The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently considering whether or not to approve the use of genetically engineered (GE) Roundup-Ready alfalfa. Their report says you don’t care about GMOs in organics. Comments are due to them by February 16th, so read on to hear how you can help. (Or go directly to the True Food Project’s Take Action website.)

As part of the approval process, they are required to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), a detailed analysis of how the crop will affect the environment, organic and conventional farmers, farm animals, and the public. They’ve released their EIS on GE alfalfa, and here’s how the True Food Network at The Center for Food Safety summarized the issue in a recent Action Alert:

In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The federal courts sided with CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of the plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in a rigorous analysis known as an environmental impact statement (or EIS). USDA released its draft EIS on December 14, 2009. A 60-day comment period is now open until February 16, 2010. This is the first time the USDA has done this type of analysis for any GE crop. Therefore, the final decision will have broad implications for all GE crops.

That Environmental Impact Statement, unfortunately, contains a number of questionable statements and conclusions. The part of the EIS that worries us the most is the claim that buyers of organic foods don’t care if those products are contaminated with GMOs (genetically modified, or genetically engineered, organisms). We know that nothing could be further from the truth, and that a huge number of our shoppers care deeply about avoiding GMOs in the foods they buy. We’ve gone to great lengths to keep GMOs out of organic foods and, through our work with The Non-GMO Project, have helped advance North America’s first standards and verification program for Non-GMO foods. We are intent on preserving our ability to provide non-GMO options for our shoppers. Every newly-approved GMO crop erodes our ability to provide non-GMO food, and leads to contamination of organic and non-GMO crops, due to pollen drift and other forms of contamination.

What can YOU do?

The True Food Project has set up a Take Action website to help you easily submit your comments to the USDA. These are due by February 16th so take the time to do it now. Please use the CFS’s form letter as a guide and personalize it as you see fit – let the USDA know exactly why you’re concerned about this issue, what you think about GMOs in your food, and what you think they should do with the approval of GE alfalfa.

In our own comments to the USDA, we emphasized a few key facts:

• Organic and natural foods consumers do care about the presence of GMOs in their food. In fact, avoiding genetically engineered ingredients is one of the key reasons that shoppers seek out organic foods.
• The contamination of organic and non-GE crops by GE material has presented a huge burden for our company and our industry.
• The unchecked proliferation of GE crops will directly harm organic producers and the integrity of the organic label.
• The approval of GE alfalfa would do more harm than previously approved GE crops, since alfalfa is a wind-pollinated perennial crop.

Everyone has their own opinion about GMOs; please tell your story to the USDA via the True Food Project action campaign by February 16th. We’d love to read what you think in the comment section below, but make sure you send your comments to the USDA first!

This is a response to a news segment aired on WJLA (Washington, DC) on May 21, 2008.

I’m Joe Dickson, Organic Certification Coordinator for Whole Foods Market. I read WJLA’s news script with disbelief and disappointment, as it is totally misleading. To help clarify, I have taken the time to address the various claims made in the news segment to offer clarification and our point of view.

WJLA SCRIPT-

ANCHOR: TONIGHT – AN I-TEAM INVESTIGATION. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ORGANIC FOODS? IT’S PESTICIDE FREE AND MORE EXPENSIVE…BUT IT’S WORTH IT… RIGHT? NOT NECESSARILY. WOULD YOU BELIEVE *ORGANICALLY GROWN* IN CHINA? HOW ORGANIC CAN THAT BE? THE I-Team’s ROBERTA BASKIN HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING AND HAS QUESTIONS FOR ONE MAJOR FOOD CHAIN.

Organic products from China can absolutely be certified organic to the exact same standard as domestic products. While China has had a number of food quality issues in the news in the past year, it does not mean everything grown in the entire country is unsafe. Since 2002, the USDA’s National Organic Standards have governed exactly what can be sold as organic in the US – how it’s grown, processed and handled – regardless of where in the world it’s grown, INCLUDING China. Organic integrity is ensured every step of the way. For example, a broccoli grower in China must be visited and certified to the USDA organic standards by a certifying agent that is approved and supervised by the USDA. If that broccoli is processed in a packaging plant, that plant must also be visited and certified by a certifying agent, who verifies that the handling and ingredients of the product comply with the standard.

This structure is the backbone of organic integrity under the USDA organic standard – everyone who grows or handles organic food must be certified and audited by a USDA-accredited certifier. The USDA then provides audits and oversight of the certifiers to ensure that they are enforcing the standard and upholding organic integrity.

