WHOLE FOODS, ORGANIC VALLEY, STONEYFIELD FARM surrender to MONSANTO...

[gateley]

The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must." - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011
In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.

In exchange for allowing Monsanto's premeditated pollution of the alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants "compensation." In exchange for a new assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers' and rural residents' risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil's crucial ability to provide nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of St. Louis to agree to pay "compensation" (i.e. hush money) to farmers "for any losses related to the contamination of his crop."

In its email of Jan. 21, 2011 WFM calls for "public oversight by the USDA rather than reliance on the biotechnology industry," even though WFM knows full well that federal regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) do not require pre-market safety testing, nor labeling; and that even federal judges have repeatedly ruled that so-called government "oversight" of Frankencrops such as Monsanto's sugar beets and alfalfa is basically a farce. At the end of its email, WFM admits that its surrender to Monsanto is permanent: "The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well True coexistence is a must." /snip

If you're interested, more at the linky: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm

[marmar]

1. Have I said today how much I hate Monsanto?

nt

[valerief]

2. Not often enough. They are SOOOOOOOO hateable. nt

[ixion]

7. Something you can never say too much, in my opinion

I've seen the Great Nemesis of Our Future, and its name is MONSANTO. :grr: :argh:

[ixion]

12. Monsanto is going to screw up the seed supply beyond repair...

I can't believe these people caved. :(

[Lorien]

88. Agreed. The long term consequences will be dire indeed.

Every time we tamper with nature we f*ck ourselves over in one way or another. So, if vaccines don't cause autism what does? Perhaps something in our food supply? My father was part of a team of psychologists in the late 1960's who were studying the "new" condition called autism. He was working in Chapel Hill, NC at the time, and they had to comb all of NC, SC, VA and TN to come up with TWELVE cases to study. Today, ONE in TEN children develop autism. That should scare the hell out of us and force us to want to find the cause behind it...but I suspect that if a company like Monsanto is at the root of it we'll never know the truth.

[Confusious]

132. Autism ‘epidemic’ may be all in the label

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21600784/ns/health-mental_health/

[unapatriciated]

119. I think they have already done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtJDZmwh5Bc

This company is pure evil.

[emilyg]

42. ++++

[Lorien]

64. That's something that can never be said often enough

I even know Republicans who hate Monsanto as much as we do.

[BonnieJW]

85. I received this from Organic Valley

Dear Farm Friend,
We're sharing this special edition of Organic Sense with you because George felt it was an issue worth keeping you informed. Many of you joined us in the past year in asking the USDA not to approve Monsanto's GE Alfalfa. While the release now appears inevitable, we believe your voices, joined with thousands of others, helped bring the current discussion of protecting organic into consideration. Thank you and keep in touch!

GM Alfalfa: What's Happening Now

by George L. Siemon, Organic Valley CEO
I want to share with the organic and food community my experience and struggle to stop Roundup Ready® Alfalfa (RR-Alfalfa) from being released. This struggle began in 2005 when Monsanto first sought approval, and it is now coming to a head as USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has promised to announce the release of the first perennial Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) by the end of January.
read more in Organic Sense

http://www.organicvalley.coop/community/organicsense/article/article/gm-alfalfa-whats-happening-now/?utm_source=ff&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=os110126&utm_content=header

[Maat]

91. I love Organic Valley products, and buy them for my family virtually daily.

This is a sickening development.:-(

[peacetalksforall]

129. Thanks for posting - I have never read a letter with more obfuscation.

I feel like crying - I spent a lot of money on Organic Valley in my 40 years of eating organic starting in my 30's. What a waste. What a betrayal.

[molly77]

76. Why would Monsanto want to hire Blackwater? Wouldn't be because they are hated would it?

[Angry Dragon]

3. As people die from the inside out

[BrklynLiberal]

10. +100

[Pacifist Patriot]

80. +100

[Swamp Rat]

4. fuck! eom

[tabatha]

5. Terrible.

We have to do something about it.

[glinda]

23. Yes but what. Should we start another petition? I am fed up with this.

[tabatha]

30. My blood pressure goes stratospher·ic

and I want to scream my head off - I feel so sick about this.

[glinda]

62. More dead animals, bees will all be gone, we will get sick.

[siligut]

6. So, the logic is, if they pay for the damage to the ecosystem . . .

That means it isn't destroying the Earth?

