Whole Foods Market Sells Out to Monsanto

Whole Foods Market, based in Austin, Texas, with an emphasis on natural and organic products, boasts being the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with stores throughout North America and the United Kingdom.

Counterpunch recently reminded readers about an issue concerning Whole Foods significantly changing its position on GMOs in food.

"Whole Foods had previously opposed the USDA’s deregulation of GMO alfalfa, which would allow it to be planted anywhere. But, in January 2011, Whole Foods endorsed conditional deregulation of GMO alfalfa, stating on their blog that they support coexistence though they continue to have reservations about genetically engineered crops."

As Counterpunch points out, Whole Foods' use of the term "coexistence” is an admission that the company accepts the planting of GMO alfalfa and all the associated ramifications. The bottom line is that Whole Foods has forsaken its stand to keep GMOs out of food -- and thus, has made a mockery out of its much touted "natural and organic" mantra.

As Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association, noted last year, Whole Foods has betrayed America's organic consumers and producers. Whole Foods, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, have all become a "self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite who has surrendered to Monsanto." 

Cummins warned that the organic elite has disposed themselves of the spirited concerns and passions of organic consumers and locavores, and added that in exchange for becoming Monsanto shills, Whole Foods Market has settled for compensation to farmers for any crop losses due to contamination. Whole Foods and their distributor, United Natural Foods, are part of what Cummins calls an “organic food mafia”.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, offers his customers 100 percent organic food, but “Whole Food’s Dirty Little Secret,” as Cummins puts it, is that most of the so-called “Natural” processed foods they sell are contaminated with GMOs. Whole Foods makes a killing marketing GMO food as “natural food” by charging premium “organic” prices.

Cummins even suggested that CEOs of Whole Foods Market, and Stonyfield are personal friends of Tom Vilsack, and made financial contributions to Vilsack’s previous electoral campaigns.

Whole Foods' claim that it sells labeled GMO food is an outright lie. Whole Foods labels food which is free of GMOs and leaves GMO food on its shelves unlabeled. Whole Foods has a history of playing silly semantic word games to obfuscate the truth, previously using the word "natural" on products to imply "organic".    

The credibility gap now facing Whole Foods in their role as Monsanto shills will have a significant impact on the company's image as well as their financial bottom line. Tens of thousands of consumers and hundreds of organizations, businesses and associations have united in support of at least labeling GMO food in lieu of straight-out opposition to them.

Brazilian Court Orders Monsanto to Pay Farmers 6.2 Billion Euros

A judge in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has suspended the collection of royalties on Monsanto GM soybean seeds from Brazilian farmers. The ruling also provides for the reimbursement of license fees paid since the harvest campaign 2003/2004, based on violation by Monsanto of the rules of the Brazilian Cultivars Act.

According to the attorney for the farmers associations of Passo Fundo, and Santiago and Sertão, who filed a class action suit in 2009, the claim lodged requested that Monsanto be forced to pay up to five million farmers in Brazil a reimbursement of about 6.2 billion euros.

Not only has Monsanto been collecting royalties on Roundup Ready soybean seed, but until the recent court ruling, royalties were also required for the entire soybean crop, and for soybean seed retained from the previous harvest. 

The farmers don't dispute that Monsanto is entitled to royalties from the soybean seed farmers initially purchased, but they demand the right to plant again the original soybean seed they purchased and to sell the crops as food or feed, without additional license fee payments. 

Furthermore, if Monsanto appeals this decision, Monsanto incurs a penalty of 400,000 euros per day. And if the firm plans to appeal the verdict at the federal state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Brazilian Supreme Court has yet to decide on extending nationally the decision.

Sources:
GM Watch
Brazilian Media

Garlic is 100 Times More Effective Than Two Popular Antibiotics

Experts now claim the growth of antibiotic resistant disease poses as great a threat to global health as Aids and pandemic flu from the dangerous overuse of antibiotics in farm animals.

Additionally, the threat of food-borne illnesses are on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims salmonella food poisoning cases have increased by 10 percent.

