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Chicago is undergoing a foodie revolution. From passing the nations largest soda tax to exploring new and intriguing options for local food, the Windy City is making leaps and bounds to become a beacon of sustainability.

Dont believe us? Here are sevenfantastic initiatives the Windy City has undertaken to further the transition to great, sustainable food.

Just west of Chicago in the prairie town of Rochelle, IL, indoor tomato grower MightyVine has restored acres of farmland that had been damaged by a developer. The growers use Dutch technology comprising a special diffused glass and radiated heat to grow tomatoes 365 days a year. The super-local tomatoes are delivered to stores just a few hours away in Chicago as soon as theyve been picked.

Sustainability is particularly important to MightyVine farmers, who have managed to provide a 90 percent water savings over field-grown tomatoes, not to mention reduced pesticide use as compared to most conventional growers.

You cant get more local than the organic produce grown on the 3,500-square-foot organic rooftop garden at Homestead on the Roof. Executive Chef Scott Shulman has his pick of herbs, chilies, tomatoes, peas, and more to concoct his versatile, seasonal menu, which is served on the 85-seat patio that sits right next to the rooftop garden, which also features two vertical hanging gardens, and dozens of planter boxes.

When Daisies opened last month, Chef Joe Frillman realized his dream of combining his passion for handmade pasta and locally sourced crops, almost all of which come from Frillmans brothers farm in nearby Prairie View, IL. But Frillman is taking the old trope of locally sourced ingredients to the next level, with the goal of rolling out an in-house fermentation program, too.

Daisies is also making strides in recycling cooking oil: used cooking oil is donated to be recycled for biodiesel, and the resulting profits are donated to charity.

Member-supported non-profit Slow Food Chicago is one of the largest chapters of Slow Food USA, with more than 500 members. Its myriad projects include the preSERVE Garden, a project created in 2010 in cooperation with the North Lawndale Greening Committee, the Chicago Honey Co-Op, and NeighborSpace.

In 2013, the city lot harvested more than 430 pounds of food from 31 different crops, and the gardencontinues to grow today.

Founded in 2011, the Urban Canopy comprises an indoor growing space and a two-acre community farm in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. But more than mere growers, the Canopy members see themselves as educators and advocates for the urban food movement.

Founder Alex Poltoraks vision began while working with Chicago Public Schools as an Education Pioneer Fellow. After exploring how nutrition affects children in school, he was inspired to create the project to utilize idle urban spaces to attack this problem at the community level.Through volunteer availabilities, a Compost Club, and a CSA, the group endeavors to make farming as easy as possible on as many unused spaces as possible.

An unused mezzanine spaceof Chicago OHare Airports G terminal has been transformed into the worlds first aeroponic gardenby Future Growing LLC. The garden, made up of a series of vertical PVC towers where herbs, greens, and tomatoes are grown, uses a mere five percent of the water normally used for farming.

The produce grown in the airportis used by local chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, who runs a restaurant in the airport.

Marty Travis is a seventh-generation Illinois farmer. As his farming community fellvictim to Big Ag, Travisdecided to do something about it. He created Spence Farm, a 160-acre beacon of biodiversity where he grows a variety of ancient grains and heirloom fruits and vegetables and raises heritage breed livestock, nearly all of which is sold locally to chefs in Chicago. His story of preserving the history and practice of small sustainable family farming in is told in the film Sustainable Food.

Related on Organic AuthorityThis Technology is Successfully Predicting Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in Chicago (and Maybe Your Town Soon) But What About All the Deep Dish Pizza? Rahm Emanuel Wants Chicagoans to go Vegan Vancouvers Sustainable Food Scene is Totally Killing It

Emily Monaco is an American food and culture writer based in Paris. She loves uncovering the stories behind ingredients and exposing the face of our food system, so that consumers can make educated choices. Her work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Vice Munchies, and Serious Eats.

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7 Ways Chicago is Becoming the New Beacon of the Sustainable Food Movement - Organic Authority

Fruits and vegetables continue to lead the way in organic food sales, but proteins and condiments made big gains in 2016.

