[USCC] Fwd: Wal-Mart Accused of Selling Nonorganic Food as Organic by the Organic Food Advocacy Organization, Cornucopia -

[Jim McNelly]

>
>
>*   Wal-Mart Accused of Selling Nonorganic Food 
>as Organic by the Organic Food Advocacy 
>Organization, Cornucopia - On November 14, 
>Cornucopia issued a News Release, titled 
>"Wal-Mart Charged with Selling Nonorganic Food 
>as Organic; Group Asks USDA to Fully Investigate 
>Organic Product Misrepresentation," which states 
>in part that the organization " ... 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 ... 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 ... 
>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 Products­Market 
>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' organic­food from corporate 
>agribusiness, factory-farms, and cheap imports 
>of questionable quality ..." - The complete text 
>of the news release is posted at 
><http://cornucopia.org/index.php/category/news/>http://cornucopia.org/index.php/category/news/ 
>specifically at 
><http://cornucopia.org/index.php/186>http://cornucopia.org/index.php/186 
>- The complaint filed with USDA is posted at 
><http://cornucopia.org/WalMart_Labeling_Complaint.pdf>http://cornucopia.org/WalMart_Labeling_Complaint.pdf 
>- The white paper is posted at 
><http://cornucopia.org/index.php/wal-mart-white-paper/>http://cornucopia.org/index.php/wal-mart-white-paper/ 
>- Information about Cornucopia is posted at 
><http://cornucopia.org/>http://cornucopia.org
>
>http://cornucopia.org/index.php/186
>
>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 [ 
>http://cornucopia.org/index.php/wal-mart-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.
>
>end
>
>
>
>The above information was sent to you by:
>
>Jack Cooper
>
>Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC (FIEN, 
>LLC) - see http://www.fien.com - FIEN, LLC is a 
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>the agriculture and food industry which is operated as a partnership by:
>
>Jack L. Cooper
>Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC
>33 Falling Creek Court, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904
>Phone: 301 384 8287 --- E- Mail: JLC at fien.com
>and
>Cindy Roberts
>Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC
>1464 Harvard St. NW, Suite 14
>Washington, DC 20009-4610
>Phone: 202 669 6951 --- E-Mail: CAR at fien.com