Whole Foods, has sold out to Monsanto

Grokette

I am really feeling some mixed emotions right now. I am mad, hurt, betrayed, sad - all rolled up into one.

For those that shop at Whole Foods to get just that...........Whole Foods and Organics when we can; most of you will understand why I feel like I do.

Whole Foods, Organic Valley and Stoneyfiled Farms has sold out to Monsanto.

Here is the article for more information on this. We are at the point where we need to stand up and rise against these GMO foods and such.

I never wanted to get into politics, but I am feeling the calling to get food policies re-written.

The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

* By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, Jan 27, 2011
Straight to the Source

"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must." - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011

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.

In exchange for allowing Monsanto's premeditated pollution of the alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants "compensation." In exchange for a new assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers' and rural residents' risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil's crucial ability to provide nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of St. Louis to agree to pay "compensation" (i.e. hush money) to farmers "for any losses related to the contamination of his crop."

In its email of Jan. 21, 2011 WFM calls for "public oversight by the USDA rather than reliance on the biotechnology industry," even though WFM knows full well that federal regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) do not require pre-market safety testing, nor labeling; and that even federal judges have repeatedly ruled that so-called government "oversight" of Frankencrops such as Monsanto's sugar beets and alfalfa is basically a farce. At the end of its email, WFM admits that its surrender to Monsanto is permanent: "The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well True coexistence is a must."

Why Is Organic Inc. Surrendering?

According to informed sources, the CEOs of WFM and Stonyfield are personal friends of former Iowa governor, now USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and in fact made financial contributions to Vilsack's previous electoral campaigns. Vilsack was hailed as "Governor of the Year" in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and traveled in a Monsanto corporate jet on the campaign trail. Perhaps even more fundamental to Organic Inc.'s abject surrender is the fact that the organic elite has become more and more isolated from the concerns and passions of organic consumers and locavores. The Organic Inc. CEOs are tired of activist pressure, boycotts, and petitions. Several of them have told me this to my face. They apparently believe that the battle against GMOs has been lost, and that it's time to reach for the consolation prize. The consolation prize they seek is a so-called "coexistence" between the biotech Behemoth and the organic community that will lull the public to sleep and greenwash the unpleasant fact that Monsanto's unlabeled and unregulated genetically engineered crops are now spreading their toxic genes on 1/3 of U.S. (and 1/10 of global) crop land.

WFM and most of the largest organic companies have deliberately separated themselves from anti-GMO efforts and cut off all funding to campaigns working to label or ban GMOs. The so-called Non-GMO Project, funded by Whole Foods and giant wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI) is basically a greenwashing effort (although the 100% organic companies involved in this project seem to be operating in good faith) to show that certified organic foods are basically free from GMOs (we already know this since GMOs are banned in organic production), while failing to focus on so-called "natural" foods, which constitute most of WFM and UNFI's sales and are routinely contaminated with GMOs.

From their "business as usual" perspective, successful lawsuits against GMOs filed by public interest groups such as the Center for Food Safety; or noisy attacks on Monsanto by groups like the Organic Consumers Association, create bad publicity, rattle their big customers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Costco, Supervalu, Publix and Safeway; and remind consumers that organic crops and foods such as corn, soybeans, and canola are slowly but surely becoming contaminated by Monsanto's GMOs.

Whole Food's Dirty Little Secret: Most of the So-Called "Natural" Processed Foods and Animal Products They Sell Are Contaminated with GMOs

The main reason, however, why Whole Foods is pleading for coexistence with Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF and the rest of the biotech bullies, is that they desperately want the controversy surrounding genetically engineered foods and crops to go away. Why? Because they know, just as we do, that 2/3 of WFM's $9 billion annual sales is derived from so-called "natural" processed foods and animal products that are contaminated with GMOs. We and our allies have tested their so-called "natural" products (no doubt WFM's lab has too) containing non-organic corn and soy, and guess what: they're all contaminated with GMOs, in contrast to their certified organic products, which are basically free of GMOs, or else contain barely detectable trace amounts.

Approximately 2/3 of the products sold by Whole Foods Market and their main distributor, United Natural Foods (UNFI) are not certified organic, but rather are conventional (chemical-intensive and GMO-tainted) foods and products disguised as "natural."

Unprecedented wholesale and retail control of the organic marketplace by UNFI and Whole Foods, employing a business model of selling twice as much so-called "natural" food as certified organic food, coupled with the takeover of many organic companies by multinational food corporations such as Dean Foods, threatens the growth of the organic movement.

