Dear Whole Foods Team:

This week, I spoke with one of your representatives, Jess, at corporate headquarters regarding a rumor which turned out to be false - a rumor that Whole Foods intended to come out in favor of the pesticide poisoning of the people of California in the light brown apple moth aerial spraying public health crisis.

I was really relieved when Jess told me that Whole Foods certainly hadn’t come out in favor of the spray, but I was pretty surprised to learn that your corporation doesn’t yet feel informed enough about this situation to take a stand. Jess invited me to write to you to share what I know, and I am doing so because I feel that Whole Foods can no longer afford to claim a neutral position in this turmoil.

I will offer you 5 reasons why I believe Whole Foods needs to come out strongly against the pesticide poisoning of the people and state of California.

1) It affects your best farmers. As I’m sure you do know, CCOF, after careful consideration, has announced that it does not support aerial spraying of urban populations. Organics are the reason people trust Whole Foods, and we are depending on your farmers to feed our families. We need you to support your organic suppliers who have been put in a terrible position by the actions of the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the incorrect classification of the moth. Don’t leave your valuable organic farmers hanging out there on their own. Jump in and back them, support them, help them get the moth de-classified. Do whatever it takes to defend and help your precious organic farmers. It looks very odd to California that Whole Foods isn’t leading the fight to defend organic growing practices in California.

2) The spraying will affect millions of your neighbors - at least 7 million Californians and countless tourists, many of whom are loyal Whole Foods customers. We are being treated like the casualties in a war zone here, regrettable but powerless. We have been deprived of our constitutional right to safety and hundreds of families have already been sickened by the unpardonable spraying of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in 2007. Whole Foods’ neighbors and customers are being severely damaged by pesticide exposure. We are living in terror here with planes flying over our heads, raining documented carcinogens down on our bodies against the will of our local governments who are trying to protect us from harm at the hands of the State. This is really happening. We have supported Whole Foods in our communities, but if Whole Foods insists on staying neutral, we will understand that you do not reciprocate that support and consider our suffering unimportant to your company.

3) The spraying affects Whole Foods’ staff. Your California stores can expect to experience epidemic pesticide poisoning, resulting in staffing shortages. We do not want to see the good people whom we have come to trust in the Whole Body, Produce, Deli departments and at the registers come down with the horrific short-term illnesses and long-term chronic diseases caused by the documented ingredients in the spray. Aerial spraying of urban populations creates a hazardous working environment for all workers, including Whole Foods’ staff. We are looking to you to protect your valuable staff from this in your 25 stores in Northern California.

4) The spraying puts an end to the concept of organic food in California for any conscientious consumer. Though we have been told by the USDA that farmers can continue to sell produce under the organic label after their products have been aerially contaminated with pesticides, we do not recognize such products as organic. We come to Whole Foods for local or state-grown organic produce and products. As we are certain you must have heard by now, we are asking produce department staff if the products on Whole Foods’ shelves were sprayed with Checkmate in 2007. If they were, we will not buy them. After a long and happy relationship trusting Whole Foods’ products labeled organic, we are being forced to withdraw that trust. After managing our budgets so that they stretch to paying top dollar for organics at Whole Foods, we will lose our motivation to spend extra for food that is contaminated with pesticides and particulate pollution. We are hoping to see Whole Foods take a lead in protecting the integrity of the organic label and demanding that organic farms not be aerially sprayed. Our trust depends on it.

5) As the old adage goes, being silent about a crime is the same as being guilty of it. Numerous lawsuits are now pending in California accusing the state of criminal actions against the people. Spraying untested substances on human beings without consent violates both our state and national constitution as well as the Nuremberg Code. The people of California intend to prosecute our government officials for breaking the law. Whole Foods has created an important and trustworthy public image of supporting public health, fair trade and human rights. If Whole Foods is loyal to national law as well as global codes of ethics, it will be intolerable to them to remain silent in the face of this assault on the people of California. We are your supporters, your customers, your neighbors. We are being assaulted with chemicals known to cause damage to eyes, skin and lungs in the short term and to cause cancers and other diseases. We are being subjected to chronic pesticide exposure which will be enforced on us up to 6 nights a month, 9 months out of the year for up to 10 years or more. We ask how Whole Foods can possibly remain neutral in the face of such a violation of the basic rights of mankind?

If the aerial spraying is not halted, the picture of California will be of sick and dying customers buying carcinogenic food from sick and dying farmers and staff. This is not what we want for our country. We do not believe this is what Whole Foods wants either, but until you examine your consciences and decide what you do want, we are left watching and waiting.

Time is running out for us. In 6 weeks, the spraying will recommence in California. Outraged protest from powerful Whole Foods might save our communities from permanent health damage, so we are writing to you, praying that you will honor the relationship of trust we have all entered into with your corporation when you first opened your doors in our neighborhoods. Please, care about us. We need your help.

For pertinent information, please investigate the following:

Here is an informative town hall meeting video from Berkeley:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Rlf9vns1uE

Here is an interview with Michael Lynberg, a private citizen who began documenting the pesticide illnesses:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n7Q6pmLX3po

Here is a CBS news video on the spraying:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1uzxyhnLuyE

You can watch many other videos about this public health crisis here:
http://youtube.com/user/LBAMspray

Here is a document compiled by the Environment and Human Rights Advisory listing 23 Human Rights Violations the spray presents:
http://www.lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/EHRA.pdf

Here is a web page documenting the known health damages caused by the ingredients in the spray:
http://hopefortruth.com/

Here is a report compiled by two respected UC scientists documenting the Light Brown Apple Moth in New Zealand and its negligible effects:
http://lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/HarderNZReportFINAL.pdf

Here are several websites that are covering the anti-spray people’s movement:
http://www.lbamspray.com
http://www.cassonline.org
http://www.stopthespray.org

This letter has been published at veganreader.com, and our readership will be eagerly hoping for a reply from you. Thank you for your time.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post