanto

I'm lucky.. I never have to go into another Whole Foods again. We have a New Seasons en.wikipedia.org... down the road from where I live. Better food. LOCAL food. and locally owned and operated. They were sued by Whole Foods not to long ago, back in 2008-2009:

As it turns out, because of their legal dispute with the FTC, Whole Foods has an opportunity to try and force us to give them copies of some of our most confidential financial records – for instance what our sales are, week by week, at each of our stores. They’ve also demanded all of our files that detail our strategic plans, all of our marketing plans and all of our studies about where we are considering opening new stores. You can see the entire subpoena here, and below is a partial list of what they’re trying to get (quoted directly from the subpoena):

newseasonsmarket.blogspot.com...

Essentially the Federal Trade Commission was sueing Whole Foods to investigate the legality (anti-trust) of taking over another "organic" food store chain. Whilst in the middle of the suit, Whole Foods tried to get all the financial and market planning info from New Seasons (a local organic store) because they view them as a threat. Doesn't get shadier than that. They were doing this to 96 local operating organic stores in various markets.

I have a hard time considering what is "organic" anymore, I only consider what I grow in my backyard truly organic. But it is nice to have a local store that sells fish caught in the river you drive over every day, off the coast an hour away. Or honey made at farms 10 misn away and doesn't have a chinese label. Yeah, that's nice.

Thank You so much for Posting.....Actually this is HUGE News and we should all be protesting this and I would but I live in Alaska and we only have like two whole food stores and because they are so small I doubt they have been sold out......but its worth a look into. What would be the right question to ask?

Originally posted by truthinfact

Monsanto isn't a product of "Generation Me" ?

Founded in 1917 STL Missouri. by John Queeny.


It was and still is a Chemical company. People are just caught up on GMOs still for some reason.


Organic Food Farmers are all lying. They jack up their prices but are really lying using GMO's. They cheat and steal..

edit on 1-2-2012 by truthinfact because: (no reason given)

Just saying things doesn't make them true. Have you investigated every organic farmer on the planet? Thought not.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
I have a hard time considering what is "organic" anymore, I only consider what I grow in my backyard truly organic. But it is nice to have a local store that sells fish caught in the river you drive over every day, off the coast an hour away. Or honey made at farms 10 misn away and doesn't have a chinese label. Yeah, that's nice.

It's in the UK, but the Soil Association is the arbiter here of what 'organic' means.

The Soil Association website

reply to post by FlyingSpaghettiMonster


The USDA also has guide lines for what is "organic" as well.. but I find it to be a joke.

So unless I see it planted, watered, cared for and pulled from the plant, it's not organic to me. Which limits it to what I grow.

Originally posted by kbriggss
reply to post by truthinfact

 

Are you advocating for GMO's?

Yes Monsanto was originally a chemical company that now feeds us the poison.

I am 100% for GMO's. Absolutely. I eat my veggies everyday i am 23 years old and 6" 3'. Completely healthy. Aside from my distain for misinformation, most people LOVE IT.

However Monsanto is doing something much worse than GMO's. GMOs have always been safe in my opinion.

Whats not safe is the pesticides. Monsanto is a pesticide company. Not a GMO company. Don't be fooled.

These farmers spray industrial strength round up on everything, that is the real danger, NOT the GMO's. Thats what causes Cancer, NOT GMO's.

Originally posted by superluminal11
Reason i never file w2 nor will i ever no matter what the consequences---
Even trade since Im forced into the genetic experiments with tricky legal consent forms. You know all those forms we think we know what it says but really dont.

what forms? the wording of contracts are key. ambiguity of word choice is what i believe you speak of but that is not to say that contracts are anything as scary as you make out.

reply to post by kbriggss


Well to be honest I think I owe you somewhat of an apology as I let loose my rage against Monsanto, Whole Foods and the 'green media', I could have very well derailed your thread and that was not my intent what so ever.

