Whole Foods CEO: Organic Food Is Worth It

On the heels of a Stanford University study that found little evidence supporting the claim that organic food was healthier, Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb is defending the decision to eat organic.

Yahoo!'s Daily Ticker blog spoke with Robb, who disagreed with the study's findings:

"I've been an organic gardener all my life…and I can see..the vitality of the food from my own experience of raising vegetables."

Robb protested that the authors failed to include more research that found "the nutrient intensity of organic food was 20% to 50% greater" than that of conventional foods.

He also stressed that there are reasons to go organic beyond health, including the environment and treatment of animals and workers.

Earlier this month, HuffPost spoke with Charles Benbrook, chief scientist at The Organic Center in Oregon, who also expressed concern about the study's methods:

"The Stanford team is a bunch of doctors and clinicians, and they took on a project completely outside their training and experience," added Benbrook, who published a critique of the review. "Unfortunately, their study doesn't shed any light on the subject -- just a lot of smoke."

Organic food continues to grow in popularity -- in 2011, sales totaled an astounding $29.3 billion.

Loading Slideshow

• Gray Sole

  Wild-caught <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=gray+sole" target="_hplink">gray sole</a>, or Atlantic sole, has been dangerously overfished over the last 50 years, leaving its numbers are very low. Whole Foods will instead buy more flounder, a similar species.

• Skate

  <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=skate" target="_hplink">Skate</a> has also been very overfished. The majority are caught with bottom trawls, which result in accidental catches and significant damage to the seafloor.

• Atlantic Cod

  <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=atlantic cod" target="_hplink">Atlantic cod</a> caught by trawlers will be banned, although some caught by gillnets or hook and line will be allowed by Whole Foods. <em>Photo by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maritimeaquarium/5121214242/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk</a>.</em>

• Atlantic Halibut

  Most <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=atlantic halibut" target="_hplink">Atlantic halibut</a> have been overfished. They're also often caught with trawls, which disturb and destroy the seafloor.

• Octopus

  <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=octopus" target="_hplink">Octopus</a> is a popular ingredient in sushi, though there's little firm population data available. However, most octopus are caught in bottom trawlfisheries, which have concerning levels of bycatch and can damage the seafloor. <em>Photo by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xcbiker/544256864/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">XcBiker</a>.</em>

• Sturgeon

  The numbers of imported <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=sturgeon" target="_hplink">wild sturgeon</a> have taken a dive as a result of overfishing for their eggs, or caviar.

• Tautog

  Partly as a result of their slow rates of reproduction and growth, populations of <a href="http://www.blueocean.org/programs/seafood-search-result?dropdownlist=&sushi=n&keyword=tautog&x=0&y=0" target="_hplink">tautog</a> are low.

• Turbot

  This large flat fish is <a href="http://www.blueocean.org/seafood/seafood-search-result?dropdownlist=&keyword=turbot&x=0&y=0" target="_hplink">overfished in the Atlantic</a>.

• Imported Wild Shrimp

  Imported wild <a href="http://www.blueocean.org/programs/seafood-search-result?dropdownlist=&sushi=n&keyword=shrimp&x=0&y=0" target="_hplink">shrimp</a> are often caught with bottom trawls that damage the seabed and result in bycatch of endangered species like sea turtles.

• Rockfish

  Some species of <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=rockfish" target="_hplink">rockfish</a> will disappear from Whole Foods, but others will still be found. Among the threatened varieties are some species of Alaskan rockfish, which may already be locally depleted. They're also caught with environmentally-destructive trawls.

• Tuna

  Whole Foods stopped selling bluefin <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=tuna" target="_hplink">tuna</a> several years ago, and now banned tunas include species listed as "<a href="http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/04/no-red-rated-tuna-swordfish/" target="_hplink">red</a>" by its partners. <em>Photo by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/invernodreaming/6125533828/sizes/o/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">InvernoDreaming</a>.</em>

• Swordfish

  Many <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=swordfish" target="_hplink">swordfish</a> are caught with methods that are often snare sea turtles, seabirds and sharks. Whole Foods will only carry swordfish caught using handlines, which involve a single baited line that catch one fish at a time and result in virtually no bycatch.

Comments

[mattyr2]

03:16 PM on 09/26/2012

Its really simple, organic is better. It tastes better, its better for the environment, its better for the sustainability of our future generations. That being said, if produce is grown sustainably but not certified organic that if perfect or just the same in my eyes. People need to realize that even if the nutrition is the same from conventional to certified organic the amount of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers is what offsets the difference, not to mention the environmental damage it causes to the water sheds, living soil etc. WHOLE FOODS sucks these days they have gone way down hill in quality, they should never carry conventional produce, I do not buy there. Robert SF apples are $2.69 a lb get a grip!!!

[Robert SF]

10:44 PM on 09/24/2012

Eating organic is simply narcissistic, smug hipster attitude. Fine, pay $8 for an Apple. I don't care.

