Organic, Local or Politically Correct Only: What is Your Food?

Many American consumers have been duped. They blissfully by organic at higher priced markets so they don't contribute to China "as Wal-Mart does". The truth is they've supported the same all along. The difference is they paid more for it and it may or may not have been organic. USDA organic is a $5billion per year business.

Whole Foods projects local organic foods and customers support them because it's not supporting food from China like Wal-Mart. Guess what - their brand is indeed from China. The organic label has particular things to follow as well as USDA requirements.

The USDA doesn't inspect imported food. Whole Foods reportedly hires Quality Assurance International - which reportedly doesn't inspect any farms in China. The foods are, still, stamped with QAI, USDA and labeling from China on the package.

Quality of foods from China is an issue for contamination reasons. Whole Foods know their foods are from China, VietNam and other countries. Those "California blend" 365Blend organic vegetables - may or may not be organic and certainly are not local. WJLA out of D.C. reported the story that shows the circus overlooked and the mockery of labels that American farmers must follow. People are buying these for higher prices and not looking at the 'product of China' in fine print.

Consumers flock to Whole Foods anyway and buy up these products, endorsing them and pointing to those who shop elsewhere as defilers of the planet. Meat eaters are chastised for their contamination and food choices. All the while ignoring, or not seeing, that their own food not only doesn't support American farmers let alone local, but may or may not be really *organic*! Without inspections and tracking - required of U.S. farmers - there is no way to know for sure.

The list of contaminated products from China is well known. From formula to pet foods to toothpaste and with hundreds of products not approved for pesticide use and more, not all is as it seems.

FreshPlaza.com digs even deeper. They found reference to a Dallas Morning New report quoting a Chinese official who spoke of organic crops fertilized with human waste - not allowed by USDA organic rules. They further touched on a Japanese inspector finding an empty bag of herbicide in an 'organic Chinese soybean field. FreshPlaza.com quotes: The official who stamped the certificate told her, "I don't know. I don't care. They just asked me to stamp it, so I stamped it."

They further point to USDA testing of 127 organic samples in five years, finding chemical residues including Roundup.

Further in 2007 BusinessWeek reported of chaos in the Chinese organic markets. Blogs had made note of the discrepancy after noticing the labeling.

The WJLA report mentioned dozens of food with a country of origin label on it, a list that Whole Foods denies existence of.

While some activists cling to "organic" in judgment the truth is unless you see it grown or know the farmer you don't really know. Volume feeds volumes of people. If you're serious about avoiding pesticides it seems clear - ignore the labels and know your farmer. Prepare to pay them well.