Good for her in sticking up for what she believes in, indeed if more would do that we would soon learn that we as a whole DO have some power left if we would only choose to excercise it. Even if folks are not comfortable with taking the measures your friend did, at the very least they have the choice to 'vote with their dollar'. Until the vast majority comes to that realization it's left to a smathering of individuals to keep the fire going until it catches. It is my sincerest hope that it does catch on and Monsanto and the like are eventually tossed on the compost heap and left to rot.

Inspired you ask? Yes, I am, it's nice to be reminded that folks are waking up to what is going on and trying to take a stand for what they feel is right. This inspires me to keep in the game, so to speak. Frankly, sometimes it seems that I and a few handful of friends I know (some right here on ATS) are beating our heads up against a wall on this and other related issuess and to be honest my head is starting to hurt..... I'll meet her at her protest site and pass on some Advil.

Originally posted by truthinfact
These farmers spray industrial strength round up on everything, that is the real danger, NOT the GMO's. Thats what causes Cancer, NOT GMO's.

edit on 1-2-2012 by truthinfact because: (no reason given)

If you concerned about the pesticides (AND YOU SHOULD BE) then you should be concerned about the gmo's because they now grow crops that produce there own pesticides and you CANT wash that off.

I see your still quite young, may be in a few years time when your body's had a chance to show the effects of the gmo's you might change your mind.

And on a finer note, Billy Gates is on of Monsanto's big investors. I was starting to wonder what he was up to, More money for them to work with. Nothing like having Richie Rich in your pockets. At least they still have to tell you it is gmo if you ask.

reply to post by VoidHawk


No my point is that is why its all bad. The GMOs are what make them resist the dangerous pesticides!


GMOs could be used from great good.. NOT AS A PLOY TO SELL PESTICIDE! Which is what monsanto uses them for!!!

Why are all the GMO crops pesticide resistant??? SO MONSANTO SELLS MORE PESTICIDE.

Monsanto recently acquired XE formerly Blackwater. So they have lots of mercenaries to do their dirty work now. They have their own little blood thirsty private army.

damn it anyway.. I really like Whole Foods! LOL They have more and better produce than most of the local grocery stores. We have Sprouts of course and they have good produce, but it is limited. Why the hell does it seem like everything is bad for you, even the stuff that was supposed to be good.

reply to post by Pervius


Look a little farther back than the baby boomers - Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal set the stage. These baby boomers were FORCED at the point of a gun to pay into the system their entire lives and had a reasonable expectation that the program would be around when it came time for them to retire. Blaming them as moochers or greedy is just plain ignorant. Look in the mirror if you want someone to blame. Your elected officials perpetuate this system.... It's not as if they didn't have fair warning before we arrived at this point. I've been hearing about the looming shortfall since elementary school in the early 70's. What - now it's 40 years later and suddenly to everyone's surprise our social welfare system isn't sustainable.

Face it, the government stole the money and these boomers are now being used as scapegoats and likely will be S. Out of Luck. And sadly, those under forty have bought into the propaganda the government is feeding them.

They use round-up ready seeds and apparently the weeds are adapting to it. Now they are looking into using 2 4 D which is a toxic component of agent orange from what i have heard... This GMO stuff is ridiculous.

Whole Foods was started by a group of, well, hippies. In fact, one of them is the cousin of Howard Stern and is currently into honey bees. Anyway, Whole Foods started out with all the right intentions but once the company began to grow Big Business took notice and as BB always does, they buy out and take over. So with that, it's no wonder Whole Foods is not to be trusted , but they still do carry foods you won't find in your local supermarkets. Now you have to aware of what they are selling because of all the BS.

Whole Foods does have a Blog and they, as of 1/28/11, discussed issues about Monsanto and the USDA

blog.wholefoodsmarket.com...

