Spring is sprung! Now that we have officially sprung forward and tornados have begun erupting across the south, Spring is here!
Of course, if you had been with me in the Mississippi Delta last week when it snowed 23 inches, you might be skeptical. Not me. I just got my notification from Stark Brothers that my plants have been shipped. And Stark Brothers understands planting time.
While I was on the road last week, my friends Saul and Jesus were working in my garden. I have had raised beds for 20 years and those are still fairly easy possible for me to maintain. But this year I have decided to greatly expand my garden, and expansion is hard work.
It’s not that I mind hard work. I wore out 3 pick axes putting in my raised beds. But that was then. Now that COPD has claimed a substantial portion of my oxygen supply, cutting trees and digging rocks must be left to the boys. They are always good to help, but the promise of future strawberry shortcakes was a powerful lure, too.
Initially my garden expansion was prompted by the increasing cost of everything, including food. The price of produce is rising dramatically here, along with other staples. We have been debating measures to cope with the increased financial strain. Naturally, we looked back to when we were making much less money to see how we coped back then.
I am one of those "back to the land" city kids who had never grown anything but houseplants before I bought a farm. But I approached gardening with enthusiasm, learning about organic gardening and how to can and preserve the fruits of my labors. Over the years, though, the demands of work have decreased the time I have for many things, and we gradually gardened less and bought processed foods more – with predictable results.
So now we have a reason to back up that train, and I am really looking forward to it. Yes, it’s hard work, but there are worse things in life. Lots worse things. And some of them come with an organic label.
One of my best resources in learning about organic gardening has been the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California Santa Cruz. They are a wealth of information. I was particularly interested, then, to find a link to work by CASFS post-doc Phil Howard, who had done some interesting research called What Do Consumers Want to Know About Their Food, (pdf). This is one of the first comprehensive studies of consumer needs and how they go about meeting them.
I also found this link to an article in GOOD Magazine where Howard has compiled a list telling which giant, high-fructose megacorps own your favorite organic microbrands. Gaaak! According to Howard, more than 40% of the packaged organic foods on the shelves of natural food stores are produced by some of the biggest companies in the world.
Kraft, the #1 food megacorp, owns Boca Foods and Back to Nature; Number 3, PepsiCo, owns Naked Juice; Number 6, General Mills, owns Cascadia Farms and Muir Glen. I was as surprised to learn that Dean is the seventh largest megafood company as I was to learn they own Horizon, Alta Dena, White Wave, and Silk brands – and The Organic Cow of Vermont.
Everyone’s favorite food villain, Conagra, is only #9 in size, with its organic brands Lightlife and Alexia Foods. Kellogg, number 12, owns Morningstar Farms, Naural Touch, Gardenburger, and Bear Naked. Oh, and all of those touchy-feely Kashi commercials? That’s Kellogg too.
Coca-Cola may only be #15, but it has its own organic brand – Odwalla – and Hershey Foods (#23) owns Dagoba (so much for that "Fair Trade" chocolate). But the big winner in the organic look-alike market is Heinz. It is #27 in size, but it has 21 organic brands (Arrowhead Mills, Beritos, Breadshop, Casbah, Celestial Seasonings, Debole's, Earth's Best, Garden of Eatin', Health Valley, Imagine, Little Gear, Mountain Sun, Nile Spice, Rice Dream, Shariann's, Soy Dream, Spectrum Organics, Tofutown, WalnutAcres, Westbrae, Westsoy)
Not only are they dominating the organic foods, they are also buying up the organic and open-pollinating (that’s the gardening version of open-source, for you non-gardening geeks) seed companies. M&M Mars now owns Seeds of Change, but you will never find that out on their web site. Instead, they tell you that
In 1989, we at Seeds of Change started with a simple mission: to help preserve biodiversity
Neither do they mention they now mono-crop, which is the anthesis of biodiversity. Even worse, Howard says that many organic seed varieties are now available only through a giant seed company called Seminis, which was acquired by Monsanto in 2006.
But before you start the celebration of megacorps coming over to the organic way of thinking (you didn’t REALLY believe we would be the ones to benefit, did you?), the Organic Consumer’s Association has some bad news. In a report titled Corporate Organic & Supermarket Chains Undermining Organic Integrity they outline the many ways this is bad for organic producers and consumers.