Covering Up GMO Contamination: Perpetrating "Natural" Fraud

Many well-meaning consumers are confused about the difference between conventional products marketed as "natural," and those nutritionally/environmentally superior and climate-friendly products that are "certified organic."

Retail stores like WFM and wholesale distributors like UNFI have failed to educate their customers about the qualitative difference between natural and certified organic, conveniently glossing over the fact that nearly all of the processed "natural" foods and products they sell contain GMOs, or else come from a "natural" supply chain where animals are force-fed GMO grains in factory farms or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

A troubling trend in organics today is the calculated shift on the part of certain large formerly organic brands from certified organic ingredients and products to so-called "natural" ingredients. With the exception of the "grass-fed and grass-finished" meat sector, most "natural" meat, dairy, and eggs are coming from animals reared on GMO grains and drugs, and confined, entirely, or for a good portion of their lives, in CAFOs.

Whole Foods and UNFI are maximizing their profits by selling quasi-natural products at premium organic prices. Organic consumers are increasingly left without certified organic choices while genuine organic farmers and ranchers continue to lose market share to "natural" imposters. It's no wonder that less than 1% of American farmland is certified organic, while well-intentioned but misled consumers have boosted organic and "natural" purchases to $80 billion annually-approximately 12% of all grocery store sales.

The Solution: Truth-in-Labeling Will Enable Consumers to Drive So-Called "Natural" GMO and CAFO-Tainted Foods Off the Market

There can be no such thing as "coexistence" with a reckless industry that undermines public health, destroys biodiversity, damages the environment, tortures and poisons animals, destabilizes the climate, and economically devastates the world's 1.5 billion seed-saving small farmers. There is no such thing as coexistence between GMOs and organics in the European Union. Why? Because in the EU there are almost no GMO crops under cultivation, nor GM consumer food products on supermarket shelves. And why is this? Because under EU law, all foods containing GMOs or GMO ingredients must be labeled. Consumers have the freedom to choose or not to choose GMOs; while farmers, food processors, and retailers have (at least legally) the right to lace foods with GMOs, as long as they are safety-tested and labeled. Of course the EU food industry understands that consumers, for the most part, do not want to purchase or consume GE foods. European farmers and food companies, even junk food purveyors like McDonald's and Wal-Mart, understand quite well the concept expressed by a Monsanto executive when GMOs first came on the market: "If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."

The biotech industry and Organic Inc. are supremely conscious of the fact that North American consumers, like their European counterparts, are wary and suspicious of GMO foods. Even without a PhD, consumers understand you don't want your food safety or environmental sustainability decisions to be made by out-of-control chemical companies like Monsanto, Dow, or Dupont - the same people who brought you toxic pesticides, Agent Orange, PCBs, and now global warming. Industry leaders are acutely aware of the fact that every single industry or government poll over the last 16 years has shown that 85-95% of American consumers want mandatory labels on GMO foods. Why? So that we can avoid buying them. GMO foods have absolutely no benefits for consumers or the environment, only hazards. This is why Monsanto and their friends in the Bush, Clinton, and Obama administrations have prevented consumer GMO truth-in-labeling laws from getting a public discussion in Congress.

Although Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Democrat, Ohio) recently introduced a bill in Congress calling for mandatory labeling and safety testing for GMOs, don't hold your breath for Congress to take a stand for truth-in-labeling and consumers' right to know what's in their food. Especially since the 2010 Supreme Court decision in the so-called "Citizens United" case gave big corporations and billionaires the right to spend unlimited amounts of money (and remain anonymous, as they do so) to buy media coverage and elections, our chances of passing federal GMO labeling laws against the wishes of Monsanto and Food Inc. are all but non-existent. Perfectly dramatizing the "Revolving Door" between Monsanto and the Federal Government, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, formerly chief counsel for Monsanto, delivered one of the decisive votes in the Citizens United case, in effect giving Monsanto and other biotech bullies the right to buy the votes it needs in the U.S. Congress.

With big money controlling Congress and the media, we have little choice but to shift our focus and go local. We've got to concentrate our forces where our leverage and power lie, in the marketplace, at the retail level; pressuring retail food stores to voluntarily label their products; while on the legislative front we must organize a broad coalition to pass mandatory GMO (and CAFO) labeling laws, at the city, county, and state levels.

The Organic Consumers Association, joined by our consumer, farmer, environmental, and labor allies, has just launched a nationwide Truth-in-Labeling campaign to stop Monsanto and the Biotech Bullies from force-feeding unlabeled GMOs to animals and humans.

