Yesterday at Natural Products Expo West, the biggest organic trade show of the year, Whole Foods made a HUGE announcement.

The company said that by 2018, all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

The importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. Why? Read more »

Reflecting back on 2012, it was truly an amazing year and so much happened that I can hardly believe it.

More than anything, I am beyond grateful for the growing number of people who read what I have to say here. So, I thank each and every one of you for the time you spend on my site and on my social media pages.

In no particular order, here are my Top 5 Organic Food Moments of 2012.

COSTA RICA TRIP

The trip I took to Costa Rica in February was unforgettable. We went to EARTH University, learned how sustainable bananas are produced, saw the incredible work that the Whole Planet Foundation is doing down there, spent time on the coast at Puerto Viejo, and built a biodigester for a local family in need.

It may very well be the best moment since I started livingmaxwell a few years ago. Read more »

When I broke the story at the end of May that Whole Foods would be opening up in Harlem, no one at the company would confirm this.

Yet I had every reason to believe that this was going to happen. Why? Read more »

I know that this reaction is coming very late but for the last two weeks, I had been working around the clock planning our GMO-labeling fundraiser in NYC and did not have time to watch the video.

With people constantly asking for my opinion on the Whole Foods/GMO controversy and with the event finally over, I saw the Organic Spies video in its entirety last night and here is my reaction.

The fact that Whole Foods sells GMOs is nothing new to me. In the past, I have had very specific conversations with the people in PR at Whole Foods about this issue, and they told me point blank “Yes, we sell products that have GMOs in them.”

As the Organic Spies video showed, however, not all employees realize this and many of them are giving out incorrect information about whether Whole Foods sells GMOs or not.

This is unacceptable. Employees cannot be giving out the wrong information, especially when it comes to GMOs. Read more »

Since the Stanford study came out a week ago, the organic industry has been under constant attack.

While a litany of bloggers, academics, and health advocates have stood up for organic, the industry’s leading company, Whole Foods, is using its muscle to do the same.

As I reported last week, Whole Foods came out and endorsed Proposition 37, the very important GMO-labeling initiative in California. Read more »

As I have been writing about lately, Proposition 37, the ballot initiative in California that would require the mandatory labeling of GMOs, will be voted on in November and is the most important event in the industry since the USDA approved the National Organic Program more than a decade ago.

Up until this point, however, Whole Foods has been very silent on this issue since the company generally stays out of food politics.

But just minutes ago I got an email from my contact at Whole Foods that blew me away.

Whole Foods has now come out and endorsed Proposition 37! Why? Read more »

Public television is now officially promoting organic, and I could not be happier!

In partnership with Whole Foods, PBS Kids has launched a program called “Fantastic Organic”, which will provide fun, easy-to-use tools and educational resources to assist families in making educated decisions about organic food and to encourage healthy lifestyles.

The “Fantastic Organic” campaign will utilize online resources from PBS Parents, PBS KIDS and Whole Foods to help families learn to cook, shop and explore organic food together.

In addition, select Whole Foods Market stores will host in-store events for kids and families to share facts, tips, and advice about buying organic products. Read more »