The U.S. organic industry maintained steady growth in 2016, with food sales increasing 8.4 percent to $43 billion breaking the $40 billion mark for the first time.

The sizable growth is even more impressive considering total food sales increased only 0.6 percent.

Organic food now accounts for 5.3 percent of all food sales in the U.S., another significant first for the organic sector, according to the Organic Trade Association in its 2016 Organic Industry Survey, conducted by the Nutrition Business Journal this spring.

Organic non-food sales also posted robust growth, increasing 8.8 percent to $3.9 billion, far surpassing the 0.8 percent growth in all non-food sales of comparable items, such as textiles, supplements and personal care items.

The organic industry continues to be a real bright spot in the food and agriculture economy, both at the farm gate and the check-out counter, said Laura Batcha, OTA chief executive officer, in the associations executive summary of the survey.

The robust industry continues to gain ground, gaining market share and making its way into new channels such as convenience and drug stores, foodservice and the internet.

Organic fruits and vegetables held onto the top position in the organic line-up with $15.6 billion in sales, 36.3 percent of all organic food sales. Those sales were 8.4 percent higher year over year, more than double the 3.3 percent growth in their non-organic counterparts, and now account for 15 percent of all produce sales.

Organic meat and poultry sales shot up 17 percent to $991 million for the categorys biggest gain ever. Meat and poultry is one of the smallest organic food categories, but organic poultry moved beyond many years of supply shortages and grew at a rate of 23 percent compared with 9.2 percent in 2015.

The other smallest category, condiments, is not a headliner but is showing interesting trends, according to OTA.

Dips and spices both hit home runs, recording the highest growth rates within the food categories, OTA reported. Organic dips posted 41 percent growth in 2016 with $57 million in sales, and sales of organic spices increased 35 percent to $193 million.

The survey did note oversupply in produce, poultry, dairy and eggs in 2016. The change in the organic marketplace from undersupply to oversupply simply exemplified the ebb and flow of supply and demand as the industry grows, OTA stated.

The biggest challenge is how to grow at a rate that allows for farmers to be paid fairly for the extra work they do in organic while also assuring stability of supply, shortage versus glut, spikes in prices versus drops in prices, said Matt Dillon, Clif Bars director of agricultural policy and programs.

Growth in the organic sector also continues to translate into jobs across the supply chain, OTA stated.

More than 65 percent of organic farms sold product in wholesale markets in 2016, and more than 60 percent of organic businesses with more than five employees reported an increase in full-time employment with plans to continue increasing staff in 2017.

Organic offers in many cases the choice for growth and more viable, stable prices for farmers and food manufacturers, Batcha said.

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Organic food sales jump 8.4 percent in 2016 - Capital Press

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A container of Stonyfield yogurt sits on a shelf in the organic foods section at a Publix grocery store in Boca Raton, Florida.

French food group Danone has agreed to sell its U.S dairy business Stonyfield to Lactalis for $875 million, a move designed to address competition concerns stemming from its acquisition of U.S. organic food group WhiteWave.

Danone said on Monday that Stonyfield had around $370 million in turnover in 2016, and that the sale price represented a multiple of around 20 times the 2016 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for Stonyfield.

Danone shares were up 1 percent in mid-session trading, in line with a similar rise on the CAC-40 index of French blue chips stocks.

"The sale price appears reasonable and we expect proceeds would reduce leverage largely offsetting dilution from the disposal," Liberum analysts wrote in a research note.

"Danone remains on track to deliver 10 percent 5-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) driven in part by WhiteWave and significant savings from the 1 billion euros Project Protein efficiency program," they added.

Danone's 'Project Protein' savings program, unveiled earlier this year, aims to cut costs by 1 billion euros over the next three years.

Jefferies analysts added that the Stonyfield sale was "a decent exit and the removal of a potential distraction for Danone."

Earlier this year, Danone had said it would sell Stonyfield as part of an agreement with U.S. authorities to facilitate its takeover of WhiteWave.

The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.

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France's Danone to sell Stonyfield to Lactalis for $875 million - CNBC

America, which staked out its independence 241 years ago, is undergoing a new revolution of sorts, as consumers across the country opt for healthier meals.