Utilizing scientific data, legal precedent, and consumer power the OCA and our local coalitions will educate and mobilize at the grassroots level to pressure giant supermarket chains (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Costco, Safeway, Supervalu, and Publix) and natural food retailers such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to voluntarily implement "truth-in-labeling" practices for GMOs and CAFO products; while simultaneously organizing a critical mass to pass mandatory local and state truth-in-labeling ordinances - similar to labeling laws already in effect for country of origin, irradiated food, allergens, and carcinogens. If local and state government bodies refuse to take action, wherever possible we must attempt to gather sufficient petition signatures and place these truth-in-labeling initiatives directly on the ballot in 2011 or 2012. If you're interesting in helping organize or coordinate a Millions Against Monsanto and Factory Farms Truth-in-Labeling campaign in your local community, sign up here: http://organicconsumers.org/oca-volunteer/

To pressure Whole Foods Market and the nation's largest supermarket chains to voluntarily adopt truth-in-labeling practices sign here, and circulate this petition widely: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22309.cfm

jessieinblue

I am sickened and speechless.

sicembears

It's really sad and frustrating. I've started shopping at Trader Joe's and love it so much more.

NightOwl1

Whole Foods has always been largely a scam. It was never some organic crusader. It was a company looking to make a profit off of selling overpriced food to health conscious consumers. They aren't giving in because they have any loyalty to any specific person. They're doing this because they figured out how to make more money off of it.

BigBoneSista

I remember seeing a documentry on Monsanto. Their practices are beyond belief. This is basically the icing on the cake.

Grokette

I am sickened and speechless.

I am also. One of my classmates at the school I am attending for my second year as a Holistic Health Coach mentioned that her sister sat by some guys on a plane that work for Monsanto and said this...............

This is quoted straight from an email I received from her.

Oh wow Cora, this is not good news.

My sister was travelling on an airplane last night and told me she was sitting near 2 guys who work at Monsanto and they were saying -- I don't know why people are so concerned with eating organic and natural foods, don't they know that the soil these crops are grown on is manufactured or enhanced by Monsanto?

And then I see this article...amazing!

We have a lot of work to do...I wonder if I should get into working on food policy???
I'm kidding, but it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I am going to write my CSA Membership at Three Rivers Farms and ask them if they are getting their soil enhanced by Monsanto. If they are, I am dropping my membership.

Grokette

Whole Foods has always been largely a scam. It was never some organic crusader. It was a company looking to make a profit off of selling overpriced food to health conscious consumers. They aren't giving in because they have any loyalty to any specific person. They're doing this because they figured out how to make more money off of it.

Yes, I understand this and it makes me even more angry at the fact that Whole Foods bought out Wild Oats and Wild Oats was a Fantastic Shop!!!

It just angers me at the height of deception companies are taking for the almighty $$$$

atomiclauren

We see Whole Foods as the Wal-Mart of "organic" shopping. While this stinks, there's not much surprise.

zbstngrl

Although I do most of my food shopping at Trader Joe's I do like Whole Foods as they offer larger variety of organic products...Whole Foods became a big corporation and what happened unfortunately was going to happen eventually. Very sad.
More reasons to support your local farmers!

Grokette

Although I do most of my food shopping at Trader Joe's I do like Whole Foods as they offer larger variety of organic products...Whole Foods became a big corporation and what happened unfortunately was going to happen eventually. Very sad.
More reasons to support your local farmers!

Yes, maybe that was the reason for my local blog post, even more reasons to buy local............

Hindsight!!

meganld

It is so sad to hear about the level of deception going on in the food industry. Unfortunately, it has become an 'industry' rather than a way for people to survive. I just finished reading a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" by Barbara Kingsolver, and it really opened my eyes to a lot of the topics discussed in the above article. The only thing that we as consumers can do is to put our money where our mouth is. Don't spend money unless it's on something that you are really willing to pay for. Shop at farmer's markets if you can, where you have a chance to talk to the people actually growing the food you're buying.

I'm sick of being lied to by people who don't care about me at all but just want my money. Something has to change.

Grokette

It is so sad to hear about the level of deception going on in the food industry. Unfortunately, it has become an 'industry' rather than a way for people to survive. I just finished reading a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" by Barbara Kingsolver, and it really opened my eyes to a lot of the topics discussed in the above article. The only thing that we as consumers can do is to put our money where our mouth is. Don't spend money unless it's on something that you are really willing to pay for. Shop at farmer's markets if you can, where you have a chance to talk to the people actually growing the food you're buying.

I'm sick of being lied to by people who don't care about me at all but just want my money. Something has to change.