ROBERTA IN STUDIO: WHOLE FOODS… IT’S THE LEADING FOOD RETAILER SELLING THE IMAGE THAT LOCAL AND ORGANIC IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND BETTER FOR YOU. BUT IS THAT …IN FACT…WHAT THE CUSTOMER IS GETTING?

IT SURELY IS! Whole Foods Market is a pioneer in promoting and selling natural and organic foods and we have done more in our history as a company to promote and build organics than any other retailer. We were the first national certified organic retailer under the USDA’s organic standards, a voluntary certification which we continue to undergo to ensure to our customers that what we’re selling as organic truly is. Even though retailers aren’t required to be certified, and very few are, we decided to allow California Certified Organic Farmers into our stores to verify that we purchase, handle and sell organic food in compliance with the standard. Read more about this program here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/organic.php

This is not “selling an image;” this is actually making sure that every one of our 275 stores is operating in compliance with the National Organic Standards and upholding organic integrity in everything they do.

STORY: WITH 175 STORES… WHOLE FOODS IS THE UNDISPUTED LEADER IN ORGANIC FOODS AND PROMOTES “LOCALLY GROWN.” BUT THE I-TEAM HAS FOUND THAT MUCH OF WHOLE FOODS ORGANICS… ARE IMPORTED FROM CHINA.

Actually, we have 275 stores. Again, WJLA is misleading consumers. Of the thousands of private label products we offer, a very small percentage are from China. And even though it is not currently required, we label the country of origin on each of these products.

Shopper: “Honestly I never would have flipped it over to see that it was from China.”

SPINACH…. SUGAR SNAP PEAS… AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE CALIFORNIA BLEND VEGETABLES? ALL LISTED UNDER THE WHOLE FOODS BRAND “365 ORGANIC.” AND ON THE BACK IN SMALL PRINT… PRODUCT OF CHINA.

“California blend” is a very common term for a blend of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Many other frozen vegetable companies offer this blend of vegetables that are not literally grown in California.

ORGANIC ENSURES NO CHEMICAL PESTICIDES AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CONDITIONS. BUT HOW DO WE EVEN KNOW THE FOOD IS ORGANIC? FOODS SOLD IN THIS COUNTRY MUST BE APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BEFORE THEY CAN DISPLAY THE ORGANIC LABEL.

“The oversight that they have in China is not the same kind of supervision that we have in the United States.”

ANY product that is going to be sold as organic in the US must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifier, period. The Chinese government does not certify US-bound organic product in China; that certification is done by USDA-accredited certifiers who are themselves reviewed, approved and accredited directly by the USDA.

BUT THE USDA DOESN’T INSPECT IMPORTED FOODS. IT CERTIFIES PRIVATE INSPECTORS TO DO THE JOB. WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYS A COMPANY CALLED QUALITY ASSURANCE INTERNATIONAL. BUT THE COMPANY CONFIRMS “QAI HAS NOT CERTIFIED ANY PRODUCTS IN CHINA.” THEY RELY ON ANOTHER CERTIFIER ON THE FARM. YET THERE’S THE QAI CERTIFICATION SEAL… THE USDA SEAL…. AND PRODUCT OF CHINA…ALL ON THE SAME WHOLE FOODS PACKAGE.

QAI’s seal on our package means that our independent certifier, QAI, has confirmed that we have sourced it from a certified organic operation. QAI allows us to place their seal on our label to show that they have verified that the products have been certified.

Linda Greer: ”So you have to ask yourself the question, how would they ever know if the organic rules are being followed?”

LINDA GREER IS A SENIOR SCIENTIST AT THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, AN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY GROUP. SHE’S BEEN TO FARMS IN CHINA.

Linda Greer: ”I wouldn’t buy something organic from China with the idea that it’s truly organic.”

We routinely visit farms supplying our products all over the world. Here are some standards we apply to the organic farms and facilities we work with in China:

√      Organic certification to the USDA organic standard by USDA-accredited certifiers

√      Food safety audits by accredited companies using internationally recognized standards

√      Targeted social accountability assessments using world class auditing agencies

√      Supplementary verification to validate the aspects above

√      Random testing of finished product for safety and organic integrity, including tests for environmental contaminants such as heavy metals and pesticides.

BASKIN: “Why not?”
LG: “The reason is we’ve had such a difficult time tracking things.”

Whole Foods Market has instituted the quality systems and safeguards above to make sure our organic private label products meet our own quality standards and the National Organic Standards as well.

