| Breaking the Organic Monopoly and the “Natural” Foods
Myth Whole Food Market and United Natural Foods, Inc.: Undermining Our Organic Future After four decades of hard work, the organic community has built up a $25 billion “certified organic” food and farming sector. This consumer-driven movement, under steady attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby, with little or no help from government, has managed to create a healthy and sustainable alternative to America’s disastrous, chemical and energy-intensive system of industrial agriculture. Organic food and farming represent However, the $50 billion annual natural food and products industry is threatening to undermine the organic movement by flooding the marketplace with conventional products, greewashed with “natural” labeling. "Natural," in the overwhelming majority of cases is translates toconventional, with a green veneer. Natural products are routinely produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones, genetic engineering, and sewage sludge. “Natural”,"all-natural," and “sustainable,” products in most cases are neither backed up by rules and regulations, nor a Third Party certifier. Natural and sustainable are typically label claims that are neither policed nor monitored. For an evaluation of eco-labels see the Consumers Union Eco-Label website. For example: * Tests Show Widespread Presence of GMOs in So-Called "Natural" Foods * “Natural” Silk Soy milk products are made with conventional soy, and often derived from dangerous hexane-extracted soy flour instead of whole soybeans. * Dozens of “natural” and “made with organic” personal care and household cleaning products contain known carcinogens * 90% or more of the vitamins and supplements now on the market labeled as "natural" or "food based" are spiked with synthetic chemicals. Despite the staggering demand for certified organic products, retailers like Whole Foods Market, and wholesalers like United Natural Foods , Inc., continue to push “natural” products at a premium price, while hinder the advancement of organics with their market monopoly. In fact, the majority products sold and distributed by Whole Foods Market and UNFI are not certified organic, but so-called natural at certified organic prices. Meanwhile, independent and cooperative grocers often offer more certified organic products at competitive prices. Will you stand up for organics? Contact Whole Foods Market and UNFI today and tell them that you will buy only certified organic products for you and your family.
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