Yes, I totally relate.

It made me nervous with what my friend emailed to me so I emailed my CSA owner to see if they do have Monsanto to treat the soil before planting. I see the people that grow my food every week when I pick up my allotted shares.

I am waiting for a response.

I also emailed the White House. I am hoping to get a reply and see how I can work with the First Lady on incorporating change, even if it is to teach people to plant strawberry, tomato and other small fruit / veggie bearing plants on their patios or porch.

jojoworks

Happy to say I don't shop at "Whole Paycheck"...I spend my money at my local food co-op and with my local organic CSA farmer.

Laceylala

Food Inc documentary showed how Monsanto is able to prosecute non-gmo farmers to put them out of business when the wind picks up a gmo seed and transplants it into their fields - called it stealing or something, its been a bit since I first watched that movie. It is horrible. It hit me more than the chemical washed meats they showed.

I knew that WF was a corporate conglomerate out to only make money in the end but it is really sad to me to see this. I don't have a WF near me and when I am in a city that does i Usually stop in and stock up on gluten free products for my daughter because there is such a variety.

It is deplorable that they are asking Monsanto to pay off farmers who will have trouble growing crop after crop because their soil is essentially depleted.

halobender

Food Inc documentary showed how Monsanto is able to prosecute non-gmo farmers to put them out of business when the wind picks up a gmo seed and transplants it into their fields - called it stealing or something, its been a bit since I first watched that movie. It is horrible. It hit me more than the chemical washed meats they showed.

It's "copyright infringement". COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT! Can you believe that?

I was actually just reading an article the other day in our local weekly rag, Willamette Week, about medicinal marijuana shops that are opening up here, and the people running one of them are pulling a Monsanto, suing anyone who distributes (even to medicinal users) the product of their seeds, which they are copyrighting.

It kind of annoys me when companies try to own something after you've already purchased it.

How about these suicide seeds that die off after a single planting season? Everything about Monsanto is wrong, and the fact that they win all (or at least nearly all) of their lawsuits is proof of how awful things can be.

Grokette

Happy to say I don't shop at "Whole Paycheck"...I spend my money at my local food co-op and with my local organic CSA farmer.

I mostly buy items from my Co-op and I have 2 CSA memberships which I have emailed and waiting for responses.........

However, there are some items that my husband likes that I do purchase at Whole Foods.

I live near and work in St Louis where Monsanto is headquartered and people think I am nuts for turning down a job there because of the $$$ their employees make. I can't in my right mind work for a company that does such things.

Grokette

Food Inc documentary showed how Monsanto is able to prosecute non-gmo farmers to put them out of business when the wind picks up a gmo seed and transplants it into their fields - called it stealing or something, its been a bit since I first watched that movie. It is horrible. It hit me more than the chemical washed meats they showed.

I knew that WF was a corporate conglomerate out to only make money in the end but it is really sad to me to see this. I don't have a WF near me and when I am in a city that does i Usually stop in and stock up on gluten free products for my daughter because there is such a variety.

It is deplorable that they are asking Monsanto to pay off farmers who will have trouble growing crop after crop because their soil is essentially depleted.

Yes, I forgot about this also. I think I will re-watch Food Inc tonight just to keep things in perspective and refresh my mind.

taletreader

What do you expect from the corporation that commodified organic food and used the profits to fund rather hateful right-wing politics? I've never understood the almost religious reverence towards them and actively avoided shopping there.

jessieinblue

I have only stepped foot in a Whole Foods once, and that was for one thing I just couldn't find anywhere else. So I bought one item there and haven't been back since. I eat 365 Organic stuff that my coworkers bring in to work, but I've read too much about the questionable practices of Whole Foods to feel comfortable spending my money there.

I am much more disappointed in Stoneyfield and Organic Valley.

jojoworks

This, from the Organic Valley Facebook page:

We're still doing what we've always done (which doesn't include "surrendering" to Monsanto)
by Organic Valley on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 12:54pm

Yesterday Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association posted a blog which left us a bit baffled. In it he accused Organic Valley (along with Stonyfield Farm and Whole Foods Market) of "surrendering to Monsanto." While the USDA may have surrendered to Monsanto, we most certainly did not. We've been fighting against GMO and biotech since the beginning of our cooperative in 1988, and have expended more effort and resources fighting GMOs than any other organic company.