[zeemike]

8. It is just going the way all things go when they get big.

The corrupting influences of big money eventually wins....you get to big not to be bought out.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. What a disgusting development this is...

[Exultant Democracy]

11. This roundup ready shit is the 3rd hoseman of the apocalypse.

[bvar22]

13. That writing was on the wall when Obama....

...enthroned Monsanto Lobbyist Tom Vilsack as the Secretary of Agriculture.

Google "Vilsack ties to Monsanto".


The DLC New Team

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85

[earth mom]

18. Yep-NOTHING has changed except that Obama is a smooth talker while * was not!

:argh:

[SammyWinstonJack]

84. Obama's smooth talking is

:puke: inducing.

[CrispyQ]

86. I wondered why I hate listening to Obama as much as I hated listening to Bush.

Then I realized that bullshit is still bullshit, even if spoken eloquently.

Regarding the OP - they have been going after the Organic Standards for a long, long time. It's a constant battle - every few years they want to modify the standards so the behemoths (corporations) have an easier time profiting off the word 'organic.' I have never been so disgusted with my government, my party or my president. :banghead:

[Raksha]

123. I felt the same way--wondered why it was so hard for me to listen to Obama,

even during the campaign. Granted, he's a great speaker. On the surface of it, there was nothing wrong with what he said or the way he said it, yet somehow I could not focus on what he said for more than a minute or two. Eventually I realized it was because I sensed he was lying, promising things he never had any intention of delivering.

[Ignis]

20. No kidding. Yet at the time we were scolded for being Chicken Littles.

Well, guess what? The sky really is fucking falling this time, and it's too late to do anything about it.

:argh: indeed.

[glinda]

24. Can we demand he step down because of conflict of interest? We have to do something!

[Ignis]

29. "Conflict of interest" is passe. The new term is "industry experience."

:puke:

[Lorien]

65. Bingo. nt

[tomp]

67. you got it. nt

[CrispyQ]

87. I wish they would call themselves The New Democratic Party,

cuz they sure are not the old Democratic Party.

I work with a lot of people who are new dems. They're economic views are basically republican - if you aren't making lots of money you're a loser. The only difference between these new dems & the repubs is that they are a little more liberal on some social issues, although I see the new dem party throwing those issues by the wayside, as they court the independents & sane repubs, while ignoring their dem base. I sit here horrified, as I watch my party morph into the republican party & people say we should still vote for them because they are "better than the other guys."

[Brother Buzz]

94. I think the first bit of graffiti on that wall was Clarence Thomas

He has delivered, too.

[alllyingwhores]

110. GOOOOOOBAMA!

[ananda]

14. Absolute evil rules.

Bleh.

[Wind Dancer]

15. This is very bad news indeed!

I guess it was simply a matter of time. :grr:

K&R

[CrownPrinceBandar]

16. FUCK!!!!!!!!!.............

Stonyfield and Organic Valley are the only two organic milk brands (other than Dean's Horizon Organic) I can get around here! Monsanto's iron grip has got to go.

[glinda]

61. That is what I buy also.

[underseasurveyor]

17. Geezus H Friggen Christ

FUCK!!!!

:mad:

[earth mom]

19. Absolutely Horrific! How much sicker will we all be in 10, 20 years because of evil Monsanto?

:grr:

[peacetalksforall]

131. Monsanto = Bilderberg, Council For. Relations, Tri-Lat Comm - which means

they are acquiring wealth and the need to control - us. I am convinced the chemistry issues involve that is or is like behavior modification - succinctly named. It matches the overlords goals and objectives - why own all the wealth if you have bothersome protestors and unhappy serf/slaves yelling singing marching drawing attention to their cause.

Look up www/tavinstitute.org

It is one of the earliest sub-groups under the Bilderberg Group.
Its shortest description is behavior modificaition or sheep modeling and how-to.

This is from their history:
1940
Group Realstions
1942/43 Northfield experiments with therapeutic ommunities
1946 Establishment of The Tavistock Institute
1947 Firissue of Human Relations published
1948 Declarastion of Israel as an independent state

Post war re-construction
1938 Freud comes to London
1939 Start of WW2
1941 Citizen Kane released
1945 End of war
1945 UN founded
1947 Independence of India
1949 Publication of 1984 by George Orwell

(I didn't write or condense this)

Controlling us is as important as the gathering and perpetuation of wealth. How much simpler than it can be to drink our milk and make us milquetoasts?

