Organic Consumer Association Article May be Inaccurate
Organic Consumer Association
article stating position of Whole Foods Market,
Organic Valley, and StoneyField Farms may be
inaccurate. I will update you here on the
Plant Your Dream Blog when I interview
Walt Robb, Ceo of Whole Foods Market; George Seimon, of Organic Valley,
and Gary Hirshberg, of Stoneyfield Farms.
I will see them at the uocoming Natural Product Expo West
March 10-11-12-13, 2011.
at the Upcoming Natural Product Expo West.
Date: 1/29/2011 1:28:38 AM ( 13 y ) ... viewed 18004 times
UPDATE
POSTED ON FACEBOOK
9:19 am
February 5, 2011
Goyo Rodriguez of JR Organics shows off the fresh and tasty locally grown organic lettuce picked the day before at the Escondido based fifth generation farm that has more than ten farmers' markets in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles County. The thriving CSA has helped, but many more shoppers are needed for this therapeutic quality food. Organic food is under assault with new deregulation of GE alfalfa that opens a pandora's box to
Biotech driving out organic food. We are all called forth now to take a stand with our dollar and voice to Washington.
Alan Greene, L to R, author, and world reknown Pediatrician,
Claire Green, Walt Robb, Co-Ceo Whole Foods Market,
George Seimon, founder of Organic Valley Coop,
and other frined, to be I.D.ed. This photo was taken the Organic Center
VIP evening at the Natural Product Expo West 2010 in Anaheim.
I will be looking forward to connecting at the Organic Center
Banquet with George Seimon, and Walt Robb, and Gary Hirshberg.
The three were stakeholders in the recent USDA discussion.
USDA aimedto say that conventional as well as organic farming can co-exist,
but this position was overruled January 28, 2011 with
a USDA ruling that deregulated GE alfalfa entirely.
VIDEO FROM THE ORGANIC CENTER
DRAWS THE LINE
Gary HIrshberg, George Seimon, and Walt Robb
are are key supporters of the Organic Center
We deeply need to support a year long project
to educate Washington On Real Food Safety.
GMO is an issue of Good Safety.
I do not believe they can co-exist well
let along be deregulated without causing harm to health.
Organic consumers need to know that
Washington is highly invested in GE and BIotech.
A massive education campaign is needed
if before Uncle sam marries "auntie"
and I mean Anti-GMO.
We have our work cut out for us.
The health effects of GMO's food are hardly being told.
Jeffrey Smith is a good source for this info.
THIS IS S PHOTO OF GARY HIRSHBERG
CEYO of Stoneyfield Farms
WITH JEFFREY SMITH
author of "Seeds of Deception
at last year's Organic Center Fundraiser
I will looking forward to interviewing the three
on camera at the Organic Center event.
I WILL CHECK THIS ARTICLE OUT
WHEN I SEE THESE MEN AT THE NATURAL PRODUCT EXPO WEST
It does not ring true to me
from what I know about
George Seimon, Gary Hirshberg, and
Walt Robb of Whole Foods.
OCA was pissed because they did not get in on
the USDA meetings in late December.
Walt Robb, George Seimon, and Gary Hirshberg where
there. The transcribes were online, I believe.
Villsack was calling for co-existence, but was
paddled for doing that by biotech.
Washington is pro-biotech and highly
invested in it.
FROM THE OCA ARTICLE
In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.
In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.
Gary Hirshberg, CEO of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm, thinks that contamination of organic alfalfa crops is inevitable and will force organic dairy producers to start paying to have genetic testing done on their feed. “We’re going to have to work a lot harder to give consumers the assurance they need that organic is GM-free. And it’s going to add to the cost of organic, for sure,” he told BNET.
We’ve all been unsuspecting subjects in a vast scientific experiment, and the results are beginning to come in. They are not good.
Addressing attendees at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s annual Cooking for Solutions symposium last month, Gary Hirshberg, the head of the organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm, said that until the mid 1930s, humanity ate a strictly organic diet. Recent studies linking attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and increasing cancer rates to agricultural fertilizers and pesticides are proof that modern food-production methods have been “an evolutionary misstep,” he said. “It is a very profound change that has taken place in a short period of time.”
But there is a silver lining, according to Hirshberg. “When we’re pained enough, then we change. This pain threshold is going to get us going in the right direction.”
Business got us into the current situation, Hershberg said, and it will take business—the bigger then better—to get us out.
BY WALT ROBB AND MARGARET WITTENBERG
1/20/11
updated 1/28/ 2011
We are very disappointed in the USDA’s decision to deregulate GE Alfalfa with no conditions (meaning no restrictions to support coexistence). Planting GE alfalfa without restrictions may cause potential contamination of organic and non-genetically engineered crops. Despite this setback, Whole Foods Market will continue to be strong advocates for non-GE foods, their clear labeling and offering them in the marketplace.
“This creates a perplexing situation when the market calls for a supply of crops free of genetic engineering,” said Christine Bushway, Executive Director and CEO of the Organic Trade Association in a press release. “The organic standards prohibit the use of genetic engineering, and consumers will not tolerate the accidental presence of genetic engineered materials in organic products, yet GE crops continue to proliferate unchecked.”
