Patricia Foreman wrote:
> The point I want to make in this discussion is not whether or not Whole
> Foods can or will buy from local growers, but that they should not be using
> our image of wholesomeness and goodness to sell their mostly conventional
> products. We small farmers are pawns in the Whole Foods advertising and
> marketing ploys. They are very good at using phrases such as FREE ROAMING to
> dupe their customers into believing that ALL their products are organic,
> when this isn't even close to being reality. I agree with all of you who say
> that a chain store has buying challenges that small farmers often can't
> meet. For that matter, most small farmers can make more money, easier, by
> selling to local consumers. But, when a farmer represents a group able to
> produce 50,000 pasture-raised broilers annually, with a consistently
> excellent, USDA packaged product, available every month of the year, then we
> should at least have an opportunity to talk to a chain store buyer. Instead,
> Whole Foods continues to buy their chickens from the broiler barns, then
> resorts to phony advertising such as FREE ROAMING to sell product.
> Incidentally, the US Department of Agriculture encourages this duplicity by
> allowing labeling of organic chickens and eggs that are grown in barns
> without access to any pasture. They also allow labeling of FREE RANGE any
> time chickens have access to an open door that leads to the barn yard. We
> should ask USDA to tighten up the labeling requirements.
>
> Andy Lee
> Good Earth Farm
>
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