Antibiotic resistant diseases and increased food-borne illnesses make recent findings on garlic from Washington State University all the more important. Studies show that garlic is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting disease causing bacteria commonly responsible for food-borne illness.

Their work was published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy a follow-up to the author's previous research in Applied and Environmental Microbiology which demonstrated that garlic concentrate was effective in inhibiting the growth of C. jejuni bacteria.

"This work is very exciting to me because it shows that this compound has the potential to reduce disease-causing bacteria in the environment and in our food supply," said Xiaonan Lu, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the paper.

"Prevent Disease" notes that in 1858, Louis Pasteur claimed bacteria died when they were doused with garlic. "From the Middle Ages on, garlic has been used to treat wounds, being ground or sliced and applied directly to wounds to inhibit the spread of infection. The Russians refer to garlic as Russian penicillin."

"This is the first step in developing or thinking about new intervention strategies," saif Michael Konkel, a co-author who has been researching Campylobacter jejuni for 25 years.

Konkel claims Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of food-borne illness in the United States and probably the world. The CDC claims 2.4 million Americans are affected every year with symptoms including diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever.

Diallyl disulfide, a compound derived from garlic, is produced during the decomposition of allicin, which is released upon crushing garlic.

"Lu and his colleagues found the compound can easily penetrate the protective biofilm and kill bacterial cells. The researchers found the diallyl sulfide was as effective as 100 times as much of the antibiotics erythromycin and ciprofloxacin and often would work in a fraction of the time."

Giant Cannibal Shrimp Threaten Already Suffering Native Shrimp in Gulf

Asian black tiger shrimp (a quarter-pound behemoth) -- Giant cannibal shrimp more than a FOOT long invade waters off Gulf Coast (Photo credit: marsmet501)

The Gulf of Mexico, already suffering from decimated fish populations caused by the BP oil spill, have yet another problem.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report numbers of the massive Asian tiger shrimp in the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, have increased tenfold. 

“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.

The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long -- compared to eight inches for domestic white, brown and pink shrimp -- are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.

Although the Asian tiger shrimp are eatable, scientists fear the tigers will bring disease and competition for native shrimp already experiencing a disturbing number of mutations and deformity caused by chemicals released during BP’s 2010 oil disaster.

“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist James Morris told CNN. 

“Our efforts will include assessments of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.”

In 1998, about 2,000 Asian tiger shrimp were accidentally released from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. Farming of the giant shrimp ended in the United States, but they were caught again off Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.

The last U.S. tiger shrimp farm closed in Florida in 2004, without ever raising a successful crop, according to a USGS fact sheet about the species.

CNN notes that Tiger shrimp females can lay 50,000 to a million eggs, which hatch within 24 hours, and the shrimp may also be carried to the Gulf waters by currents or in ballast tanks of marine vessels.

“We’re going to start by searching for subtle differences in the DNA of Asian tiger shrimp found here – outside their native range – to see if we can learn more about how they got here,” USGS geneticist Margaret Hunter said in a statement.

“If we find differences, the next step will be to fine-tune the analysis to determine whether they are breeding here, have multiple populations, or are carried in from outside areas.”

An Organized Worldwide Battle Against GMO's Is Underway

Global area of biotech crops 1996 - 2008

Even as a broad coalition of farmers, health groups, and organic food manufacturers wage war against biotech companies and organize to demand GMO-labeling of foods in a California, UK environmentalists have banned together against the use of genetically modified (GM) crops under the banner "Take the Flour Back" to organize direct action against GM wheat.

Volunteers and staff from the California Right to Know Campaign are submitting nearly 1 million signed petitions from registered voters across the state to county officials (click here to help raise money for the campaign) to place Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the Ballot for November 6.

When California voters pass this ballot initiative, the Label Genetically Engineered Food Act will also not allow the common practice of mislabeling genetically engineered foods as "natural" or "all natural." California has the eighth largest economy in the world, so passing a labeling law for genetically engineered foods in California will have the same powerful impact as passing a federal law.