THERE’S GROWING CONCERN ABOUT THE QUALITY OF FOOD FROM CHINA. ALREADY THIS YEAR THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION WHICH CHECKS FOR FOOD SAFETY STOPPED 260 SHIPMENTS OF FOODS LIKE STRAWBERRIES CONTAMINATED WITH BAD PESTICIDES, BACTERIA OR FILTH.

Linda Greer: “I think it’s probably not an accident that product of China is in such small type.”

It’s not currently required that we state the country of origin on packaging, but we feel it’s right to provide this information to our customers. We follow FDA guidelines regarding the print size, and this size is no different for China than any other country, including the USA.

THE I-TEAM OBTAINED THIS INTERNAL COMPANY DOCUMENT FROM WHOLE FOODS LISTING THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR HUNDREDS OF ITS PRODUCTS…DOZENS OF ORGANICS….MANY FROM CHINA…EVERYTHING FROM ASPARAGUS SPEARS TO PINE NUTS TO CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER. WHOLE FOODS WOULDN’T ALLOW OUR CAMERAS IN ITS STORE, SO WE BOUGHT THE PRODUCTS AND STEPPED OUTSIDE TO SHOW SHOPPERS.

This is a document, which contains a representative sample of our private label products, is intended to help educate the team members in our stores about where our products come from.

We are not keeping secrets here. We print the country of origin right on our product packaging! We choose to supply this information because we have faith in the quality of our products.

Mom: “It’s definitely misleading. If they were proud of it being from China, they would be, it would be prominently displayed on the front. I’m sure.”

SHOPPERS WE TALKED TO WERE MOST SURPRISED BY WHOLE FOODS ORGANIC CALIFORNIA BLEND OF CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS, AND BROCCOLI.

“If they’re going to put into bold “California” on the label, they shouldn’t put China in fine print on the back.”

Again, “California blend” is a common term for a blend of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and this blend is produced by many frozen vegetable producers that use vegetables not literally grown in California.  We do find that this is legitimate feedback, and we are looking at ways of making this clearer to our customers.

WE ALSO WENT TO THE FRESHFARM MARKETS AT DUPONT CIRCLE… WHERE PEOPLE TAKE THEIR ORGANIC FOOD VERY SERIOUSLY.

Zachariah “Oh, but it’s from China, what a travesty.”

“Product of China! Whoa, look at that!”

BERNADINE PRINCE, FOUNDER OF THIS MARKET SAYS WHOLE FOODS SHOPPERS SHOULD BE ASKING QUESTIONS.

Prince: “The first thing I would do is say, ‘Okay Whole Foods, is this really organic?” ”How do you know it’s organic? Because I don’t know.”

As we described above, we go above and beyond the USDA’s already strong requirements to make sure that the products we sell from all countries are truly organic.

LINDA GREER SAYS PEOPLE SHOULD BE ASKING THE GOVERNMENT QUESTIONS.

Linda Greer: “Consumers are probably blissfully unaware that the government is not protecting them.”

The government has a strong standard for the production of organic food. Prior to 2002, there was no federal definition of organic. Along with many other pioneers, we fought hard to make sure that the government created a strong definition of organic, which became a reality through the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which directed the USDA to create the National Organic Standards. They created these standards with the guidance and direction of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a citizen advisory board made up of growers, ranchers, environmentalists, certifiers and other organic stakeholders. This board continues to closely monitor the organic standards and ensure that it meets customers expectations. Since 2002, for the first time in history, consumers know that food sold as organic in the US meets a strict definition, no matter where it’s grown. The USDA oversees 90+ accredited certifiers with regular audits and supervision, and investigates any public complaints of violations of the standards. Leaders from Whole Foods Market take a very active role in the standard, attending NOSB meetings and taking a vocal role in ensuring a strong organic standard. We’ve fought for a meaningful definition of “organic” for 28 years, and intend to keep doing so. Our customers have come to trust us in guaranteeing the quality, safety and integrity of all our products, and this trust is something we take very seriously.

Much of the delicious cooking of the season depends on the wonderful aroma and zing added by familiar spices. It wouldn’t quite be the holidays without cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, etc. And now you can do good for others while you are cooking great things for your family. Frontier has recently introduced Fair Trade Certified spices in bulk and bottles. Here’s the Whole Story from Frontier’s Kai Stark.

Spices are a deeply personal business here at Frontier; personal because all of our products trace their origins back to the land and to the people who work it – farmers and their families. Having spent years traveling the world and visiting small, marginalized producers, I can attest to the impact ethical sourcing and socially just business practices can make. This is the reason why I am so proud that we, at Frontier, are the first company to introduce Fair Trade Certified™ spices in the United States.

