Whole Foods, Monsanto's GE Alfalfa, and "OrganicGate"

[Chris Amirault]

The internet's been buzzing for a few days (example here) about Whole Food's decision to advocate for the deregulation of Monsanto's GE alfalfa. Here's Forbes's take on the situation:

Whole Foods [is] in danger of earning a new nickname, “Whole Traitor,” by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and others.

Whole Food Markets (WFM), Stonyfield Farms, and Organic Valley, three of the largest brands in the the natural foods sector, have joined forces to cut a deal with Monsanto. The rest of the organic industry is up in arms about it. That’s no surprise, given those folks view Monsanto on a par with the worst of the worst corporate citizens for behavior and ethics. Is Big Organic defecting from the organic movement to join forces with Big Ag?

Monsanto’s [alfalfa] is a genetically engineered (GE) wonder that works in concert with its favored pesticide, RoundUp. ... Farmers and scientists alike are concerned about a GE perennial crop, particularly one tied to a pesticide that the Swedes have recently shown to double the cancer rate in both farm workers and nearby town folks.

What's your take?

[heidih]

Why? Is their profit margin not making it? Why would they put themselves "on the chopping block"? I work at a botanical garden that is built on a landfill that is just under the wire for Superfund clean up. Sometimes they use roundup and everyone freaks- I would rather eat the fruits and veg from the potentially toxic soil than eat stuff after round up! Creating a crop that has synergy with that just makes me scared. Of course I eat vegetables that are most likely treated with much more horrid chemicals because they look so good at the market. So my feelings are not logical but I hate to encourage the behavior.

[teagal]

I don't understand how they could take this position, knowing this would be made public. Bad move imo, publicity wise; not to mention the health aspects of it, which are pretty scary.

[Mjx]

There have been rumours regarding Whole Foods' actual position on organic food for a while. It seems evident that, whatever their next move /marketing strategy may be, they're clearly counting on most consumers not wanting to bother slogging through even the Wikipedia article on Roundup, never mind reading any of the research on the stuff, or being able to differentiate between the biased and the unbiased. I'm hoping they're mistaken.

[Chris Amirault]

Care to summarize the RoundUp issue for those of us who are, um, a bit too slog-averse?

[Mjx]

Care to summarize the RoundUp issue for those of us who are, um, a bit too slog-averse?

Off-the-top of my head, quickie summary, with a recommendation to check this with reliable sources, and the caveat that, although I understand the logic behind using pesticides and herbicides, I believe that their long-term damaging effects are likely to outweigh current benefits:

Roundup is composed of an herbicide (which has been assessed as less harmful than a number of other herbicides) and a surfactant, which increases cell permeability, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the herbicide in destroying its targets. This isn't a selective process, however: it is more damaging to all living cells than the herbicide component alone. Roundup has been around since the 80s, at least; it isn't new, and there has been plenty of time to study it, and observe its effects. Because it can damage living cells, several crop species have been developed that tolerate it (the alfalfa strain mentioned above); a number of weeds have naturally acquired a resistance to it, too.

Although studies have been done for each of the two compounds separately, there do not seem to have been any EPA studies involving both the herbicide and the surfactant together, and Monstanto was chided for releasing studies on Roundup that were misleading on this point, and involved conflicts of interest. Studies not tied to Monsanto suggest that this is not something you want running in your water or present in significant levels in your food (e.g. 'Time- and Dose-Dependent Effects of Roundup on Human Embryonic and Placental Cells'). Unfortunately, the use of Roundup is not well-controlled; in addition to being used in agribusiness, it is used in parks and such to keep weeds down. Water runoff carries Roundup into water supplies.

The compounds in Roundoff have been associated with a wide range of cell damage in living organisms, and endocrine, reproductive, and genetic damage.

How much is 'okay'? This is still being disputed.

[Edited, because I absentmindedly wrote 'pesticide' where I meant to say 'herbicide'.]

Edited January 30, 2011 by Mjx (log)

[gfweb]

As I understand it, the GE alfalfa has a gene that confers resistance to roundup. So you can spray the weed killer after the alfalfa has sprouted...very efficient. Only the bad plants die.

There are real advantages to roundup. Even environmental ones. If you can plant crops without tilling there is less erosion, less sediment and happier waterways and fish.

Worries about round up may be legitimate, but I don't know of any hard evidence of an effect on people or animals. I've seen high dose lab studies on cells etc that say it is bad stuff, but that's a long way from traces in people.

Edited January 30, 2011 by gfweb (log)

[Chris Amirault]

That was extremely helpful. Thanks.

So, in re the WF position, you'd say that they've chosen to support a corporation that, at best, hasn't been a good steward of research that could help us understand these issues. At worst... well, there are lots of characterizations of Monsanto out there that paint a pretty ugly picture.

Sound about right?

[gfweb]

Amazing that WF would take a position on this. Really nothing good can come of it for them.

[Mjx]

Amazing that WF would take a position on this. Really nothing good can come of it for them.

At the risk of sounding cynical, if Whole Foods handles this right, they'll come out of it just fine. Their main premise is that Whole Foods is the place to buy food that's healthy and good for you. The fact that some of their stuff is organic is a qualifier, really; you can go into Whole Foods even now, and buy conventially raised produce, so clearly, someone is buying it. A lot of people shop at WS, because they think of it as the place to shop, it has a 'hip' factor, and their concerns about the environment and sustainability are nominal, at best. I'd say a good chunk of their client base will swallow any line they're fed, as long as it allows them to continue to feel that they're cool, informed, and caring.

[Mjx]

That was extremely helpful. Thanks.

So, in re the WF position, you'd say that they've chosen to support a corporation that, at best, hasn't been a good steward of research that could help us understand these issues. At worst... well, there are lots of characterizations of Monsanto out there that paint a pretty ugly picture.

Sound about right?

I'm afraid so.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Aside from the RoundUp issue is the way that Monsanto uses its patents to obtain monopoly control of crops that it is invested in, making it impossible for farmers to produce a non-Monsanto crop. Even if a farmer doesn't buy and doesn't want Monsanto's seed, and wants to select and save their own seed crop from season to season in the traditional manner, Monsanto can sue them for patent violation, if they discover (and they investigate this sort of thing aggressively) that the independent farmer's seed has been contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed from nearby farms. So slowly they buy out the smaller farmers who can't afford to fight Monsanto, and they put the seed cleaners who process seed for small farmers out of business, and Monsanto controls the whole crop.

[Landru]

...Even if a farmer doesn't buy and doesn't want Monsanto's seed, and wants to select and save their own seed crop from season to season in the traditional manner, Monsanto can sue them for patent violation, if they discover (and they investigate this sort of thing aggressively) that the independent farmer's seed has been contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed from nearby farms. So slowly they buy out the smaller farmers who can't afford to fight Monsanto, and they put the seed cleaners who process seed for small farmers out of business, and Monsanto controls the whole crop.

I agree, the Roundup/GM issue is enough to worry about Whole Foods doing business with Monsanto, but it's the ethos that Monsanto has consistently demonstrated that makes one want to run away as far as possible from them. Suing the farmer who had contaminated crops that weren't his fault is not a unfortunate incident - it is a cornerstone of their policy.

You know Google's motto "Don't be evil"? Monsanto's is more like "Just be evil".