Mercola's article today on Organic foods & companies that really do NOT produce organic products, is shocking & sad.
It's a case of customer - beware & be aware. Evermore reasons to buy locally
whenever possible.
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May you always have..Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends that Care!
I recently did some research on which corporations have bought out organic companies. I was rather devastated at the info I found. For instance, Clorox bought Burt's Bees!
When I do my monthly kent state night, I go to a place in Fairlawn (akron burb) called the mustard seed. It was like a whole foods before whole foods became trendy. About 90 percent or more of their produce is organic. Whole foods is less than 50% (and whole foods for awhile was labeling non organic produce as "fresh from the fields"). What bull!
I recently did some research on which corporations have bought out organic companies. I was rather devastated at the info I found. For instance, Clorox bought Burt's Bees!
It's depressing isn't it? This is a few years old so I don't know what changes there may have been:
Hmmm...sitting here stuffing my face with some Stoneyfield Organic vanilla ice cream, and punched it into a Google search, looks like it's now owned by Danone (Dannon). https://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=4010
__________________ "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
Hmmm...sitting here stufing my face with some Stoneyfield Organic vanilla ice cream, and punched it into a Google search, looks like it's now owned by Danone (Dannon). https://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=4010
Here's a few excerpts from an article that talks in about difficulties that organic farms face, one being the shortage of milk. (Have you noticed cheese prices going up?) And it brings up problems with Stoneyfield.
The Organic Myth
Pastoral ideals are getting trampled as organic food goes mass market
So it may come as a surprise that Stonyfield's organic farm is long gone. Its main facility is a state-of-the-art industrial plant just off the airport strip in Londonderry, N.H., where it handles milk from other farms. And consider this: Sometime soon a portion of the milk used to make that organic yogurt may be taken from a chemical-free cow in New Zealand, powdered, and then shipped to the U.S. True, Stonyfield still cleaves to its organic heritage. For Chairman and CEO Gary Hirshberg, though, shipping milk powder 9,000 miles across the planet is the price you pay to conquer the supermarket dairy aisle. "It would be great to get all of our food within a 10-mile radius of our house," he says. "But once you're in organic, you have to source globally."
Quote:
Dairy producers estimate that demand for organic milk is at least twice the current available supply. To quench this thirst, the U.S. would have to more than double the number of organic cows -- those that eat only organic food -- to 280,000 over the next five years. That's a challenge, since the number of dairy farms has shrunk to 60,000, from 334,000 in 1980, according to the National Milk Producers Federation. And almost half the milk produced in the U.S. comes from farms with more than 500 cows, something organic advocates rarely support.
What to do? If you're Hirshberg, you weigh the pros and cons of importing organic milk powder from New Zealand. Stonyfield already gets strawberries from China, apple puree from Turkey, blueberries from Canada, and bananas from Ecuador. It's the only way to keep the business growing. Besides, Hirshberg argues, supporting a family farmer in Madagascar or reducing chemical use in Costa Rica is just as important as doing the same at home.
Quote:
Over at Stonyfield, Hirshberg's sister, Nancy, who is vice-president of natural resources, was so worried about buying strawberries in northeastern China that she ordered a social audit to check worker conditions. "If I didn't have to buy from there," she says, "I wouldn't."
Quote:
Few people seem more hemmed in by the contradictions than Gary Hirshberg. Perhaps more than anyone, he has acted as the industry's philosopher king, lobbying governments, proselytizing consumers, helping farmers switch to organic, and giving 10% of profits to environmental causes. Yet he sold most of Stonyfield Farm to a $17 billion French corporation.
He did so partly to let his original investors cash out, partly to bring organic food to the masses. But inevitably, as Stonyfield has morphed from local outfit to national brand, some of the original tenets have fallen by the wayside. Once Danone bought a stake, Stonyfield founder Samuel Kaymen moved on. "I never felt comfortable with the scale or dealing with people so far away," he recalls, although he says Hirshberg has so far managed to uphold the company's original principles.
The hard part may be continuing to do so with Danone looking over his shoulder. Hirshberg retains board control but says his "autonomy and independence and employment are contingent on delivering minimum growth and profitability." Danone Chairman and CEO Franck Riboud expresses admiration for the man he considers to be Danone's organic guru, but adds: "Gary respects that I have to answer to shareholders."
"Gary respects that I have to answer to shareholders."
Well, we know what those words when translated mean: Say goodbye to quality. Profits are all that matter.
