Under Pressure, Whole Foods Agrees to Stop Selling Produce Grown in Sewage Sludge

[Triana]

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) broke the story that the $12.9 billion-a-year natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market had a policy of "don't ask, don't tell" when it comes to "conventional" -- or non-organic -- produce being grown in fields spread with sewage sludge, euphemistically called "biosolids." Certified organic produce cannot be fertilized with sewage sludge, which is the industrial and hospital waste and human excrement flushed down the drains and later -- in some cases -- spread on some crops.

Since this story broke, nearly 8,000 activists and PRWatch readers have sent emails to Whole Foods executives asking the company to require its suppliers to disclose this information and to label produce grown in sewage sludge so that customers can make informed decisions.

Mario Ciasulli, a semi-retired engineer and home cook living in North Carolina whom CMD profiled in December 2012, blew the whistle on Whole Foods' don't-ask, don't-tell policy. As soon as he found out that shopping at Whole Foods was no protection against this potential contamination unless he could afford to buy only certified organic produce, he worked extensively to engage Whole Foods on this issue. He has insisted that management address his concerns about potential contamination of non-organic produce, price barriers to organic produce for those who are concerned, and the difficulty of finding out what non-organic produce may have been grown in soil fertilized with sewage sludge without labeling and accountability.

Mario CiasulliIn late 2013, Whole Foods announced a new set of standards for the fresh produce and flowers it sells. Sewage sludge was not mentioned in the announcement, but Ciasulli received word from the company that "[p]rohibiting the use of biosolids will be part of our core requirements. All of our suppliers will be compliant with the core requirements by the time we roll out the program." A follow-up email to Ciasulli indicated, "This initial release was meant to be high-level. There are far too many nuances to include on a press release."

This month, Whole Foods Market spokesperson Kate Lowery confirmed to CMD that the new standards will eventually prohibit the use of "biosolids."

THE REST:

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/01/12359/whole-foods-agrees-stop-selling-produce-grown-sewage-sludge

[Wait Wut]

1. HOLY CRAP!!

Never been to a Whole Foods, um....wow.

[Squinch]

4. That was actually very funny.

On the other hand, I do put bags and bags of dehydrated manure on my garden each spring. So, I dunno...

[Igel]

7. When I was a kid we used the stuff.

Not so many antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals in the mix at the time.

Sewage plant would treat the stuff and let it do whatever they let it do. They'd let it dry and scrape it into huge piles, and there it would sit for a year or so.

Then they'd open the gate to the place it was stored and you could back up your pickup truck and take as much as you want.


With precautions, it's safe--the E. coli isn't going to survive, for example. And it's how human ordure was recycled for millennia--before we started depending crucially on guano and then Haber-process output.

Now we produce all this fertilizer, get it into nice plants that we eat, then we flush all the minerals and such down the toilet, never to be used again.

[CBGLuthier]

2. Whole Foods is the closest grocer to my house. I have never stepped foot in it.

and probably never will. People have to pay lots extra for that quality of .... shit.

[Cleita]

5. Me neither. It's too expensive.

I prefer the cheaper, often mystery food from Trader Joe's. Beggars can't be choosy.

[Cleita]

3. It's probably okay if composted right, but I think it's better to use

human compost on ornamentals and stick to the traditional horse and cattle manure compost for our edible vegetables and fruits.

[Lancero]

6. Gues that explains...

Why their food tastes like shit.