A few months ago, I spent a week in Sri Lanka visiting one of our premiere producer groups, a Well Earth certified partner who we’ve been working with for over a year and who is now supplying our Fair Trade Certified spices. It is a cooperative made up of some two thousand marginalized farmers like Mr. N.G. Wijethilaka, a father of four who owns just 0.75 acres, and also like Mr. K.B. Udamgamuina, who has worked the land for eight years now and who prides himself on his devotion to organics. Read the rest of this entry »

September brought rain to Georgia and lots of it! At first, people were excited. Our lakes and rivers were replenished and our gardens and farms were happy, but then it kept raining… and raining… and raining. Georgia suffered severe flooding, which caused damage to people’s homes, cars, businesses and even families. Among those affected by these horrific floods was a group of small farmers who lost their crops, structures, equipment, precious topsoil and livestock.

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In 1998 I was visiting our Northern California Whole Foods Market stores and I came across a new cheese when dining in a local restaurant. It was a tasty cheese, very creamy with a luscious mouthfeel. It wasn’t like any imported brie I had tasted before – the flavors were quite unique. It was fresh with soft overtones of mushrooms. I loved it. Later I found out this was a triple-crème cheese named Mt. Tam. When I asked the waitperson about the cheese, she confirmed it was made in Marin, across the bridge from San Francisco. I was surprised to learn of this cheese and wanted to find out more. This started my quest for this unforgettable Marin County cheese and the Cowgirls who made created it.

Coincidentally, in 1998 I was living in Washington, DC, and was invited to attend an event put on by the American Farmland Trust. This event was honoring Marin-based Ellen Strauss with the “Steward of the Land” Award. I met this dynamic person and her family. I was so impressed with the rich history of her dedication to organics, being the first organic dairy farmer west of the Mississippi. I was interested in the mission and passion of the Strauss family. It was here that I begin to understand the synergies developed with the commitment of the farm and the cheesemakers from Marin. Read the rest of this entry »

Big news: We just announced that our 273 U.S. stores have been certified organic by CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers). Those of you who’ve been paying attention know that we’ve been a certified organic retailer since 2003 – a voluntary certification that’s not required by the USDA. So what’s the big deal now? Well, last November, the USDA told us that it was about to get much harder to be a certified retailer. Rather than walk away from certification altogether, we opted to go down the much more difficult road of getting each of our stores individually certified. The USDA was right: it was much harder. But we did what it took and made it happen. That’s the news.

Here’s a bit of context. When USDA’s National Organic Standards went into effect in 2002, they defined organic in great detail, down to the specific substances that could be used, and required that everyone who handles organic food – growers, ranchers, processors, etc. – be certified by a USDA-approved third party organic certifier. Everyone, that is, except retailers. Huh? Yes, the whole supply chain for organic products must be certified, with the tiny exceptions of retailers and restaurants. These exceptions were made because they thought it would have been prohibitively difficult and expensive for all the retailers that carried unprotected organic food to get certified (by “unprotected” I mean unpackaged, like produce, meat, bulk grocery, etc.). So the USDA told retailers that they still had to follow the rules, but they wouldn’t have to be certified. And we told the USDA something to the effect of “So you think it’s too hard for retailers to get certified? We’d like to respectfully prove you wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »

As one of the pioneers of organic farming in Georgia, Nicolas Donck grows a diverse selection of certified organic vegetables and herbs year-round on his family’s land east of Atlanta.  When Nicolas was 16, he left his home in Belgium and moved to Georgia to join his mother on her 175-acre farm.  Since then, Nicolas started Atlanta’s first organic farmer’s market in 1995, and has continued to add considerable acreage into organic production on his farm.  Nicolas says the best thing about farming is having the opportunity to live close to the earth with his family.

Note: Our Farm to Market slide shows currently feature farmers and producers from our South and MidAtlantic Regions. We hope to expand to others in the future.

On my previous blog “What Makes a Company Green,” a reader asked for more on our composting efforts, and I’m happy to be able to provide information about this green mission commitment.  Composting has several definitions and our programs vary across the country, but here is a general overview of how it works.

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Laughing Giraffe Organics of Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the best examples of what our Local Producer Loan Program can do for a producer’s business. Justin Baumgartner took his product from a farmer’s market to a few stores to almost half of the country in about a year and a half! We’re proud to have been a part of this remarkable achievement.

Justin spoke with us about his product and what his relationship with Whole Foods Market has meant to his business.

Our South Region has joined with Farmer D Organics to recycle the green waste from select stores and bring it to Longwood Plantation where Mike Smith and Daron Joffe, a.k.a. Farmer D, transform it into biodynamic organic compost.