In a country where people love to eat, quinoa, kale and grass-fed meats are fast becoming the normeven during July 4, which doubles as an unofficial eating holiday. In this environment, craft beers and infused water are supplanting Budweisers and sodas.

"There's a major shift going on," said Robert Moskow, an analyst at Credit Suisse. "Whole Foods ushered in a much broader array of options for the consumer that was more organic, more natural, more locally sourced. It ended up educating the consumer on what's going into the food and making them more selective and more sophisticated."

The shift hasn't come without sacrifices: It costs a lot more money to eat healthier. Consumers opting for more organic, locally sourced groceries can end up paying drastically more than their traditional food varieties.

"We as a species are now used to having our cake and eating it too," said Greg Fleishman, CEO and co-founder of Purely Righteous Brands, a consultancy that advises companies on green growth.

As a result, "people are willing to pay a premium for that kind of quality assurance," Moskow said.

As Americans fire up the grill to celebrate Independence Day, CNBC used data from Nielsen and the Beverage Marketing Corporation to figure out how much it costs to swap out classic ingredients for more health-conscious substitutes. In some cases, substituted items can end up costing almost twice as much.

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Here are the cost differences for 6 organic July 4 BBQ foods alternatives - CNBC

Produce processors and retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure sufficient supplies of organic produce as domestic demand continues to rise at a pace that exceeds production, according to a new report from CoBank.

The dollar value of U.S organic produce sales doubled from 2011 to 2015 and annual sales now amount to $5.5 billion. Currently, 15 percent of all U.S produce sales are organic. While organic acres have nearly doubled over the last decade, that pace of supply-side growth has been sluggish relative to demand.

Sales of organic fruit, vegetables and nuts have increased dramatically in recent years and this growth trend will continue, said Christine Lensing, CoBank senior economist in specialty crops. More than half of U.S. households are now purchasing some organic produce. But for a variety of reasons, production has not been keeping pace with demand and the supply gap is widening.

More domestic growers would need to transition to organic to bridge the supply gap, Lensing said. But given current consumption trends and the length of the required transition period, she added, organic produce supplies will likely remain under pressure over the next three to five years.

Food companies and large retailers have increased imports to meet demand and secure supplies throughout the year. The volume of U.S. imports of selected organic specialty crop items soared by almost 800 percent from 2011 to 2013 before leveling off.

Its quite clear the market for organic produce will continue to grow, which creates opportunities for growers, Lensing said. However, transitioning to organic comes at a cost and is not without risk. Steady domestic supply growth will be dependent on consistent, wide premiums that reward growers for accepting the elevated risks associated with organic production.

Despite premiums of 30 to 50 percent, the perceived risks associated with transitioning to organic are often a significant deterrent for conventional growers. Key among those risks is the absence of an established market that offers transitioning growers a premium price during the lengthy three-year transition period, Lensing said. Concerns about market and price sustainability, the additional labor required for organic farming, and the absence of support systems such as subsidies or grants compound grower reluctance.

According to Lensing, the organic industry recognizes these challenges and is taking steps to help alleviate some of the pressures on transitioning growers.

A new partnership between the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and the USDA has been established to provide guidance to growers transitioning to organic production and is laying the foundation for a transitional organic market.

Initiatives such as the transitional organic certification program and the formation of additional strategic partnerships should serve to encourage more domestic organic production and help address the marketing challenges created by supply shortfalls, Lensing said.

Grand Island Independent (NE)

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Surging demand for organic produce widens US supply gap - Scottsbluff Star Herald

GOFFSTOWN --A herd of Jersey cows is grazing on a hilltop on Shirley Hill Road with the Uncanoonuc Mountains in the background.

Jim Shirley's family has farmed these 500 fertile acres - on Shirley Hill and Wallace roads - for nine generations, dating to 1763, 13 years before the founding of the United States of America. Over the years, they have grown vegetables, apples and hops, produced milk and harvested timber and hay.

Shirley, an attorney and shareholder in the Manchester firm of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green in Manchester, jokes that his role on the farm today is to provide "cheap labor."