The UK's Take the Flour Back campaign has planned a day of "decontamination" for May 27th to rid a Rothamsted field of the GM wheat planted by scientists at Rothamsted Research. 

While the scientists say their wheat has the potential to curb pesticide use by repelling aphids, Take the Flour Back correctly insists there is no market for GM wheat anywhere in the world. Lucy Harrap from Take the Flour Back told the BBC:  "So far, the evidence doesn't indicate that GM fields need less pesticide - in fact they tend to need more."

Wheat is wind-pollinated. In Canada similar experiments have leaked into the food-chain costing farmers millions in lost exports.

"This experiment is tax-payer funded, but Rothamsted hope to sell any patent it generates to an agro-chemical company. La Via Campesina, the world’s largest organization of peasant farmers, believe GM is increasing world hunger. They have called for support resisting GM crops, and the control over agriculture that biotech gives to corporations."

Around the world, people are resisting GM and corporate control of food [source]

France
Numbering over 500 members, the ‘Voluntary Reapers’, or ‘Faucheurs Volontaires’ are a self-organised group of French activists who decontaminate GM field trials set up by biotech corporations. They argue that direct action is necessary to defend land and food from private interests backed by public authorities.

Spain
National demonstrations against GM in Spain drew 8000 people in Zaragoza in 2009, and 15,000 in Madrid in 2010. The ‘Field Liberation’ movement take direct action to defend their food from contamination, by pulling up GM crops.

India
Bt cotton is the only GM crop approved in India. Bt cottonseeds are modified with the toxin Cry to control the bollworm pest. Bollworm have developed resistance to Bt cotton, so a new version, ‘Bollgard II’, has been created, containing 2 additional toxic genes. As pests become more tolerant to insect-resistant GM crops, more toxins have to be developed, adding increasing amounts of toxins to the food supply.

Bt cotton has been linked to a wave of smallholder farmer suicides in India. Over the last 20 years, India’s agriculture has been opened up to the global market, increasing costs and trapping many farmers in debt. As agriculture in India has become more focused on producing cash crops, multinational corporations have increased their control. Big agribusinesses like Monsanto market expensive biotechnology as a solution to farmers struggling to compete in the global market.

Between 1995 and 2010, more than a quarter of a million farmers have committed suicide in India. Debt and poverty is driving many farmers to suicide, some of whom have swallowed the poisonous pesticides used to spray their Bt cotton crops. The highest rates of suicide are in areas producing the most cotton.

Over 50,000 farmers took their own lives in Maharashtra between 1995 and 2010. Maharashtra was the richest state during that period. Monsanto argue that their Bt cotton produces higher yields as it is insect-resistant, and that therefore farmers will need to use less insecticide.

Yet a survey carried out in Vidharba by Navdanya (a network of seed keepers and organic producers from 16 states in India) found that pesticide use had increased 13-fold since Bt cotton was first introduced. Expensive Bt cotton seeds and pesticides have displaced cheaper local seeds.

This has driven up costs for farmers. And Monsanto have dramatically exaggerated the potential yields of GM cotton – Navyanda states that Monsanto’s claims of yields reaching 1500kg is false, as the average yield is only 400-500kg per acre. Poor harvests and the high costs of pesticides and GM seeds push subsistence farmers into ever-increasing debt. The majority of suicides are committed by farmers growing cash crops and not crops for food.

However, people have been resisting GM and corporate control of agriculture across India. The Karnataka farmers’ movement adopted the slogan “Cremate Monsanto” and pledged to burn all GM trial sites in the south of India. In 2006, farmers’ unions burnt trial plots of GM rice in two northern India states. In 2005, 3000 women made a bonfire of hybrid and GM seed, saying the GM seeds had pushed them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

Brazil
Since 1984, the landless farmers movement in Brazil has been occupying unused land to highlight issues around access to land, and to promote food sovereignty and agro-ecology. The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) now has over 1.5 million members.

