Most "organic" food is a fake.

[Archae]

A scam.

Mother’s science-based view: Organics and Whole Foods are ‘scam of the decade’

Kavin Senapathy | January 4, 2015 | Genetic Literacy Project

“USDA Certified Organic.”

These words may conjure notions of wholesomeness, healthiness, freshness and responsible consumer habits. I myself have traversed an arc from skepticism of the touted benefits of organics, to a complete boycott.

As a mother, now with two children, pressure has been building to switch to an organic diet. To alleviate well-placed family concern, my husband and I started purchasing organic apples, strawberries, and some of the other fruits and vegetables from the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list. Never mind that in my estimation, organic apples in our area are at least 50 percent more expensive than conventional.

http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/01/04/scientist-mothers-view-organic-and-whole-foods-are-scam-of-the-decade/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Well, absolutely nothing new in that article.

Same old same old. Someone who didn't know what 'organic' actually meant who is disillusioned because it didn't mean what she thought it did, with a whole heap of scorn towards 'Whole Foods', a store than most Americans never set foot in.

[Archae]

3. Yup, "nothing new..." nothing false either.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. It's hard to be 'false' when you're mostly just putting forth opinion.

Are we supposed to get upset that Whole Foods makes a lot of money? Lots of companies do, that's not why Monsanto, with its long history of producing and selling toxins gets grief. What Whole Foods does or doesn't do is irrelevant to probably 98%+ of the American populace, but what Monsanto does has saturated pretty much the entire American food supply.

[Zorra]

2. Who provides financial backing for the "Genetic Literacy Project"?

I'm guessing it's not the Teamsters Union or the Sierra Club?

[Archae]

4. Fine. Who does?

And actually show me some evidence.

Not the usual "Monsanto poison pushers" stuff.

[951-Riverside]

5. but Monsatan pushes poisons and stuff n/t

[Zorra]

6. I don't know, you posted it. Many of these "STFU and eat your chemicals"

websites are funded by profit interests that push their for profit propaganda.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. Dunno from funding, but here's the guy who started the site.

Jon Entine

Jon founded ESG MediaMetrics, an alliance of strategic partners, to address an unfilled frustration voiced by corporations, business groups and civil society organizations: how
to manage the complex nexus of media, public policy and sustainable management.

Jon is the founder of the Genetic Literacy Project and a Senior Fellow at the Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) at George Mason University. He is also a columnist for the British-based international magazine Ethical Corporation and a frequent writer for publications around the world, from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes and Business Week to The Times of London, The Australian Financial Review and the Toronto Globe R.O.B. (Report on Business). He is also author and editor of seven
books and has appeared as a guest commentator on hundreds off TV and radio shows, on every major US news network, and on many international programs, and has been profiled on ABC News 20/20. Jon has been a scholar since 2003 at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C., where he writes on science and society.

My bold. He's a 'scholar' for a conservative RW pro-business think tank, and writes for a lot of RW business papers and magazines.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Jon Entine is the man behind GLP, an American Enterprise Institute fellow, here's Mother Jones take

on the man and his organization...
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/02/atrazine-syngengta-tyrone-hayes-jon-entine

[Zorra]

12. ^^Thank you so much^^, Erich, and Blue.

[Archae]

24. Written by yet another anti-GMO hysteric.

Another article by this guy, science once again gets thrown out the window.

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/03/bittman-right-its-not-gmos-its-how-theyre-used

[AZ Progressive]

10. Yep, we should just love eating Roundup and pesticide laced foods...

What a bunch of damaging propaganda. We should just trust sociopathic corporations? HAH.

BTW, the only reason Organic is expensive is because they are not using the damaging mass production methods that big agra uses. People don't realize just how expensive food was long ago. Beef used to be only for the rich. Food expenses used to take up a much larger portion of one's income.

[NuclearDem]

13. Yes, they are.

Organic farming uses much more dangerous pesticides and far more of them.

Enjoy your copper sulphate!

[LiberalAndProud]

15. I would rather this energy be spent removing glyphosate from our food supply.

I notice that hasn't been a a major talking point as we have this conversation.

I don't trust the "Organic" label because just about anything can qualify under current rules, and mega agribusiness concerns will continue to cash in. Labeling GMOs is a panacea not a solution, in my opinion.

[tridim]

11. Health is BAD!!!!!11 Signed, Big Pharma and Corporate Farms.

They are ramping up their propaganda big time because as I have assumed, they are taking a serious financial hit as people wise up all over the world and push their products aside for healthier alternatives.

All of this bullshit is coming directly from far RW corporate think tanks. It is the most obvious propaganda attempt I've ever seen, short of RJR trashing eCigs.

That said, I don't do corporate organic, I buy most of my produce at the farmer's market.