For 15 years, Jim's wife, Sara, also an attorney, operated a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in which people buy shares for the certified organic vegetables grown on the farm. The CSA is no more but organic vegetables are still grown by nine families, including the Shirleys, who share in the cost, work and bounty.

Four years ago, they found Max and Melissa Blindow to manage the farm for them.

Melissa was born in Michigan and grew up in Peterborough. She studied ecology, math and philosophy, and worked on farms in America and in Germany - where she met Max, who was born in Munster. Max apprenticed and managed farm operations in New Zealand, Germany and America.

Melissa co-founded a green building cooperative, helped convert a hot lunch program to organic local food and taught after-school cooking and gardening classes. She worked as Land For Good's New Hampshire field agent for three years before turning to farming full time.

They met while working on a biodynamic farm in Velbert, Germany, and moved to New Hampshire shortly after to start Benedikt Dairy in Bedford.

At the time they were brought on board at Shirley Farm, they had their own CSA for Benedikt Dairy, which was operating out of the educational Joppa Hill Farm in Bedford. In 2013, Joppa Hill ran into problems with the town because the barn had become dilapidated and was found to have asbestos in it.

Sara Shirley said an individual who was a member of both her and the Blindows' CSAs called her up and asked if she would be interested in the dairy cows.

"In February of 2013 we were introduced to the Shirleys and moved our original four cows to Shirley Farm when the barn at the educational farm at Joppa Hill in Bedford was closed for remediation and we outgrew the space there," said Melissa Blindow.

Today, the Blindows have about 45 cows, 600 chickens and 20 pigs. A milking herd of about two dozen graze at Shirley Farm, and heifers and steers, raised for their meat, are housed on another organic farm.

All the cattle have names.

"We generally name them with names that start with the first letter of their mothers' name. Copper is the daughter of Casey, and Claire and Carlie are Copper's daughters," Melissa wrote in an email. "Birte is Bianca's daughter, Elfrida is the daughter of Echo, etc.

"The bull calves are named by various themes. We had a series of philosophers: Rauls, Copernicus, Camus and Socrates among others, then historical dictators like Bashar, Benito, and Slobo. But caring for dictators felt dubious after a while, so we moved on to Vikings, and now world politicians."

Among the milking herd are three young calves; five more are expected to be born in the next month.

They have continued their Benedikt Dairy CSA, with organic ice cream, one of the most popular products. Everything they sell is certified organic.

"Anyone can sign up for the CSA," she said. "Our ice cream CSA is almost at capacity with just a couple shares left currently. Raw milk, cream, egg, and yogurt shares are still available for Monday, Thursday or Saturday pick ups. Other days are currently at capacity."

The CSA is flexible with all items offered a la carte so plans can be tailored to each household's weekly needs, she said.

Melissa said she and her husband feel fortunate to be "helping to manage and maintain this farm and its natural resources. Careful consideration is given to the history and beauty of Shirley Farm, and our goal is to produce foods that taste delicious and pure. Food that comes not only from our labor but from the labor of those before us."

Jim and Sara Shirley intend to keep the land as a working farm while caring for its historic buildings. The Shirleys live across the street from the dairy operation in a farmhouse built circa 1840. The original building, Jim Shirley said, burned down.

In 2008, they gave a conservation easement of 75 acres of the farm to the town and, with the assistance of the U.S. Farmland Protection Policy Act, the town bought a conservation easement on a neighboring farm on Shirley Hill.

As a result, more than 270 acres on the top of the hill are protected farmland.

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Organic produce, dairy now the focus at 254-year-old Shirley Farm ... - NewHampshire.com

Anti-GMO rally in Pack Square, Asheville, North Carolina (May 25, 2013). Photo Credit: J. Bicking/Shutterstock

The trailer of the new documentary "Food Evolution," which negatively portrays both me and the organic food movement, fails to acknowledge the reality of American mothers. Our families are sick and struggling. And yet, whenwe remove GMOsand related toxins from our diet, we get better. The trailer implies that the movie will focus on the so-called noble promises of GMOs, yet fails to present reality in a noble manner.

In the last paragraph of the description of the film on its website, filmmakers Trace Sheehan and Scott Kennedy say, "And as we take in the scientific process at work, let's do our best to put aside bias so we can have more productive conversations and make the most informed decisions we can."