Big agribusiness has been engaged in violent landgrabs to displace small farmers from their land. In October 2007, the MST leader Valmir Mota d’Oliveira was murdered during an occupation of a GM field trial in the state of Paraná. MST had been occupying the site to stop Syngenta illegally testing GM crops there. Around 40 private armed guards employed by NF Segurança, a private security company hired by Syngenta, attacked the camp.

La Via Campesina Brazil have been taking direct action by pulling up GM crops. In Sao Paulo in 2008, 300 women decontaminated plant nurseries containing Monsanto GM maize. (16) In 2007, MST and La Via Campesina destroyed GM corn and soya seedlings at a Syngenta farm in Ceara, demanding that the company leave Brazil.

La Via Campesina is an international movement bringing together millions of peasants, small and medium-sized farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. La Via Campesina “defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity…[and] strongly opposes corporate driven agriculture and transnational companies that are destroying people and nature.”

 “Peasant farmers and indigenous peoples are rediscovering and revaluing the conservation and exchange of native seeds, which can increase the genetic biodiversity that underpins our world food systems. By prioritising agro-ecology we can help tackle hunger and poverty in a changing climate. Challenging the dominance of the seed industry is central to protecting peasant seeds. The seed industry is profiting from the use of genetic engineering and pesticides, which are being used to push farmers into dependence on corporate-owned seeds.”

Haiti
In June 2010, over 10,000 people in Haiti took to the streets in opposition to Monsanto, demanding food sovereignty and local control over native seeds.

Argentina
GM soya was introduced into Argentina in 1996 without parliamentary debate. Many small and family farmers have been pushed off their land to make way for GM soya plantations, ruining their livelihoods and pushing them into poverty.  Many communities have resisted these evictions, for example the Gurani community in Capoma, N.Argentina in 2008.

In 2008, the ‘Rural and Urban Women for Food Sovereignty’ held a protest lasting two days on a railway line used to transport GM soya.

Mali
In November 2008, a sit-in outside the national assembly in Mali called on politicians to vote against a new ‘biosafety’ law. The National Coordination of Peasant Organisations (CNOP), who represent over a million people, said the law would make small farmers dependent on seeds from western agribusiness.

“All arguments used by seed multinationals and their allies – GMOs will help fight hunger in Africa, decrease the use of pesticides, and save water- are easily demolished by existing analysis and research. And what is clear is that the underlying private economic interest of multinational seed corporations is driving the push for promoting genetic engineering in Africa.”

Please Get Involved in "The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act"

 Passing this law in California is the first critical step toward requiring GMO labeling in every state. 

Volunteers and staff from the California Right to Know Campaign are submitting nearly 1 million signed petitions from registered voters across the state of California to county officials, to place Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the Ballot for November 6.

    Starting May 1, and extending through May 26, a broad coalition of farmers, health groups, and organic food manufacturers, will attempt to raise one million dollars (i.e. "The Money Bomb"). Donations can be made online, via regular snail mail, and over the phone. All donations will support state GMO-labeling campaigns and their defense from biotech bully lawsuits.

The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act

    This Act will require food manufacturers to identify genetically engineered ingredients on the labels of foods sold in California.

    When California voters pass this ballot initiative, the Label Genetically Engineered Food Act will also not allow the common practice of mislabeling genetically engineered foods as "natural" or "all natural." It's imperative to understand why this initiative is so important and how it can affect all Americans, regardless of where you live.

    California has the eighth largest economy in the world, so passing a labeling law for genetically engineered foods in California can have the same impact as passing a federal law.

    Large food companies are unlikely to accept having dual labeling; one for California and another for the rest of the country. It would be an expensive logistical nightmare, not to mention a massive PR problem.

    To avoid the dual labeling, many would likely opt to not include using any genetically engineered ingredients in their product, especially if the new label would be the equivalent of a skull and crossbones. Those who opt not to replace GE ingredients from the get-go will likely find themselves unable to sell their products, as a majority of consumers reportedly will not buy foods once they know they're genetically engineered. Unable to sell their products, such companies will eventually be forced to stop contaminating our food with genetically engineered ingredients, or risk going out of business.

