Dear John Mackey:
I felt compelled to write you because of the controversary I heard during the Q&A session of Vandana Shiva's keynote address at the Heirloom Festival. Not fully understanding the allegation from a member of the audience that Whole Foods was not a real alternative for pure foodists because of your failing to oppose Monsanto's GMO alfalfa seed, I came back and did my own research.
After extensively reading up on your company's position on GMOs and your 365 brand, I thought you might be interested in an organic farmer and pure foodists view of your market.
I will confess that as an organic farmer, I had a bias against your company because so many people do one stop shopping at your store and I felt that your presence negated the need and value of farmer and consumer contact. I also felt that your prices were unduly inflated. We operated a farm truck where we loaded up our fruits and veggies and those of other local organic farmers and allowed people to go shopping on our mobile truck. Most of our customers shopped at your store. Having said that, last year I decided to adopt a raw food diet and was sadly lacking in the necessary nuts, seeds etc. that I needed to be successful. I abandoned my prejudices against you and arrived at your fig garden location in Fresno with a long grocery list in hand.
My shopping experience was tremendously confusing. Not owning a vita-mix yet, I was looking for unsweetened almond milk. I found organic sweetened almond milk and natural unsweetened almond milk. Not knowing what your definition of natural was, I asked for assistance and was told that your market doesn't carry strictly organic or pesticide free products, your standard is that the products not have any additives.
Next, I went to your dried fruits and nuts section. My questions about whether the almonds that weren't labelled roasted were truly raw received no definitive answer. My children love mushrooms and I thought I had found organic mushrooms in your produce aisle, but since it wasn't labelled as such, I checked with a clerk to insure all your produce was organic but was told that you sell conventional produce as well -- and that those mushrooms weren't organic. That was the second last time I entered your store. The next time I was excited that you were carrying local stone fruit and I couldn't believe that your price was so reasonable. Upon enquiring, I was told that the stone fruit was not organic and therefore wasn't labelled as such, it was local.
My frustration at sourcing organic, non-gmo fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds led me to expand my farm truck to a retail store front where every consumer who enters would be assured that everything in the store was organic. My store is only 600 square feet and most of that is for our raw food cafe. I now realize that we need organic markets in Fresno. I cannot supply all of Fresno with organic produce, nor can the farmers markets supply it because we are not open the hours you are. I have customers who want organic fruit at 7:00 a.m. and I'm not open. Bottom line, we need healthy, organic markets everywhere.
Your market could be that solution, but right now it fails dismally. As an organic farmer, I must ask you "what sharing does conventional produce have with pure organic food?" Since there are no labelling laws and you carry food that isn't certified organic, people that purchase your foods are already consuming GMO foods. Up to 70 percent of food in local markets have GMO ingredients, clearly your market is no exception. Since I'm not trying to bash your market but actually am trying to work out how all organic markets can be unified to provide consumers with healthy alternatives, the following are some of my suggestions.
1) Instead of telling consumers to look for certified organic products and your 365 brand, separate your products. Have your store split up. Have an organic produce section with green labels. That way people in that section of your store can be assured that everything is organic and the color of the label reassures them of that.
2) Any food that is certified GMO free but that isn't certified organic can have another color label. All the farmers that you are encouraging to go through third party scrutiny to ensure GMO ingredients aren't used can be blue. Include your 365 brand in this section when its not organic.
3) Any food that happens to be GMO free, organic AND local should have a red label. This is an ideal product because maximum nutrition is achieved from locally grown, pesticide free food.
4) Stop carrying any food that has cancer causing carcinogens otherwise known as pesticides. In Fresno there are four markets that claim to be organic, there are hundreds of grocery stores that aren't. If people want conventional produce, they can go to Food Maxx and Save-Mart, I thought people came to Whole Foods looking for whole or pure foods. I named my farm and non-profit Whole Farms rather than Pure Farms for the symbolic value of complete, unadulterated produce. Live up to your name and stop carrying unwholesome foods.
5) There are people that can afford to pay the prices you charge. Despite my misgivings of the inadequate compensation the farmer receives in relation to the hefty price tag the consumer is charged, some people will spend anything to be healthy. Become the healthy alternative in the communities you are established in.
I realize that there is little that just our non-profit and market can do to change the health of the people in our community who are assailed by pesticides. But you can be the mega giant that saves the day. Vandana Shiva said that supermarkets in other areas refused to carry any products that could have had gmo's in them and they garnered customer loyalty. You have the voice, please have the ethics to follow through. If you do, I cannot help but think that all us tiny voices united with yours will make a clamor that cannot and will not be ignored by lawmakers in our nation.
At the very least, the growing population of organic supporters will be your loyal advocates and customers for life.
In Food, Health and Hope, I remain
Yours Truly,
Tara Hamilton
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