Yet, in the trailerbefore the movie is even outthey take my words out of context, misrepresenting what I say with heavy editing and belittling the experiences of thousands of American families. That doesn't look like putting bias aside; it looks like an advertisement for GMOs.

In fact, Scott Kennedys crew misrepresented their intentions in order to interview food movement proponents Jeffrey Smith, Vani Hari and myself. Claiming that the film would be a balanced representation of both sides of the food movement was misleading and ignoble.

Vani Hari told me she did not grant permission for her image to be used in the film, yet it was used anyway. Jeffrey Smith and I granted permission for one interview with first right of refusal. The filmmakers failed to honor that agreement and never showed us the first cut. Marion Nestle and I have asked for our interviews to be removed from the film, with no response.

A few months after the interview with Jeffrey Smith and Vani Hari, I was surrounded by GMO proponents Kavin Senapathy and Karl Haro Von Mogel at the March Against Monsanto in Chicago. They shouted at me in order to try to antagonize me into appearing like a hysterical activist. I told them they did not have my permission to use my image, but they did anyway. The filmmakers are more interested in appeasing the chemical companies that sell GMOs and pesticides than of accurately portraying concerned Americans.

In the film they edited my interview in order to make it look like I said, I trust social media more than scientists. What I actually said was that I trust the mothers who are seeing their children get sick after consuming GMOs and related toxins and are courageously sharing their new reality on social media, more than the scientists who are conducting isolated experiments funded by Big Ag.

I said that when I see my child get sick after consuming GMOs and toxins, and then see him get better when he eats organic foods, I dont need another scientific study to tell me we should avoid GMOs and toxins. Thousands of moms agree with me and they are sharing their experiences as well. I trust the moms who are sharing their truth. Apparently Scott Kennedy does not.

This film is not only blatantly pro-GMO, it is patronizing. The filmmakers are trying to make the issue look like its an issue of emotional moms vs. science. The fact is, GMO proponents are nervous because we have the truth and we havesound science to back us up. The filmmakers would not be trying to invalidate us if we did not have something valid to say.

The film attempts to discredit the organic food movement by belittling the power of social media, but the world knows that social media is now the dominant way to reach people with a message. (Just ask President Trump.) Social media is filled with honest stories of sick children, desperate families and skyrocketing medical costs. Unfortunately, pro-GMO proponents are pushing cherry-picked scientific data from short-term studies, while failing to disclose their funding.

Their perspectives are limited by their lack of real-world experience and their motivations are questionable. Its no coincidence that the point the film is trying to make aligns with huge profits for chemical companies.

In theNew York Times reviewof the film, the reviewer writes that while it's true there is an increased use of pesticides with GMOs, "those pesticides are far less toxic."

What degree of food toxicity is acceptable for you to give to your children? Maybe science doesn't know the answer to that question, but mothers do.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson Owes Fans a More Honest Conversation About GMOs than 'Food Evolution'

Neil deGrasse Tyson Narrates New Doc 'Food Evolution': A Blatant Case of Monsanto Corporate Propaganda

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Have the 'Food Evolution' Filmmakers Mistreated Moms? - AlterNet

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross called Amazons recent $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods a clever move because it marries Amazons marketing and distribution expertise with a high-quality, niche retailer. One suspects that perhaps Secretary Ross, a 79-year-old billionaire investor and art collector, doesnt do a lot of grocery shopping.

More to the point, as to the high quality of Whole Foods operation and reputation, he might wish to check with his government colleagues at the FDA and Department of Justice, because Whole Foods violations of state and federal law have been escalating: Theyve gone from defrauding their customers in various ways to adopting food-preparation practices that actually endanger them.

The acquisition could benefit shareholders and consumers alike if Amazon repurposes Whole Foods vast store space, adding new kinds of capacity to its broader businesses. Consider, for example, the shelf space devoted to high-saturated-fat coconut oil, which Whole Foods last summer said was (still!) trending [in a positive direction] and for good reason. Good reason, indeed. Whole Foods is partly to blame for 72 percent of Americans considering coconut oil to be a healthy food, compared with only 37 percent of nutritionists, according to a survey conducted by the polling firm Morning Consult and the New York Times. (It isnt.)