In recent months, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has asked for stakeholders to weigh-in on the USDA's impending decision regarding GMO alfalfa, and we were a part of these talks. Organic Valley has advocated to keep GMO alfalfa off the market from the start, and this was originally an option according to the USDA. However, as of December, they had left only two options on the table: allowing unrestricted commercial growing, or partly restricted growing. As much as we wished a complete ban could still on the table, it wasn't, and we knew we needed to throw our whole weight behind advocating for certain rules, so that farmers would have legal recourse in the face of contamination, and contamination could be avoided by mandating sizable buffer zones and geographical planting restrictions. We continued to dedicate significant amounts of effort to this fight, but we lost this particular battle. This doesn't mean we've given up. We'll continue to explore all available legal and regulatory actions we can take to protect organic farmers and consumers, and develop ways to maintain the integrity of our products given this new decision.

Organic Valley does not have a relationship with Monsanto, nor did we come up with any sort of compromise or "deal" with them or the USDA. We've always advocated for the strongest restrictions against GMO alfalfa available. It was dishonest of the OCA to declare us part of a "cabal," and irresponsible of them to suggest our actions were motivated by anything other than a desire to fight for the best interests of our farmers and consumers. We think it's crucial for those of us who recognize the dangers of GMOs to work together on this issue. Division is only going to hold us back in our struggle to keep GMOs out of agriculture.

We want to extend our continued gratitude to the people who support our cooperative and the work we do to keep GMOs, harmful pesticides, and antibiotics out of our food supply. We still believe that by working together, we can make good things happen.

jojoworks

And this letter from Organic Valley CEO:

GM Alfalfa: What's Happening Now
by George L. Siemon, Organic Valley CEO on January 25, 2011

I want to share with the organic and food community my experience and struggle to stop Roundup Ready® Alfalfa (RR-Alfalfa) from being released. This struggle began in 2005 when Monsanto first sought approval, and it is now coming to a head as USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has promised to announce the release of the first perennial Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) by the end of January.

Through this long fight, with the Center for Food Safety in the lead, we successfully blocked the release of RR-Alfalfa. The Supreme Court required the USDA to consider the impact of RR-Alfalfa on other forms of agriculture, including organic and “GMO sensitive” (traditional agriculture not using GMO technology). At heart, the contamination of GMOs on other types of agriculture should be treated as a common sense property rights issue. After all, if you drove into your neighbor’s car, wouldn’t you pay for damages? However, the fact that the USDA even considered the impact of RR-Alfalfa on other forms of agriculture is a big change given the USDA’s usual “rubber stamp” approval with minimal regulatory review of most anything biotech.

One of the USDA’s options is being referred to as the “co-existence” proposal. Co-existence is acknowledging the inevitable—continued dominance of GMO crops—while trying to consider the long-term implications for organic and GMO sensitive markets. Co-existence includes consideration of long-term seed purity and control, compensation funds for lost markets and associated monitoring costs, and input labeling. The biotech industry is against any discussion about co-existence and, of course, is outraged that we would ask for consideration of remuneration of pollution and seed contamination.

The biotech industry has waged a complete war on the Secretary of Agriculture for following the Supreme Court order and for the consideration of a co-existence proposal. They used all their influence to have the Secretary’s job challenged. There here have been op-eds in major papers and magazines (“Sack Vilsack,” Forbes), special meetings with the White House, grilling by the Justice Department, endless lobbying, and on Thursday of last week, a Congressional member forum was held where the Secretary was taken to the wood shed and asked repeatedly why he had not approved RR-alfalfa sooner. All this for simply opening the coexistence conversation and acknowledging that property rights and other markets should be considered.

Predictably, the biotech industry has all angles covered—for example, the organic community tried to get an op-ed published to counter false charges, but the letter was not picked up by a single paper despite our efforts. As a result, the public is left with biotech’s exaggerations and spin with no counter perspective. The resources they have put into this fight convinces me that they are worried about the strength and growth of the organic industry.

There is no doubt now that RR-Alfalfa will be released. It would be a victory if we can, for the first time, get conditions on that release that would give assurance to protect our future seeds, our market and consumer confidence.

Organic agriculture continues to be a beacon of hope. More than ever, we need to face our broken food system and look for models that solve our serious food problems without creating new problems. Organic offers us the solutions we need for a healthy future for all.

In the face of ongoing approval of GMOs, we need to work together to educate consumers to choose organic and vote with their dollar for food they can trust.

In Cooperation,

George L. Siemon

George Siemon is C-E-I-E-I-O of the nation’s largest organic, farmer-owned cooperative, Organic Valley. Organic Valley is committed to tirelessly working for their mission of spreading the value of organic farming to answer so many concerns of a sustainable future.