Whole foods puts up such a good organic front. The truth always spurts out the edges though…If Whole Foods Market no longer opposes GMOs, that makes them pro GMO. WFM is justifying their cave by asking for “compensation” for organic farmers whose lives, er, crops are ruined by GMO contamination. If this pisses you off, too, please spread it around. Let’s use the viral aspect of the Internet to be sure that this sort of thing doesn’t get swept under the rug in a week or two.

Here’s the original piece I read on this:

After 12 years of battling to stop Monsanto’s genetically-engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation’s organic farmland, the biggest retailers of “natural” and “organic” foods in the U.S., including Whole Foods Market (WFM), Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm, have agreed to stop opposing mass commercialization of GE crops, like Monsanto’s controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa. In exchange for dropping their opposition, WFM has asking for “compensation” to be paid to organic farmers for “any losses related to the contamination of his crop.” Under current laws, Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not subject to any pre-market safety testing or labeling. WFM is abandoning its fight with biotech companies in part because two thirds of the products they sell are not certified organic anyway, but are really conventional, chemical-intensive and foods that may contain GMOs and that they market as “natural” despite this. Most consumers don’t know the difference between “natural” and “certified organic” products. “Natural” products can come from crops and animals fed nutrients containing GMOs. “Certified Organic” products are GMO-free. WFM and their main distributor, United Natural Foods, maximize profits by selling products labeled “natural” at premium organic prices.

Main Source: CounterPunch, January 28, 2010