A SERIOUS DIALOGUE ON SCIENCE,
ETHICS, AND FOOD IS NEEDED NOW
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE WASHINGTON
ON REAL FOOD SAFETY
TRANSCRIPTION WITH A.G. KAWAMURA
CA SEC OF AG UNDER ARNOLD S.
LESLIE: I want to create a dlalogue where we lessen the tension
between Science, Ethics, and Food, and just start listening
to one another. Would you support that?
A.G. KAWAMURA: ...Absolutely.
You just mentioned exactly where we are, Science and Ethics, and the
philosophies of how we bring those all together has always been
a part of where.. agriculture... (we are at] }crossroads..a bridge... between the two...in many ways.
LESLE: Well, let's work on that together.
A.G. KARAMURA; I would be happy too.
4:12 AM
March 2, 2010
SEED QUOTE
FROM YOUR ENCHANTED GARDENER
PROPS TO THE PLANT YOUR DREAM BLOG
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WINTER 2011
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through using BioSmart
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Bagasse is a by-product of sugar cane
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PLEASE VISIT THE PLANT YOUR DREAM
PUBLIC WEBSITE TO VIEW STORIES
ABOUT THE SEED DREAMS WE SUPPORT
AND THAT SPONSOR BEET KEEPERS, RETURN! Http://www.plantyourdream.net
KEEP THE BEET MEDIA STAR
THE WORLD'S FIRST TALKING BEET PLANT SEZ
THANKS FOR KEEPING LOVE GROWING
JOIN THE BEET KEEPERS ON
THE PLANT YOUR DREAM WEBSITE HERE
Together we can plant 1000 years of peace.
This is the essence of Beet Keepers, Return!
The Shift has happened.
Thank you for starring in my
Rock Your Soul Opera called Beet Keepers, Return!
LESLIE GOLDMAN
YOUR ENCHANTED GARDENER,
Leslie writes daily on his more personal
Plant Your Dream Blog Online Journal http://curezone.com/blogs/f.asp?f=92
Leslie Goldman, Your Enchanted Gardener,
sees and seeds success for super ripe
people and their dreams. His constant companion
is Keep the Beet Media Star, the Worlds Frst Talking beet plant.
Her mission is to help us all turn our beat around
with nature through planting a beet in a pot.
Keep the Beet. Eat the Greens, says Keep the Beet.
A record of Leslie's
life process. Serves as a palate
for new creations.
Leslie is in the wounded healer tradition.
he does his best to share his ups and downs
that we might all acknowledge we are
stars in Keep The Beet's Rock Your Soul Opera
called Beet Keepers, Return!
The Shift has happened.
We can no longer ask nature to adapt to us
but more so honor the journey of learning.
We can turn our breakdowns into breakthroughs.
CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE WASHINGTON
ON REAL FOOD SAFETY
VIDEOS ON THE NEW PLANT YOUR DREAM WEBSITE http://plantyourdream.net
THESE ARE OUR AIMS
1-To support mobilization of one Farmers’ Market in our local area, the Hillcrest Farmers’ Market in San Diego. To continue to work with local organic farmers and help them sell more of their produce.
2-To continue to develop a 1/3 acre parcel of land near San Diego State College named the Enchanted Garden Intentional Community Growing Grounds where those who live here and who live around the world may study our process of learning how to keep the beat with nature through learning to live together cooperatively as a household that seeks to live in harmony with the earth. The motto of the house will be Keep The Beet. Through growing a simple beet in a pot, we can regain our beat with nature. Not all in the house garden. Some like to prepare food. Others help with other jobs, or rent. The land, as of January 2010 is being refinanced. A Trust to hold the land is being explored. The Seed Dream would be to leave a museum and park for future generations to learn from this experiment in cooperative living that has been going on since the early 1970′s. The intent is that what we learn here can help others, and Washington, understand and adapt to some of the shifts being asked of all of us now.
3- To develop relationships with those who influence Washington and government. A vast coalition across all political, religious, and philosophical lines has now formed. Mainstream media needs to be reached through bloggers filling the gap where journalism once told all points of view. Elected leaders need to be encouraged to follow the principles expressed in the song “America The Beautiful.”
4- We see the world as we know it now coming to an end. A Shift has already happened. It is for each of us to adapt to the earth and relearn the laws of nature, rather than attempt to further adapt nature to our ways. The source of our economic and health crisis is that we have lost our beat with nature. We can regain the beet through becoming once again a nation of gardeners who live in a world of gardeners. One Pot+One person=You are a Gardener. Start to grow your own food now.
CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE
WASHINGTON ON REAL FOOD SAFETY
Read about the goals of the year long campaign here.
Study materials about Real Food Safety.
Watch Videos of Micro-farmer Barry Logan
and much more! http://plantyourdream.net/?page_id=50
THE CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE WASHINGTON
ON REAL FOOD SAFETY
Our year long Campaign to Educate Washington on
Real Food Safety aims to return the beat of Nature
to Washington. Our campaign begins with
each of us locally regaining our beat through
having a moment of awakening.
We can grow a bit of our own food.
ALL POINTS OF VIEW ARE WELCOME
TO ENTER INTO A NATIONAL CONVERSATION
ON REAL FOOD SAFETY
"My Enchanted Friend,
Heartfelt thanks for another “Enchanted” plant.
I love + bless it & you.
It graces my desk beautifully. Thank you!
I deeply appreciate you ‘seeding our dream’
to sell millions. I wish the same for you."
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