The Myth of "Natural"

ACTION ALERT
Whole Foods Market and United Natural Foods, Inc. are Undermining Our Organic Future - TAKE ACTION HERE!

Why Organic Consumers and Fair Trade Advocates Are Pressuring Whole Foods and UNFI

Corporate Takeovers & Monopolistic Practices

• The $25 Billion organic marketplace has enjoyed substantial growth for
  over a decade, thanks to growing consumer consciousness and farmer
  innovation. No longer a passing trend or simply a niche market, organic food
  and farming are proving to be a viable alternative to the unhealthy,
  unsustainable and unjust conventional food system. Unfortunately
  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.

Perpetrating "Natural" Fraud

• Consumers are confused about the difference between conventional
  products marketed as "natural," and those nutritionally and environmentally
  superior 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 organic. A troubling
  trend in organics today is the calculated shift on the part of certain large
  companies from certified organic ingredients and products to so-called
  "natural" products. With the exception of the "natural" meat sector, where
  there are limited voluntary guidelines, there is no definition of "natural."
  In the majority of cases, "natural" products are greenwashed conventional
  products, with "natural" label claims neither policed nor monitored. 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 organic farmers continue to lose
  market share to "natural" imposters. It's no wonder that less than 1% of
  American farmland is certified organic.



Excluding Small and Family Farms

• Whole Foods and UNFI's business model of centralized sourcing and
  prioritizing natural products over organic rewards large corporate farms and
  processors, to the detriment of local and regional small-scale organic
  farmers and brands. Organic farmers must "get big or get out" to be able to
  compete and have free access to markets. Many industrial organic farms and
  dairy operations reflect the same abuses and problems of the conventional
  food system: extremely energy intensive, systematic abuse of workers,
  reduced food quality, and damage to biodiversity. And of course so-called
  "natural" products, since they are actually in most cases conventional
  products in disguise, are being sold at lower prices than genuine organic
  products--thereby retarding the growth of the organic sector.

Organic and Local Food?

• In light of the food system's significant contribution to the climate
  crisis and the deepening economic troubles facing local food economies, it
  is more important than ever to prioritize locally produced organic food.
  Though Whole Foods talks a lot about supporting local food and producers,
  the fact is that the vast majority of their products are not local, and much
  of what they sell is sourced from a small number of industrial organic
  operations in California, often owned by the same conventional food
  conglomerates responsible for destroying the world's food system.

Organic Monopoly and the "Whole Paycheck" Phenomena

• UNFI has undermined the growth of the organic movement by implementing
  an unfair tiered pricing system that gives Whole Foods deep discounts while
  other grocers, coops and independent retailers pay significantly higher
  prices, in effect subsidizing UNFI for its reduced profits at Whole Foods.
  With UNFI as the largest organic (but of course their sales are mostly
  so-called "natural" products) food wholesaler and Whole Foods as the largest
  organic (like UNFI most of its sales are "natural") food retailer, organic
  consumers are assured higher prices, lower quality and fewer choices.

Cancer in a Bottle?

• In 2008, the Organic Consumers Association exposed a problem which
  particularly threatenss women - a large number of leading conventional as
  well as "natural" and "organic" brands of shampoos, lotions, cosmetics and
  household cleaning products which contained the carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane.
  Included in the list of products were several Whole Food's 365 brand
  products and many products in the UNFI catalog. While several dozen
  companies have committed to eliminating the 1,4-Dioxane, neither Whole
  Foods, nor UNFI, have endorsed OCA's Coming Clean Campaign, nor have they
  called on the USDA to crack down on blatant labeling fraud in the organic
  personal care and cosmetics sector.
  

Corporate Consolidation of Organics

• In the last decade, the organic marketplace has experienced hyper
  consolidation, with numerous small to medium-sized farmers, manufacturers
  and retailers being taken over by larger, profit-hungry corporations. Whole
  Foods has employed an expansion strategy that resembles Wal-Mart with its
  targeting of local and independent retailers with new store locations while
  steadily buying out competitors like Wild Oats. UNFI has also grown rapidly
  over the last decade, in part by aggressively taking over other
  distributors, regional wholesalers and manufacturers.

Organics for Elites?

• The organic food and farming movements were born out of the desire to
  provide healthy and safe food to all. Whole Foods' business model: selling
  overpriced conventional foods as "natural," with organics in a subordinate
  role, is a recipe for maximizing profits rather than maximizing the growth
  of organic food and farming. Worse yet, Whole Food's high prices have not
  translated into larger profits for family farms or small-scale
  manufacturers. Likewise, UNFI's growing market share and near-monopoly of
  the organic and "natural" market has reduced the options for consumers and
  independent retailers alike, undermining the growth of consumer buying clubs and the lower-cost alternatives.

Anti-worker

• UNFI and Whole Foods have a history of cutting workers' benefits. Both
  have gone to extreme lengths to block their employees from choosing to
  unionize. Whole Foods has long fought unionization of its retail locations,
  largely ignored the demands of farm workers organizations, like the United
  Farm Workers, and kept workers' wages consistently low by industry
  standards. UNFI has repeatedly fought efforts by its employees to fight for
  better pay, benefits and working conditions. Where workers have sucessfully
  formed unions, UNFI has begun moving jobs to new, non-union locations.