Wal-Mart Charged with Selling Nonorganic Food as Organic

[nosmokes]

you just knew the greedy bastards wouldn't be able to abide by the rules, din't ya?
joe

--###--
original



***PRESS RELEASE****

The Cornucopia Institute
Promoting Economic Justice for Family-Scale Farming



Wal-Mart Charged with Selling Nonorganic Food as Organic

Group Asks USDA to Fully Investigate
Organic Product Misrepresentation

For more information, contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042

Cornucopia, WI: The Cornucopia Institute, the nation’s most aggressive organic farming watchdog, has filed a formal legal complaint with the USDA asking them to investigate allegations of illegal “organic” food distribution by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Cornucopia has documented cases of nonorganic food products being sold as organic in Wal-Mart’s grocery departments.

“We first noticed that Wal-Mart was using in-store signage to misidentify conventional, nonorganic food as organic in their upscale-market test store in Plano, Texas,” said Mark Kastel of The Cornucopia Institute. Subsequently, Cornucopia staff visited a number of other Wal-Mart stores in the Midwest and documented similar improprieties in both produce and dairy sections.

Cornucopia notified Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott in a letter on September 13, 2006 alerting the company to the problem and asking that it address and correct the situation on an immediate basis. But the same product misrepresentations were again observed weeks later, throughout October, at separate Wal-Mart stores in other states.

“This is disturbing and a serious problem,” Kastel said. “Organic farmers adopt and follow a rigorous range of management practices, with audit trails, to ensure that the food they sell to processors and retailers is organic and produced in accordance with federal organic regulations. Consumers, who are paying premium prices in the marketplace for organic food, deserve to get what they are paying for.”

Earlier this year, Wal-Mart announced a sweeping organic foods initiative and declared that they would greatly increase the number of organic offerings for sale in their stores—at dramatically lower prices than the competition. The move by the giant retailer has been under close scrutiny from members of the organic community seeking to assess what impact Wal-Mart’s decision will have on organic food and farming concerns.

A number of other organic food retailers throughout the country, including Whole Foods Markets and many of the nations member-owned grocery cooperatives, have gone to the effort to become certified organic in terms of the handling of their products and have invested heavily in staff training to help them understand organic food production and sale concerns.

“Our management and our employees know what organic means,” said Lindy Bannister, General Manager at The Wedge Cooperative in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “If Wal-Mart intends to get into organics, they can’t be allowed to misidentify ‘natural’ foods as organic to unsuspecting consumers.” The Wedge, the largest single store member-owned food cooperative in the nation, was one of the first retailers to go through the USDA organic certification process.

“One can question whether Wal-Mart has the management and staff expertise necessary to fully understand organics and the marketing requirements essential to selling organic food,” observed Kastel. “At this point, it seems they are attracted by the profits generated from the booming organic food sector but are not fully invested in organic integrity. Given their size, market power, and market clout, this is very troubling.”

Cornucopia’s complaint asks the USDA to fully investigate the allegations of organic food misrepresentation. The farm policy organization has indicated that they will share their evidence, including photographs and notes, with the agency’s investigators. Fines of up to $10,000 per violation for proven incidents of organic food misrepresentation are provided for in federal organic regulations.

This past September, The Cornucopia Institute also accused Wal-Mart of cheapening the value of the organic label by sourcing products from industrial-scale factory-farms and Third World countries, such as China.

The Institute released a white paper, Wal-Mart Rolls Out Organic Products—Market Expansion or Market Delusion?, that made the argument that Wal-Mart is poised to drive down the price of organic food in the marketplace by inventing a “new” organic—food from corporate agribusiness, factory-farms, and cheap imports of questionable quality.

The Cornucopia Institute is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS).

[leftchick]

1. I had no doubt this would happen

never trust corrupt corporations

[ComerPerro]

2. This is why I don't even bother with "organic" nonsense from anyone

it costs so much more, and it may not even meet standards.

[nosmokes]

5. the instances of non-organic being labeled organic are pretty low from

my knowledge. in addition to fines from government regulators and suppliers, there is the cost of consumer confidence and loss of credibility and trust. here's hoping wal-mart gets their balls nailed to the wall.

[ComerPerro]

6. Yeah, probably, but I really just don't trust it.

[jpwhite]

3. not surprised

I am not surprised at all. Wal-Mart is an expert in getting cheap products to customers. Organic foods are a specialty item. This is not Wal-Mart's strength. Why they are even trying to do this is beyond me. I got my degree in marketing and one of the things I learned in some of my business classes is that you should stick with what you are good at, and don't overdiversify. Wal-Mart should stay out of the organic market. I don't see them finding a way to do it cheaply without lying about it.

James
[e-mail]

[Chimichurri]

4. I'm thankful for these watchgroups. I hope people can collectively

protect the organic labeling before thugs like Wal-mart and others take that away too.

[Donnachaidh]

7. They should be watching the supermarkets too

Some of my local ones are setting up Organic areas and the only thing organic about some of the products is the wording on the containers. :sarcasm:

[louis-t]

8. SOP for Wal-Mart

Remember the "Made in America" scandal from 10 years ago? Racks and racks of foreign made goods each with a "Made in America" sign on top. Right then and there I decided I will never shop at Wal-Mart. Ever.

[MadHound]

9. Ever since the USDA issued standards and certification for "organic" foods,

The term has become a joke. First of all, through the sheer expense of the ceritification process, food that is certified "organic" is becoming increasingly the provence of large corporate farms and retailers. Secondly, there are so many exceptions and loopholes in the law that a lot of chemicals and growing processes that aren't truly organic can still be used. In fact, most small organic farmers view "certified organic" as another assault on the small farmers, drive them out of business, root them out from the profitable niche that they've inhabited for a few decades, and continue to monopolize our food supply into an ever shrinking circle of producers.

If you want true organically grown food, do two things. First, shop at your local farmers' market. Get to know the people there, question them on how they produce their food. The overwhelming majority of them will be more than happy to go into mind numbing, but informative detail. This sort of education is essential to your choice of foods. Buying from small, local farmers' insures that you are getting high quality, truly organic food. You are also helping the enviroment and your local economy. Yes, you are paying more cash for this food, but contrast that to your normal grocery, where the costs for your food are hidden, and everybody pays them. The price in pollution, decreased plant and animal diversity, soil destruction, use of scarce resources, even though these are all hidden costs we all still have to pay them. And judging from our current enviromental situation, that bill is coming due really soon. I would rather pay my costs up front, in cash, that continue to bay for last weeks rubber tomato for the rest of my life:shrug:

If you don't have a local farmers' market, look for the Certified Naturally Grown label. Again, this is more of a direct cost up front, but it does help out local farmers and the enviroment. And if you want to you can visit the CNG website<http://www.naturallygrown.org/> and support them if you see fit.

[nosmokes]

10. i mostly agree madhound, but there are some benefits to the NOP

and while i fought tooth and nail against it, it does have a place. as folks have pointed out to me, what are people who live in butte montana supposed to do in january and febuary re: eating local and organic? surely one of their better alternatives is eating stuff like Amy's brand fozen organic foods, or other folks that just prefer the convenience. not eveeryone can be hardcore all the time. i'm lucky, here in oregon i have access to a CSA year round, so i know exactly where my food comes from and who produces it, but not everyone has that luxury. hopefully with the congress we can re-address the NOP.