    This is what happened in Europe and over 40 countries around the world. It can happen in the U.S. This is why we can't leave California to battle the biotech giants on their own. They need your help! Donating funds to this campaign may be the best money you'll spend all year to safeguard your health, and the health of your children.

    Do you know which foods are genetically engineered when you go grocery shopping for your family? Wouldn't you want to know? Genetically engineered foods have been on the market since 1996. It's time they tell us what's in the food we're eating on a daily basis. Making a generous donation to this campaign is the best chance every American has at this point to make that happen!

The Proverbial David versus Goliath

    Naturally, the biotech industry is not about to let this pass without a fight. Monsanto, the Farm Bureau, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, along with corporate agribusiness, are all raising millions of dollars to spread their propaganda in an effort to defeat the California Ballot Initiative, just like they did a decade ago in Oregon. At that time, a cabal of corporate giants, including Monsanto and DuPont, calling themselves The Coalition Against the Costly Labeling Law, outspent the pro-labeling group 30-1, and successfully defeated the labeling initiative by scaring voters into believing that labeling genetically engineered foods was unnecessary and would raise food prices.

    They did it again in Washington state last month, where campaign contributions to three of the eight politicians on the Senate Agriculture Committee—Democrat Brian Hatfield, and Republicans Jim Honeyford and Mark Schoesler—guaranteed the bill's demise in committee. Right now, the biotech industry is also working to defeat similar GE labeling bills in Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, and other states. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Monsanto spent $8 million on their lobbying efforts in 2010 alone, and gave more than $400,000 in political contributions. Monsanto also spent $120 million on advertising, to convince consumers that genetically engineered foods are safe – despite the overwhelming scientific evidence showing otherwise.

    Let's send them a message, loud and clear: We have the right to know what they put into our food!

    You can do so by making a donation right now. The money will be used to counter the industry propaganda so that we can win this ballot.

We're Dropping the Money Bomb!

    About twenty years ago, the FDA decided to deny consumers the right to know whether their food was genetically altered or not. This shameful regulation was spearheaded by Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto lawyer who transferred into the offices of the FDA. Taylor is not the only ex-Monsanto employee that ended up in a position of power within the US federal government and its regulatory agencies, and this is precisely why previous efforts to get genetically engineered foods labeled have been blocked.

    Not so this time!

    Ballot Initiatives like the one in California is one way for citizens to take back control from compromised politicians and government officials and bypass them entirely. To sweeten the deal further, a group of "Right to Know" public interest organizations and organic companies have pledged to match the first million dollars raised in this nationwide "Drop the Money Bomb on Monsanto Campaign."

    So click here, and help us raise 1 million dollars to win this historic campaign! These "Right to Know" groups include:

        The Organic Consumers Association
        Mercola.com
        Food Democracy Now
        Nature's Path
        Lundberg Family Farms
        Eden Foods, and
        The Organic Consumers Fund
        Institute For Responsible Technology

Strawberries and Blueberries Delay Memory Decline

A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a world-renowned teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, finds that a high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5 years.

This study is published by Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, on April 26, 2012.

Findings show that increased consumption of blueberries and strawberries was associated with a slower rate of memory decline in older women. A greater intake of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids was also associated with reduced memory decline.   

“We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries appear to slow progression of memory decline in elderly women,” notes Dr. Devore. “Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to reduce memory decline in older adults.”

The research team used data from 121,700 female registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55, who completed health and lifestyle questionnaires beginning in 1976.

Since 1980, participants were surveyed every four years regarding their frequency of food consumption.  Between 1995 and 2001, memory was measured in 16,010 subjects over the age of 70 years, at 2-year intervals.

“What makes our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of time. No other berry study has been conducted on such a large scale,” explained Elizabeth Devore, a researcher who is the lead author on this study.

“Among women who consumed 2 or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week we saw a modest reduction in memory decline. This effect appears to be attainable with relatively simple dietary modifications.”