Comments on: Is Organic from China Possible?

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:41:11 +0000

Whether or not China actually produces organic is not the issue for me. SHIPPING anything that far is bad environmental policy. Yes, it is less expensive for Whole Foods to buy from industrial organic farms in China, but in terms of mass amounts petrochemical product used simply to MOVE that product across the globe is inexcusable. “Industrial Organic” is a compromise at best when feeding thousands of people. We want healthy food for individuals and earth friendly practices. We must look at not only *how* the food is grown, but *how* it comes to our tables, as well. Whole Foods needs to wake up and realize that this group of consumers are a little more savvy than some others. Continuing to pull this kind of BS will lose your company many trusting, loyal clients…myself included.

By: Frank Olivera

Frank Olivera — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:02:12 +0000

A friend of mine works for the EPA in the legal department.
I asked about Organics in China. She said not to trust it.
I found a news report on this subject and the following statement was said.

QAI can not inspect chinese farm, they rely on a goverment agent to inspect…

google qai inspecting chinas farms.

By: Seeking 有机

Seeking 有机 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:16:52 +0000

I’m really surprised at the number of comments that seem to suggest that Whole Foods shouldn’t operate with a profit. Whole Foods is not a non-profit organization and yes, they do have a responsibility to their shareholders. These are the people that own the company. Hello?

That said, I do have a concern with food from China. I’ve had five bacterial infections from various trips to Asian countries with better standards than China. All I ask for is choice though. If there are people that want a low-cost Chinese product, they should carry it. I just want a comparable selection of Columbia River Organics Products.

I shopped a local Whole Foods after having picked Columbia River Organics Garden Harvest Stir Fry while recently traveling and really enjoying it (many trips back to that Whole Foods over the two week trip.) There were only a few products available and I picked up the closest thing, 365 Thai Vegetable Stir-Fry. I didn’t see the China label until I went to cook them.

WF – Give your customers a choice. I’d rather pay the same for a 10 oz bag of WSDA Certified Organic vegetables than a 16 oz bag of vegetables from China. This would only increase sales (and therefore profits) as you obviously have a lot of customers that are uncomfortable with the idea of eating produce from China.

I’m not sure if the characters after Seeking will come out in the post or not. This is the simplified Chinese characters for “organic.”

Seeking 有机

By: Perri

Perri — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:50:43 +0000

This is a crock! I will never intentionally buy food from China for my family.

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:08:39 +0000

I would rather consume conventional produce from a local grocery store than organic Chinese produce from WF. This is a flipping outrage as far as I am concerned. Part of the reason people shop at WF is so that they don’t have to be worried or concerned about poor quality.

To the point, I recently cooked (but did not consume) some frozen spinach, there was something in the spinach that looked like “green beans”. Yeah, maybe it’s just me but upon noticing that the spinach was a “product of China” I threw it out along with the other stuff in my refrigerator that were “product(s) of China”.

This erodes trust and credibility but when WF starts to procure meats from China please clearly display this in a proud fashion so that I can avoid those too.

Thank you

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:09:04 +0000

WHole foods unfortunatelly became a profit-oriented institution folowing Wall-Mart’s strategies for stocks since it decreased it’s growing. Too bad that money-making goals overpassed the company’s primary goals. Food from China????Knowing of all scandals agains regulations, killing from pets to babies? No thanks, Whole Foods, I’ll stick with more serious groceries stores.
This kind of profit strategy just make you loose your most loyal costumers.

By: Mamazboy

Mamazboy — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:38:57 +0000

Can’t we all just admit that Whole Foods is doing this entirely for economic reasons? There is no reason with the wealth of U.S. organic resources to bother with “Chinese organics.” Just like every other American business that’s utilizing (exploiting) terribly low-paid workers in China, India, etc. We must take care of U.S. workers first. And the idea that WF can get reasonable, verifiable transparency from Chinese “organic” companies sounds quite far-fetched. It’s all about the bottom line here, folks, and it would better if WF could just come out and say so.