We are very disappointed in the USDA’s decision to deregulate GE Alfalfa with no conditions (meaning no restrictions to support coexistence). Planting GE alfalfa without restrictions may cause potential contamination of organic and non-genetically engineered crops. Despite this setback, Whole Foods Market will continue to be strong advocates for non-GE foods, their clear labeling and offering them in the marketplace.

If you’ve read the recent letter from the OCA we highly encourage you to read this as well. It’s a wonderful response to the USDA’s decision to deregulate GE alfalfa from the Executive Director of The Non-GMO Project, a non-profit multi-stakeholder collaboration committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices.

www.nongmoproject.org...

More on link...

If this makes you guys feel better, Monsanto is being sued on biopiracy charges in India.

www.thefreedictionary.com...

bi·o·pi·ra·cy (b-pr-s) n. The commercial development of naturally occurring biological materials, such as plant substances or genetic cell lines, by a technologically advanced country or organization without fair compensation to the peoples or nations in whose territory the materials were originally discovered.

Monsanto to Face Biopiracy Charges in India

www.foodconsumer.org...

By Dr. Mercola

The government of India has made it very clear that they will not tolerate Monsanto's attempts to commercialize on their indigenous knowledge, a practice known as biopiracy.

India's National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), a government agency, is suing Monsanto, the world leader in genetically modified (GM) crops and seeds, and their collaborators, the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, for using local varieties of eggplant to develop a genetically modified version.

Quite simply, the biotech giant did not get prior approval to use the naturally occurring breeds for the purposes of genetic modification, and in so doing violated the country's Biological Diversity Act (BDA), enacted in 2002.

Seriously? How the hell can you buy good food these days that isn't pesticide laden and GMO laden? Apparently, short of growing your own food or buying from local farmers, you can't!

WTF is a person to do? I feel like I'm eating poison now just slicing open and enjoying a tomato.

reply to post by kbriggss


Make it viral. ...I am just horrified. Ready to burn all my 15-year-old Whole Foods canvas shopping bags in protest, even though they're still sound and strong.

What a betrayal.

I think someone has to put this link up because of the subject, Monsanto is a criminal organization, like the mob, The crips, but most of all like the Nazis.
The World According to Monsanto
topdocumentaryfilms.com...

Originally posted by truthinfact

Originally posted by kbriggss
reply to post by truthinfact

 

Are you advocating for GMO's?

Yes Monsanto was originally a chemical company that now feeds us the poison.

I am 100% for GMO's. Absolutely. I eat my veggies everyday i am 23 years old and 6" 3'. Completely healthy. Aside from my distain for misinformation, most people LOVE IT.

You want to know why most people support GMO's? Because they don't know what they are. "Oh, I can get tomatoes that weigh twelve pounds and never rot? Sounds good to me!!!"

No. There are so many things wrong with GMOs it isn't even funny. We are messing with a system that has evolved, maintained and thrived for billions of years. Do you know when the first GM product hit the shelves? 1996. Do you know when we first began experimenting with GMOs? 1973.

However Monsanto is doing something much worse than GMO's. GMOs have always been safe in my opinion.

Whats not safe is the pesticides. Monsanto is a pesticide company. Not a GMO company. Don't be fooled.

I will never understand these arguments. GMOs destroy their natural competitors, they have traits that have potential dangers in the longrun and they are made by Monsanto.

Monsanto. The same company that created DDT, the same company that created Agent Orange. The same company that opened the first industrial production of PCBs. Why in god's name do we want a chemical company creating and modifying our food sources? It makes zero sense.

These farmers spray industrial strength round up on everything, that is the real danger, NOT the GMO's. Thats what causes Cancer, NOT GMO's.

While RoundUp might cause cancer, and I guarantee it does, I don't think we should not look at these RoundUp Ready GMOs. If you're willing to openly welcome a product that naturally produces the RoundUp you are worried about, and naturally has RoundUp protection, then why are you worried about the the chemical itself? Your argument doesn't make sense.