Amazons growing dominance irks those who have a sentimental preference for shopping locally, even if that is at local behemoths such as Whole Foods and Lowes. But for those concerned about things like their grocery products carbon footprint, Amazons efficient approach is undoubtedly greener than the outmoded, illogical Whole Foods model.

Consider this: Last week, one of us (Jeff Stier) called Lowes to see if they had a specific Weber grill in stock, before driving ten miles round-trip to pick up the one item. While getting bounced around the stores phone system and put on hold for the second time for more than three minutes, Jeff, who tries to be as efficient with his resources as he is with the earths, found the grill at Amazon.com. He ordered it, with free two-day delivery, at the same price hed have paid at Lowes, whose employees didnt pick up before Jeff completed his Amazon purchase and hung up the phone.

But a grill isnt an ethically and locally grown organic, non-GMO, gluten-free cherry, a defender of Whole Foods might say. True, but when it comes to sound management, efficiency, and honest dealing with customers, Whole Foods has more in common with Lowes (or, for that matter, United Airlines) than Amazon.

Known sardonically as Whole Paycheck for its outrageous prices, Whole Foods has repeatedly been found guilty of widespread cheating. New York City Department of Consumer Affairs investigators found in 2015 that the company systematically ripped off unwitting customers by routinely overstating the weight of prepackaged foods including meats, seafood, dairy, and baked goods. The co-CEO dismissed these thefts as mistakes.

That travesty followed an $800,000 settlement the previous year with the city attorneys of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and San Diego after Whole Foods stores were found to be overcharging by not accounting for the weight of containers at their already overpriced salad bars.

Whole Foods bills itself as Americas Healthiest Grocery Store, even trademarking the term. Yet on June 8, 2016, in a devastating warning letter one of the most severe compliance actions that the FDA has at its disposal the FDA said Whole Foods was manufacturing, packaging, and storing food in ways that promoted contamination with microorganisms that cause food poisoning.

Among the long list of serious problems identified during multiple inspections in February 2016 at a 70,000-square-foot facility that supplied prepared foods and other products to 74 stores across eight states were foods such as pasta and mushroom quesadillas prepared or stored in places where condensation was dripping from ceilings, a doorway, and a fan.

In addition, the company kept dirty dishes near food, did not supply hot water at some hand-washing sinks, and allowed high-pressure hoses used for cleaning to spray food-preparation areas.

In 2015, Whole Foods had to recall batches of its curry-chicken salad and a pasta salad from East Coast stores after the products were found during a routine inspection of the same plant to be contaminated with a nasty bacterium called listeria. And last October, organic micro greens were recalled from Whole Foods because of salmonella contamination that was discovered not by the grower or Whole Foods but during a random check by the FDA.

This year (through June 19), Whole Foods has announced no fewer than 32 recalls, most often for undeclared allergens or pathogenic bacteria in its food products. These included cheeses made from raw, unpasteurized milk, a known hazard. The fact that many problems failed to be detected by Whole Foods quality-control systems strongly suggests that there are far more safety problems that we dont know about.

There are other ways that Whole Foods fails to live up to its claims about being the healthiest. The companys disingenuousness in providing information to its customers is as bad as its deficient food preparation and storage. Its website promotes the practice of homeopathy including for treating illnesses in babies, some of which, including the flu, can be serious even though homeopathy is pseudoscientific rubbish from the same mold as perpetual-motion machines. (And it ignores both that homeopathic products may actually be harmful and that for many illnesses there are real drugs that actually work.)

Central to the companys grossly inflated pricing and popularity are misleading representations about its organic-food offerings. There is, for example, the holier-than-thou Whole Foods importing large amounts of its supposedly organic produce from China, of all places. Those imports even included Whole Foods house brand, California Blend. The company insists that Chinas organic certification of its agricultural products is just as strict and reliable as that in the United States. If you believe that, we can offer you a terrific price on the Golden Gate Bridge which, by the way, really is in California.

The company must have a low threshold for optimism, because it cites shoddy, cherry-picked research from biased sources.