[G_j]

14. What is the Genetic Literacy Project?

http://m.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/02/atrazine-syngengta-tyrone-hayes-jon-entine

The Making of an Agribusiness Apologist
—Tom Philpott on Fri. February 24, 2012 4:18 PM PDT

-snip-
To hear Entine tell it, his defenses of atrazine and other pesticides are entirely pro bono and driven by his own initiative. He told me he gets "almost all" of his income from the Genetic Literacy Project, which, he added, is funded by what he called the Templeton and Searle foundations. The project is housed at the Statistical Assessment Service program at George Mason University, where Entine is a fellow. Though Entine would not specify which Searle trust funded the GLP, the Searle Freedom Trust's 2010 tax form lists a $154,000 grant to STATS for a "Gene Policy and Science Literacy Project," which sounds an awful lot like Entine's. Founded by pharmaceutical and Nutrasweet magnate Daniel C. Searle, the Searle Freedom Trust funds all manner of conservative and free-market think tanks, including the Manhattan and Heartland Institutes.

According to an earlier version of the Genetic Literacy Project's website, it "fosters dialogue about the scientific, social and ethical implications of genetic technologies…It respects the uncertainties inherent in science but is grounded in the belief that genomic research is an engine of innovation and job creation." But the site included almost no information about what the project actually does. A "news" tab opened a page featuring links to several Entine op-eds on topics that have nothing to do with genetics: pieces defending plastics, fracking, atrazine, and BPA.

Entine had an explanation for this, too:

Until I got your email, I had no idea that the holding site for GLP had ANY articles on it, as it's supposed to just be a single page, and I haven't looked at it in a year. It's supposed to just have a summary…and as of later this afternoon [Feb. 16] it will only have that until the full GLP site goes up in a few weeks, as I just called the webmaster, who apparently had been rotely posting some of my articles.

And indeed, the GLP website has been reduced to a stub; the links I provided above are to archived pages. The real Genetic Literacy Project site will be brimming with information about genetic science and related social issues, Entine assured me. "Unlike advocacy genetic sites," he added, "it will not have a specifically pro or anti genetics agenda. It's meant to be a transparent information site for policy and media people."

[NuclearDem]

20. ...written by the owner of an organic farm.

Come on, really?

[Archae]

25. You expected anything different from the anti-GMO hysterics?

[G_j]

26. then why don't you tell us who they are

and who funds them. ..Thank you in advance.

[KamaAina]

16. “USDA Certified Organic.” may be a joke, but there are alternatives.

California has stricter standards, so "California Certified Organic" is more meaningful. Best of all is the Oregon Tilth.

[GreatGazoo]

17. Does this qualify as Conspiracy Theory crap ?

Organic is not some big conspiracy. The 63 countries that have banned GMO crops were not duped, bribed or tricked into doing so.

A poster on DU tried to tell us all that the government of China takes orders from Greenpeace. This "organic is fake" is pretty similar as it alleges that millions of people and government entities are duped by a massive conspiracy of scientist and testing labs around the world.

[Archae]

18. How about that...

I just got an e-mail, (well, I don't keep it secret,) all it was pictures, with "doom and gloom."

Pictures showing Monsanto as poison pushers.
GMO's "cause autism."
GMO's "cause cancer."
Scientists like Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse-Tyson accepting lots of cash from GMO manufacturers.

Close to a dozen pictures with inflammatory and false messages.

Shows me in no uncertain terms what the anti-GMO people are like.
Just like creationists, and anti-vaxxers.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

19. American Enterprise Institute

You posted propaganda from a far right wing source. Fuck those ghouls and every useful idiot whoring for them.

[Ichingcarpenter]

21. you are Just like a creationist

cause you don't support his american institute reasoning.


oh................................ and ..................because..........''science'

[LanternWaste]

23. I like to pretend I can infer a conclusion of particular demographics from an email too

I like to pretend I can infer a general conclusion of particular demographics from one email too. Allows us to more effectively maintain the pretense that we're more clever than we are.

[IVoteDFL]

22. I've never been to a Whole Foods

There just isn't one in my area, and to be honest I couldn't afford it most likely.

Still, it's a little bit curious how much vitriol this author has for a shop she has supposedly "never set foot in"

This company that grossed more than 14 billion dollars in fiscal year 2014 — almost the same revenue as Monsanto, although Whole Foods is growing faster — devotes an entire section of its website to how “Values Matter.” This is an extensive section that self-righteously implies that Whole Foods upholds and sets the standards for food consumption morality, and that all other grocers are merely followers. Whole Foods shoppers get to bask in the trickle-down effect of these so-called “values.” I would never have believed that Whole Foods actually had a “Values Matter Anthem.” Alas, this pompous anthem truly does exist.

I went to the Whole Foods website, and looked over their values page. Some of those values are probably in line with those who post on DU. Fair wages and environmentally sustainable farming are so pompous.

From their "Anthem"

"We want people, animals, and the places our food comes from to be treated fairly"

Sounds good to me.