Dean foods bought out Silk soy milk. They changed the product to non organic on the sly. Dean attempted to perpetrate a fraud upon the consumers by pretty much retaining the look of the original package. Very few people noticed that the word "organic" went missing.
u&iraok, I have been railing against what Monsanto and their ilk are doing to our food supply for twelve years. I have been purchasing heirloom seeds for my produce garden for nine years. There are many small business heirloom seed suppliers. One of my friends owns this one, and I highly recommend her. Each seed packet contains a generous supply of organic heirloom seeds, plus she writes a great informational sheet for each (nutrition and growing details). She sells through Local Harvest,. https://www.ommas-aarden.net/index.html
12 years! That's longer than I've even heard of them. I guess you've seen them get worse. Dr. Mercola has put out some good articles on Monsanto this past week.
You probably know a good bit about seeds. What do you think about being able to trust heirloom and organic? And do you know what the problems would be of using non-organic seed, even if not Monsanto:
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Another term to note when buying seed is heirloom. There is no standard as to what 'heirloom' means. To a small-town seed exchange it might mean one thing, to a seed conglomerate another. Most often heirloom means that seeds are open-pollinated with at least a 50 year history. See the heirlooms wiki page for a good synopsis. Also note, before buying seed, that 'treated' seeds are coated in chemical anti-fungals (most likely Captan or Thiram) and dyed. Most small seed companies let you know if a seed has been treated. As to organic seed- best to buy- but most seed varieties have yet to be certified organic. We need to keep certifying varieties as organic, and this is a fairly slow process.
I think non organic growing conditions can cause undesirable mutation. That is the reason I think organic seeds are preferable. Hybrids, although not gene spliced, can nonetheless cause mutation in regard to nutritional value. Nature can create natural hybrids, which is evolution. When buying heirloom seeds, one must consider the native growing conditions. Do you live in a similar environment, will that plant grow well in your area?
Heirlooms may be quite different than what you think a particular vegetable or fruit should be. The produce can look different and taste different. People who favor heirlooms tend to believe they are more disease and pest resistant, as well as stronger in flavor. Sometimes things which aren't touted as growing well in certain conditions will do fine. Gardening is all about trial and error. Oddly, I do very well with onions and shallots in my area but I cannot get garlic to do well. They are in the same family! Almond trees aren't listed as doing well in my area, but I experimented with planting two almond saplings and eight years later they are doing well. Once you establish which plants will do well for you, then you collect your own seeds to plant the following year.
It is best to start with one or two varieties of each type of produce you would like to grow. If that doesn't work, try a different type the following year. Keep a journal so that you remember what you have worked with and how well it did. There are gardening forums which can be quite helpful in terms of education/people sharing knowledge and their trials and errors. I can recommend a new forum, G.I.D.I, as having members who are knowledgeable about organic and heirloom growing. This forum does not tolerate bad behavior from posters, which is unfortunately prevalent in many gardening forums. https://gidi-exitleftonemile.proboards.com/index.cgi
Weather plays a huge role in gardening. Unexpected weather conditions may prevail, causing even the most knowledgeable growers great difficulties in obtaining produce. I live in the high desert, which is a very challenging environment for a gardener. I usually get at least one bumper crop of something even in a bad weather year. In good years, I get multiple bumper crops. :-)
As for the organic certification, there are a number of small farmers who have given up on it. They persist in using organic growing methods, but do not bother to get certification because it is expensive and the regulatory methods are intrusive in their farm life.
Organic soy is not GMO, where you can bet 100 percent of non organic soy is GMO. As for hybrids, they have been doing that for the last millenium. No issues with that, but when you actually start messing with the genes in the lab, you can bet there will be long term issues.
I forgot to mention seed trading. It can be a lot of fun. It can also be a disappointment. Some people don't follow through on trades. You may send seeds, but receive nothing in return. I have done a lot of seed trading and have had mostly good luck in seed trading. Sometimes a person has a lot of seeds and does not require a trade, they are willing to give the seeds in exchange for an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope).
1986, the hybridizing of wheat has created problems. The genes of certain types of wheat have mutated to the extent that many varieties of wheat bear little nutritional resemblance to their ancestors. This has led to the wave of gluten intolerance issues. If one wishes to grow wheat, there are native varieties available. NativeSeeds sells heirloom wheat seeds.
Important info on Mercola today-Organics
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