If you're interested just keep clicking by combining search words Tavistock and any word of interest to you that has something with 'socio-analysis or a maybe ... Tavistok?

You might end up here - http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_committee300_02.htm ... quite drastic

or here - following the article that combines Monsanto and Tavistock in the credits and contacts is this:

Plant Health Care And Monsanto Sign Final Agreement For The Commercialization Of Harpin Technology
Dec 16, 2008
8:50am

ST. LOUIS (Dec. 16, 2008)

Notice some of the creditors below:

contributors:
Tavistock Communications
Jeremy Carey/Matt Ridsdale
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=672

Side point question: Are there any new theories about all the deaths of bio-chemists that we have watched for the last couple of years and may have mistakenly attributed to Iraq wmds, not farmers and eaters wmds.

[WillyT]

21. HUGE K & R !!!

:mad:

:wtf:

:kick:

[Divine Discontent]

22. ugh... K&R. thanks, gateley.

this is not good!

[Raine]

25. I'm totally outraged about this

who stands up for the people... NOBODY! :grr:

[glinda]

26. Kick

[underpants]

27. .

so my wife can read this later

[peacebird]

28. "Whole Paycheck" doesn't get my $$ anymore. I have found Martins, and several other chains have good

organic selections at much lower prices.

Another thing - Melissas Organics frozen produce is grown in CHINA for freaks sake... How are we supposed to believe they are ORGANIC?

Very disappointed in Organic Valley and Stoneyfield.

[derby378]

63. Me, too

Big Organic Valley fan here, considering they're one of the last big organics to stay independent. But can we still trust their products if they're now in bed with the Evil Empire?

[Fire1]

31. Goes to show everybody's got a price. n/t

[Earth_First]

32. Surrendered or stonewalled?

I'm not attempting to carry water for this decision by these three for this decision, but I can guarantee you that a 12-year court battle with Monsanto is expensive...

It's unfortunate, and will ultimately force me to make different decisions on how I spend my cash; however I can deeply sympathize with the unfortunate drain of resources it has taken to fight these thugs off. Especially in this economy.

My ultimate decision is to till 600 sq. feet this spring and take the situation into my own hands...

[gateley]

33. A court battle would be expensive and futile. They've got the money and the time to

drag it out.

Ultimately, I think all of us should till 600 sq ft and take care of ourselves.

[WinkyDink]

34. But....biotechnology is IN! Obama praised the 55-yr-old studying it!

[gateley]

35. I think the only thing we CAN do is to

1. Spread the word.

2. Contact these companies and tell them they've lost your business.

3. Stop buying their stuff!


No way can anybody go up against Monsanto -- and our government is pretty much under their thumb, too. All we can hope to do is SERIOUSLY impact these companies' bottom lines. And if they go out of business, let them be the monkey on the stick for others considering doing the same.

I honestly don't see any other action we can take -- do you?

[likesmountains 52]

43. All I can think of is to ask at the store (checking out or in the various departments)

" Is this GMO free?" "Can please prove it to me?" It will take time for them to answer and will slow down the flow of customers...and hurt their pocketbooks.

[gateley]

46. Good one. And if they say "I don't know" say, could you find out for me? Then

turn to the people behind you in line and explain WHY you're concerned.

I'll get my talking points down before I try it.

And the people behind me will tell six people, then they'll tell six people, then...:7

[roody]

49. Start a food-buying club.

[Luminous Animal]

36. I've expected something like this. I've boycotted all three corps because they

have little commitment to organic standards. No doubt, next on their plate is to lobby the Feds to include GM food under the organic label.

[gateley]

37. I've heard that there is some lobbying or at least some whispers going on about

changing the definition of organic. Sigh.

At least why can't we be like Europe and have to list it on the label? They've taken away our right to choose what we fucking eat!

Let's get the boycott rolling and really hurt them.

[Luminous Animal]

41. A boycott is needed but so is education for the people who shop there.

A succinct flier and a few activists in front of Whole Foods would help.

[gateley]

45. Yes! Good! Short, sweet, concise. Do you know if we're allowed to had it out

w/out permits?

[Luminous Animal]

51. If you stay on public property, a permit should not be necessary.

In San Francisco, even in the parking lot, there would be no question. Some other municipalities might send someone to hassle you but as long as you are not impeding traffic (foot or otherwise), you are within your right.