For instance, it has cited leading research by the Organic Center, an outfit directed by organic-food and organic-supplement makers. Moreover, Whole Foods fails to acknowledge persuasive evidence that debunks the organic-is-healthier hoax. A widely publicized, peer-reviewed analysis published in 2012 in Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers at Stanford Universitys Center for Health Policy aggregated and analyzed data from 237 studies to determine whether organic foods are safer or healthier than non-organic foods. They concluded that fruits and vegetables that met the criteria for organic were on average no more nutritious than their far cheaper conventional counterparts.

Whole Foods may have enjoyed financial success (at least until its share price began to decline in late 2014; it is currently off 36 percent from its high), but lets not confuse doing well with doing good. Wells Fargo and the tobacco companies are cases in point.

Amazon changed the retail landscape by giving consumers what they want convenience, reliability, value, and first-rate customer service. Reconciling that ethos with the current version of Whole Foods might not check out.

READ MORE: Let Us Plunge toward Our Fast-Unfolding Future Whole Foods Cultural Appropriation of the Chopped-Cheese Sandwich College Op-Ed: We Have to Make Veganism Intersectional

Henry I. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist, is the Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution. He was the founding director of the FDAs Office of Biotechnology. Jeff Stier is a senior fellow and the director of the Risk Analysis Division at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

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Is $13.7 Billion a Good Price for Whole Foods? - National Review

Miami Herald

This hospital grows its own food, then serves it to patients Miami Herald The goal was to create educational programs that would give patients access to organic, sustainable foods. Squire leads the efforts in providing meals to patients with serious illnesses and putting on workshops for staff, students and the community on ... and more »

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This hospital grows its own food, then serves it to patients - Miami Herald

Let the battle begin.

Hain Celestial Group Inc., (HAIN) the company behind a variety of organic products including Terra Chips, shares were up Thursday afternoon after activist investor Glenn Welling of Engaged Capital LLC said he has launched a change-of-control director election contest that could include a push to have the company sold.

Specifically, Hain was up by 5% in after hours trading to $35.76 a share on news of the campaign. The company's shares dropped precipitously in August 2016 after it announced at the time that it was delaying earnings and expected to miss its own guidance over revenue recognition problems.

Nevertheless, the situation seems to be coming back under control. Hainreported its annual 2016 report on June 22, after 13 months without filings, after the company corrected what it said we're "immaterial errors" for prior-period financial statements. Itsrevenue is down slightly so far this year, and its profits dropped recently by half, compared to the company's results over the same period last year. Hain hasn't had an annual meeting since 2015. However, with its reports back on track expect an annual meeting and a boardroom skirmish to take place in the coming months.

In a securities filing, reporting a 9.9% stake, Engaged said it had discussions with the company's board and may have further discussions. Welling did not disclose the names of the seven director candidates he has submitted to Hain. However, Welling, who has launched a number of successful director election contests in recent years, will be seeking to replace seven of the New Hyde Park, NY-based company existing eight directors. In the filing, Welling suggested that Engaged could push for a variety of changes at the company including a "sale" of the business as a whole or in parts.

According to a person familiar with the situation, Welling is likely interested in pushing Hain to boost revenue through a new stronger approach to sales and promotion. Alternatively, the activist may seek to have Hain sold to another packaged foods company, he added.

It's very likely that a number of different buyers could be interested in the company as a whole or in pieces, as packaged foods companies seek to increase their exposure to organic foods, he added, including PepsiCo. Inc. (PEP) Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) General Mills Inc. (GIS) , Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) , Nestle SA, and Unilever NV (UN)

Hain Celestial has a variety of well-known brands beyond Terra chips, including Celestial Seasonings teas and Earth's Best Organic. It has dozens of products, including dairy and non-dairy foods, baby foods, frozen foods and deserts. The company says its goal is to be the leading marketer and maker of organic and natural better-for-you products.

Welling's fund accumulated shares betweenMay 1 and June 28 at prices ranging from $32.12 a share to $36.89.

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An Activist Investor Wants to Take Control of Organic Food Pioneer Hain Celestial - TheStreet.com