[mattyr2]

06:03 PM on 09/26/2012

Really? Eating organic is a narcissistic, smug hipster attitude. Apples are far less. Figure this in 1900 there where no pesticides,chemical fertilizers, etc. The organic movement is just making high quality food available for all, and eventually the price of your so called $8 apple would drop if there were no conventionally grown produce, sustainability is where its at! Pipe down if you truly don't care, obviously you do to put up your post. Eating purer clean foods will solve much of the disease that is caused by bad food choices. Go check out Dr. Robert Morse

[cahye123]

11:18 AM on 09/21/2012

really? most studies now say otherwise. Oh yea, didnt you guys get in trouble for selling uncertified chinese veg as organic? yes, yes you did

[David LS]

12:43 AM on 09/21/2012

Mr Robb wants his share of that 29 billion.
Amazing how the size of ones pockets affects their opinions.

[Pavarti Ben]

08:04 PM on 09/20/2012

I agree with Mr. Robb. However, not everything at WF is organic, especially not the prepared food they sell. WF is a large corporation, a business who needs to make money. Buying local, in season, and from small farmers is the best alternative. Keeps the local economy strong and helps keep the small farmer alive.

[holdin5aces]

12:28 PM on 09/20/2012

What is not worth is going to Whole Foods. The ones in my area have zip for parking and are sited in traffic nightmares.

[Acorn Tree]

08:18 PM on 09/20/2012

luckily i have a boy to get my groceries and thats where i get them from

[OtayPanky]

02:14 AM on 09/21/2012

Can you still call them that?

[holdin5aces]

11:18 AM on 09/21/2012

Are there girls that do that?

[samuel liu]

03:48 AM on 09/20/2012

eat organic, go to costco-- almost everything there in the food section is organic ... and not gauging!

[EKAM8]

10:41 PM on 09/19/2012

Revealed: MONSANTO GM CORN CAUSED TUMORS IN RATS
French scientists have revealed that rats fed on GM corn sold by American firm Monsanto, suffered tumors and other complications including kidney and liver damage. When testing the firm’s top brand weed killer the rats showed similar symptoms.
The French government has asked its health and safety agency to assess the study and had also sent it to the European Union's food safety agency, Reuters reports.
"Based on the conclusion…, the government will ask the European authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health, measures that could go as far as an emergency suspension of imports of NK603 maize in the European Union," the French health, environment and farm ministries said in a joint statement.
Researchers from the University of Caen found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller – or given water mixed with the product, at levels permitted in the United States – died earlier than those on a standard diet.
The research conducted by Gilles-Eric Seralini and his colleagues, said the rats suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The study was published in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology and presented at a news conference in London.
Fifty percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group, said the researchers.

[Acorn Tree]

08:19 PM on 09/20/2012

thanks for your information i will continue to not care

[cynicalbynature]

10:20 PM on 09/19/2012

I'm pretty sure many of you are missing the point of organic foods. It's the fact that the produce isn't drenched in pesticides and GMO's to make bigger, more robust plants. Further, livestock are are not pumped full of hormones which make the cows produce ridiculous amount of milk, the beef grow twice as big as a non-hormone pumped cattle nor are they fed ground up sick and diseased livestock who don't make it to market...perhaps the nutrient value is the same as non organic products, as for me - i'd much rather spend more money on products that won't make my child develop at an earlier age due to the hormones in the animal products, and become toxic with the pesticide laden produce that is available in most grocery stores.

[shbkyn]

09:43 PM on 09/19/2012

I do not buy all the food I eat from Whole Food, but most I do. I will not buy meat from any place but Whole Food, I cannot really afford the higher prices, but it is worth it. The meat from regular stores, the animals are fed animals by products.

[holdin5aces]

12:29 PM on 09/20/2012

The animals are the by products.

[TwoZeroOZ]

01:46 PM on 09/19/2012

Well there you have it. Studies say it's not worth it, but the CEO of an organic company says it is.

I wonder what evidentiary weight the organo-nuts will place on each, lol.

[Zonatron]

01:27 PM on 09/19/2012

Sure takes the "authorities" a long time to get around to saying what we have been posting for months. This must be a new kind of plagiarism. Wait for the posters to say it then use it for a headline.

Isn't the CEO of Whole Paycheck a right wing whackadoodle? Interesting.

[Jim DiGriz]

04:27 PM on 09/19/2012

Except you left wing whackadoodle posters didn't read the Stanford study review and have consistently misrepresented its findings in support of your anit-science beliefs.

[Zonatron]

07:57 PM on 09/19/2012

Whatever

[plantbasedpunk]

11:27 AM on 09/19/2012

I thought John Mackey was CEO but apparently him and Walter Robb are in fact both co-CEO. Learn something new every day. And yes, one of my biggest reasons for supporting organic food is the environment and avoiding GMO crops. The study was very narrow sighted.

[Jim DiGriz]

04:32 PM on 09/19/2012

Well at least you understood what the study was about. It was funded out of pocket by the researchers so it was indeed narrow in focus but scientifically valid.
There are many hundreds of studies in the last ten years looking at various aspects of organic and sustainable framing and its environmental affects. It would be very beneficial for a non-corporate sponsored review of the scientific articles on this subject.

[Dingir Uzor]

11:06 AM on 09/19/2012

Once again the "experts" get it wrong/and or completely miss the target. I think the point of eating organically is to omit processing, refining, chemicals, potentially dangerous pesticides, hormones, and genetically modified nonsense from the diet that the body was not designed to metabolize. Bottom line.