I suggest a bold title such as, "Whole Foods Surrenders to Monsanto" followed by (in smaller type) "so does Organic Valley and Stonybrook Farms" then follow with a short list of bullet facts gleaned from the article (3-4 is good) and then a URL.

[gateley]

54. Thanks for the copywriting! Done! I'll check into what's applicable here and

gather some like minded folks and see what we can get going.

Look at likesmountains post above -- #43. I like that idea, too.

[sulphurdunn]

71. When wool was being replaced

I remember labels on clothing that said something like 100% virgin synthetic.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

105. "100% virgin acrylic"

I know because I have several vintage pieces with that very label.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CoffeeCat]

44. Wow!

You said a mouthful.

Cross stitch that on a pillow!

;)

[roody]

48. Maybe you can make your own.

[Luminous Animal]

53. It isn't difficult to make your own and it is cheaper, too.

http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/make-yogurt/stir-and-enjoy

[bluedigger]

95. I was expecting a link to:

Howtocrossstichyourownpillow.com

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[saras]

39. At least we're prepared...

This, combined with the farm bill, means that all those 'gardening' stores selling grow lights and hydroponics may end up supporting the growing of actual food, after all.

Personally, it makes me feel that I can no longer trust any of the three companies listed to actually do what they claim to do, which means I have to boycott all of them.

Before our local coop went yuppie fast food, it was a functional cooperative. Before that, it was a 'food conspiracy'. Maybe it's time for another one.

The reason that GMO food isn't tested for safety isn't merely because it costs money to test it, as is clear from science done in Europe, it's because the stuff fails so many of the tests.

When food is outlawed, only outlaws will have food.

[Art_from_Ark]

58. "Before our local coop went yuppie fast food, it was a functional cooperative"

As was the co-op I used to shop at, a real down-to-earth, bag-your-own, buy-from-local-growers type of co-op. Then it moved to a shopping center and, bleh, the yuppification was too much for me to bear.

[laundry_queen]

40. Just here to join the chorus

that Monsanto is one of the most evil corporations on earth. And to K&R.

[uppityperson]

47. I can't see the Stonyfield bit there. Help? Thanks.

I do like their yogurt

[Lucian]

50. I'm going to avoid those companies then in the organic section of my store.

FFS. Why does everyone cave to the huge fucking corporations?

[adigal]

52. I just saw a book on storing foods

Canning, drying, etc. Time to clear some land for a garden.

[Luminous Animal]

55. Act Now! (contact info at the link)

http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/01/urgent-action-needed-to-support-organics-and-non-ge-crops/#actnow

[Lorien]

66. Thanks! Done!

You might want to post this as a thread of it's own.

[SpiralHawk]

68. Thank you

Let's make our voices heard

[TroubleMan]

56. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck

If humanity dies out, I bet Monsanto will be one of the primary causes.

[DeSwiss]

57. K&R

[AmandaMae]

59. Fuck Monsanto. They are pure evil.

[wakemewhenitsover]

60. Horrendous!

:mad:

[indimuse]

69. People WAKE UP! We are NO LONGER

A People...WE ARE A CORPORATION! The US army et'al WORK/KILL FOR CORPORATIONS NOT OUR Freedoms, etc..! (but you already know this)That is an Oxymoron!! Hello! One by One we lose our rights..and we just sit back and let them TAKE THEM!! FOOOD! FOOOD! FOOD! WATER!! WATER!! IT IS OUR RIGHT!!! uuuggghhh......

[gateley]

106. You are absolutely correct. It's done. We're done. nt

[era veteran]

70. The most evil company in the world

Nothing this scourge of humanity does surprises me.

[get the red out]

72. Human beings can't fight the big corporations

We have no rights and they have all rights, money is speech and human lives mean very little.

[SHRED]

73. I am against GE food at all levels but this kind of exaggeration...

...makes me cringe and the other side laugh at us:

"...lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup."

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in RoundUp.
It does not cause "massive" poisoning of people and breaks down very quickly when exposed to the elements. It targets enzymatic action in plants only.
The article would suggest that the LD 50 and signal word on the labeling and MSDS are way out of whack. If that is the case then where is the lawsuit?

Look, I am NOT defending Monsanto. They are fucking evil and GE is fucking evil.
But when we write hyperbole like this we will not be taken seriously.


---

[Dorian Gray]

75. Perhaps it's an exaggeration

but the FACT that Monsanto suppresses the organic farmers who don't want the GM foods invading their farms makes their actions totally unethical and immoral.