By: Lisa B

Lisa B — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:58:36 +0000

The fact that Whole Foods is defending the Chinese market is extremely disappointing. Local sources of organic, sustainable, year-round food products are relatively limited, unless you happen to live in certain regions of California, and so I find myself sometimes at the mercy of what Whole Foods has to offer. There is NO WAY, however, that I am going to willingly, consciously consume any food products produced, harvested or in any way sourced from China. The Chinese government, markets and businesses have repeatedly revealed their abuses in various industries, food just being one of them, but quite frankly, the most important of them. I refuse to risk poisoning myself or my family for the sake of saving a pretty penny, supporting and proliferating the growth of a Chinese Organic Market, supposedly suitable for the U.S. Maybe my standards are just set too high, but Whole Foods is increasingly revealing itself to be “big industry”, with profit being its ever most important priority.

By: Peter Peverelli

Peter Peverelli — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:53:30 +0000

Will China be the leader in organic food and ingredients?

China is already the third largest producer of organic produce in terms of hectares and the domestic consumption of organic foods is also increasing in the urban regions. Would China have the potential of becoming number one? After some initial research, I have started a campaign in this market. It would be interesting to obtain some feedback on my thoughts. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/3902797/Chinese-Organic-Food-Market-Study

An interesting discussion on my proposal has been initiated on Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=36656&discussionID=1259419&goback=.anh_36656

By: KKP

KKP — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:10:35 +0000

Are any of you at Whole Foods honestly reading the hogwash that has become the standard Whole Foods Market propaganda? I used to go to the first Whole Foods store in Austin when it was a little store selling organic food, safe from all the things wrong with traditional food. Now when I visit a Whole Foods Market in Houston, I see as much, if not more, “traditional” produce from all over the world, including Mexico. Those of us who grew up in Texas and visited Mexico on family trips learned that, to prevent a nasty stomach bug, we should not eat the produce. Now I can pay an insanely hiked up amount for Mexican non-organic produce because it is sold at Whole Foods. And all of those banners that say “buy local???” Who are you kidding? I challenge you to stroll the produce aisles and find any local produce. Oh, you do sell some honey and a salsa or two that are local, but so does every other grocery store in town. Have you thought about buying from any of the local farmers? Did you ever plan to buy land and create your own organic farms that were, maybe, I don’t know, LOCAL? And now, you’re trying to convince us that you’re growing organic foods in China that we should actually pay Whole Foods prices for and take your word for it that they are safe? Right after you swore never to sell anything with hydrogenated fats, although you will sell high-fructose corn syrup, because it’s “natural.” Remember when you were the store selling good, local, safe, high-quality food?
Surely, Whole Foods Markets is aware that, to your shoppers, organic means much more than just all-natural gardening. When the water is contaminated, the air is filthy and unsafe, the dirt in the ground is not so safe either. How can you believe that you can plop some “organically grown” items down in the middle of a place where everything surrounding your little garden is contaminated? What makes your organic produce different from the organic produce at Wal-Mart now? I think the big joke is that the only difference is that you charge much more for the same stuff that is at Wal-Mart. Do you not realize that much of the value that Whole Foods carries is in goodwill? People trust — or used to trust — Whole Foods to make the right decisions for its customers and all of its stakeholders as well as the planet. Now, you are simply another store making a buck — lots of bucks in your case. I became disillusioned with your stores a long time ago and now do as much of my produce buying as possible at farmers’ markets. Even though I found the produce section a joke, I had continued to buy packaged organic items. I’m now returning all of the peanut butter in my pantry and in my refrigerator (already opened) that I now know is from China. Yes, it was there on the label all along. But, guess what? I bought it from Whole Foods, a store I used to trust, so I never thought I had to read the label. Any other store, I would have read the label, but I thought since it was the 365 brand from Whole Foods, that I could buy it without worries. What else are you doing that we will find when we read your labels more carefully? Getting the milk from cows in Russia?
You’ve lost the only thing you really had over all the other stores that now sell organic foods — my trust.