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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

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Here's how we got in this dilemma: At a time when we had corner grocery stores and nearly every township had 3 or 4, and we had no government grade stamping requirements, merchants were able to use locally raised beef, pork and poultry, plus produce. The USDA came in, the FDA came in, (in our best interests of course), and rose the shelf price of products or even prevented the sale of local products. Local merchants tried their best to watch their price points and had weekly specials. In came the big chains, the public (always looking to save a penny by driving long distances) switched their allegiance to the chains and the local merchants went away.

Now I am a Co-Op man, I was raised a Co-Op man and will die a Co-Op man. I saw Co-Ops die due to the pure democracy they operate under. eg. people getting elected to the board based on popularity, not because they held Co-Op values. Good employees were getting hard to come by, the better ones went to the chains because they could pay more. The Co-Op had a large wholesale and was vertically integrated, so they were able to meet price points established by the chains, but the smaller stores didn't have the volume to continue on.

Now when I talk about Co-Ops, I am not talking about that Wellstone Wacko Natural Harvest Foods in Virginia or the one in Duluth. Those are environmental nut case outfits, not the type of hard working, honest Co-Op people of the past. I pick up some yogurt and other stuff my wife orders, but love to go in there with my "Wellstone's Dead, Get Over It" button. Gives me a few good yucks each time I see the staff react.

People have brought about this labeling issue themselves. If they would have remained loyal to their local businesses, local farmers would be producing the food we eat today. Instead, we have corporate farms, cattle fattened up too soon before ready for slaughter, foods poisoned to retain shelf life, produced sprayed with herbicides and insecticides. All to provide lower costs to larger corporations. I understand why there is a call for labeling, but it will never stop people from being their own worst enemies.

From: Time for GMO labeling

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