For those consumers who would like a choice (and I admit, I'm not above buying GM foods at times, though I prefer organically harvested foods for the most part), what they are doing is permeating the entire industry, forcing farmers to buy their seeds (if cross-pollination occurs, which it will), and not giving the general population of the US any choice in the matter.

[tinkerbell41]

83. 2 4 D linked to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

There is an absolute link to this type of cancer.

[unapatriciated]

121. I don't think it is an exaggeration.

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/


When my son was first diagnosed with Dermatomyositis (1991) I blamed exposer to the malathion spraying in California (it was very heavy in our area). At that time very little was known about this autoimmune disorder and the doctors said they didn't think it had anything to do with his illness. Twenty years later they are now connecting pesticides exposures with many autoimmune disorders including Dermatomyositis. By the time all the facts are in regarding Monsanto it will be too late.

[kurtzapril4]

122. And...the glyphosate is not the problem

The carrier(some part of the liquid that the glyphosate is suspended in) is. The carrier is the carcinogen in Roundup. In the field(no pun intended) I work in, we use Accord as an herbicide. Different carrier. Same glyphosate. Less potential for damage to the humans using it.

The LD50(or half-life)of glyphosate is 24 hours I believe. I don't have my book right in front of me.

We use Accord to kill non-native weeds when we are restoring prairies. That being said, it is used very sparingly, at the proper dilution rates, under the proper conditions, etc. It would be very hard to solarise a 100 acre parcel, or cover it 6" deep in mulch. Or to try to get enough volunteers out to hand weed it. We use it sparingly because we do not want the local weeds to become Roundup resistant.

I'm not sticking up for Monsanto, and I think GMO are terrible. But I don't like the hyperbole surrounding this issue. At least as far as prairie restoration goes, glyphosate is very useful, and the least toxic chemical to use.

2,4-D and Malathion are very, very, very much more toxic than glyphosate. I believe 2,4-D was used in Agent Orange.

[felix_numinous]

74. #%^&%^**&%##< Monsnato

There's a special place in Hades reserved for these f*ckers

[Le Taz Hot]

77. Whole Foods?

Too bad, I'll miss paying $4.00 for a potato. :sarcasm: Shop your local farmers markets instead.

[Lorien]

90. My local farmer's market (the same one that was sued by chick-fil-a) rocks!

One cane buy a bag of six hydroponically grown (no pesticides) peppers-red, orange, yellow-for $1.89. Locally owned farmer's markets are the way to go!

[Maat]

92. I'm there every week at mine! (n/t)

[FailureToCommunicate]

78. Do NOT watch "Food, Inc": It will make you hate Monsatan even more...

Find a Trader Joe's?

Read "In Defense of Food"?

Smoke a banana?

What's a body to do?

Curl up and dye?

[Javaman]

82. Ironic really since whole foods promotes a documentary called "the future of food"

which talks about GMO crops and how bad they are for us. LOL

[Recursion]

79. GM perennials...

Well, that was a nice grassland we had once. Envy of the world, I hear.

[blackspade]

81. I have no words.

So basically the milk that I now buy at WFM is soon going to be contaminated with roundup.
Thanks Whole Foods for fighting the good fight.
And thanks to the FDA for their continuing effort to protect the American people.... :sarcasm:

:wtf:

[KillCapitalism]

89. I'm afraid people won't be able to grow their own food much longer.

A lot of people are using their land for gardens, but look at what Monsanto is doing in the movie Food Inc.

If this company is not stopped, someday Monsanto's "Pinkerton men" might stop by your apple orchard, cut your trees down, and then sue you for patent law violations.

[gateley]

107. We'll be having secret growing operations but instead of pot, we'll have to hide

our carrots and tomatoes! I fear you may be right. They keep just getting exponentially bigger and bigger and bigger....

[NashVegas]

93. I Won't Penalize Those Companies That Tried to Control a Losing Battle

I will not boycott WG, OV or Stony for this.

This one lies squarely on congress, Obama, Vilseck and alfalfa growers

Bastards, all.

[gateley]

108. You have a valid point. We DO need to organize and get this word out there,

and get in Obama's face about it.

[zehnkatzen]

96. This is not much of a shock really …

… this is, after all the same Whole Foods whose CEO doesn't think you deserve a single payer health-care system, you unwashed prole, you.

That people continue to give their money willingly to WF just astounds me kindamuch.

[efhmc]

97. Will consumers get the entire picture of what foods this

abomination effects, so we can avoid these pollutants?

[gateley]

98. I don't know - the fact that the FDA has deemed GMOs safe is probably all

they need to hear. So as I typed that I thought, no. I always use my brother and sister-in-law as bellwethers of "normal" people, and if I were to tell them this they'd be convinced it wouldn't be allowed to happen if it could be harmful.

And, I also think the larger public doesn't correlate the link between our less nutritious food and our current state of health.

:(

[efhmc]

101. I have told by Central Market and WFs in Austin that they

do not ever buy gm food. I was specifically asking about fresh corn. But how can we make sure that our organic products are free of these products as feed?

[gateley]

102. I don't know. I remember reading once where in order to get GMO-free soybeans

to get organic, but then I read even that isn't fool-proof.

And how does Central Market and WF know what their organic chickens, etc., are being fed? I'm not sure they're required to disclose that.

I've started really looking at food from Australia and New Zealand -- elsewhere, too.

As someone posted, it's time to get our plot and start growing ourselves. Easier said than done, though.

It's just so sad.

ETA -- and buy from local farmers at local markets. Someone told me I won't believe the difference in eggs! I was also told that even though some of these growers might not have "organic" on their products, they grow organically but just aren't large enough to fork over the money to become ***Officially Certified***, so ask!

:hi:

[defendandprotect]

113. Monsanto's FDA .... corruption of our government has permitted Monsanto crimes ...!!

[TK421]

99. They're just like another Wal-Mart....I really can't tell the fucking difference!

[trud]

100. Whole Paycheck

Has a CEO who thinks organics are crazy and buys its "organics" from China.

Hello, what did you expect from them?

[emsimon33]

103. Another reason to hate Whole Foods!

[JJW]

104. Corporatist Obama

Revolving door of corruption. Vilsack has always been a tool of Monsanto.

[anamandujano]

109. Got to wonder if the ruling elite have already begun to colonize

another planet. They would think twice about this if they cared even a little about their great grandchildren. All the money in the world won't spare them the misery on the way.

I started being happy about being too old to live to see the consequences of their crazy policies quite a long time ago.

At some point I've even envied those that died before 9/11.

[Ian David]

111. All your crop are belong to us. n/t

[kurtzapril4]

125. + brazillion n/t

[defendandprotect]

112. Agree feelings re Whole Foods -- however this all begins with corruption of our government ....

Our government isn't standing up to Monsanto but we expect Whole Foods to do it?

Or any other food business?

No -- FIRST OUR CONGRESS STANDS UP FOR THE INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC --

and that's not happening because the corruption begins with Congress --

More like Monsanto has taken government and these companies hostage!

[Jakes Progress]

114. Millionaires stick together; stick it to you.

From the article cited:

According to informed sources, the CEOs of WFM and Stonyfield are personal friends of former Iowa governor, now USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and in fact made financial contributions to Vilsack's previous electoral campaigns

If you shop at hole fuels, you are a part of the problem instead of the solution. They desire nothing more than to be thought of as holistic and charge holistic prices while becoming nothing more than the local supermarket. You are shopping for cache and it is costing you cash for nothing.

So much for that revolving door that Obama said we would not have anymore.

[JJW]

115. Get a clue people

If you don't stand up for the right to eat healthy food, NO ONE will do it for you.

[DesertDiamond]

116. The loss is to US!!!!! The consumer!! There is NO WAY to repay that!! I will NEVER shop at WFM again

[Danger Mouse]

117. Two words: We're fucked.

[RedCloud]

118. Last year I had so many crappy seeds and weak ass plants last "harvest". Grr! Rise up angrily.

[kurtzapril4]

126. Get your seeds

from the seed exchange. Organic. Reasonable.

http://www.seedsavers.org/

[pam4water]

120. Unhappy K&R

[mommalegga]

124. Time to buy your food local.

Where you know where it comes from and what it is...

www.localharvest.org

[niyad]

127. kick for this very important topic

[Voice for Peace]

128. message from organic valley

don't know if this has already been posted

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=610466992&ref=mf#!/note.php?note_id=178612515507950&id=20674850824

[upi402]

130. Good, we'll still pay the premium

and not bail on corporate organics 100% YET,

[Catherina]

133. Too late to recommend. Frightful. Just frightful. n/t