"Even though a 50-acre field of broccoli may not be sprayed with noxious chemicals, it is still mono-cropped, mechanically harvested and transported thousands of miles before it is eaten." Kneen argues that organic or not, industrial agriculture negatively impacts the environment through the loss of crop and seed diversity and fossil fuels required for large machinery and long-distance shipping.
Megafood corps aren’t adopting the values or methods of organic gardeners. They are bringing their "big agri" approach to organic gardening. According to Howard, organic agriculture increasingly resembles the global, industrial agriculture system it was created to combat. And in the process, they are destroying local producers.
most consumers do not distinguish between local and corporate organic foods. Johnston describes the frustrating attitudes of many shoppers, "If it's organic, it's good, even if it is shipped from Mexico or Europe. The lowest possible price is important."
Large companies are often able to sell one organic product at a low price by subsidizing it with a line-up of non-organic products, thus undercutting the small organic producer.
While I wasn’t surprised to read that Atlantic Superstores was a major offender, I was depressed to find out about another one – Whole Foods.
Howard describes why supermarket chains like Whole Foods rarely stock local organic produce. "Whole Foods has centralized their distribution of produce, and it's easier for them to buy from a large-scale grower in Mexico than a small-scale farmer next door," he explains. "The price premiums that small-scale farmers once relied on to stay in business have been declining as they are forced to compete with massive farms that grow only a single crop. These mega-farms have economies of scale but externalize more costs to society and to ecosystems in comparison."
So, like most things, we have to become more informed consumers. I am excited that we are only three weeks away from the opening of our local Farmer’s Market, which is one of the easiest and best ways to get high-quality produce and support local growers. While I don’t expect to be selling at the market this year, I will certainly be shopping there.
And I will certainly be looking for Top Comments, too. If you see an outstanding comment, send a link along to :
Topcomments at gmail dot com
Here are tonight’s nominees:
From BeninSC
I thought this picture comment by FireCrow was one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen, with a cuteness quotient off the charts! The comment was lovingly intended, too, which adds to its appeal in my book.
From annetteboardman
I think this comment by Horsefeathers is brilliant – a great laugh to end a stressful day.
From bronte17
Heh... in a comment thread about nOObs, one of the older members said they STILL didn't understand all the "rules and etiquettes" of DailyKos.
Look who popped in and said he didn't understand all the rules either. LOL
But seriously. This started out because a nOOb "inappropriately" asked a diarist for their tip jar and people got hostile.
Heart of the Rockies very eloquently said it best: "In the good old days... people who had been around for awhile used to help out and instruct the newbies. We could at least maintain that courtesy, couldn't we?"
From me
jalapeño starts a long and hilarious thread of baseball, bowling and cigarette puns] in BillinPortlandMaine's diary Join Me.
Karmakin has an excellent take on the nature of the dKos infighting in Game Theory's excellent first diary Note From A Lurker.
JayAckroyd is spot on about a timetable for getting out of Iraq.
Flint knows a lot more about teargas than I ever hope to know, but Meteor Blades adds some words of wisdom and experience.
And Tonight’s Top Mojo, courtesy of BeninSC:
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 30 of each plus ties):
1 Oops. by Game Theory - 536
2 You are forgiven my son by JPZenger - 192
3 and so is the 50-state strategy by Barcelona - 170
4 If Hillary wins, Dean is gone by aaraujo - 158
5 Hillary's tax returns are right here by FishOutofWater - 157
6 Author's bio by JPZenger - 153
7 So is the Senate and congress n/t by ParaHammer - 141
8 Hey This Is Fun by Game Theory - 130
9 How can I boycott a site by kestrel9000 - 130
10 Clinton 2008 win = a GOP congress in 2010 by aaraujo - 124
11 Good for Obama by turneresq - 112
12 Do you love Howard like I love Howard? by nj mom - 101
13 I heard them creaking when you entered the thread by Trix - 100
14 Hear by DarkSyde - 97
15 I like that there's always someone here... by JeffLieber - 88
16 And when the docs are already on Obama's site. by jhutson - 88
17 Don't Even Worry About 2010-She'll Lose 45 States by IndianaDemocrat - 86
18 boycott? LOL... by kubla000 - 84
19 That's how you have to be with those people by Muzikal203 - 84
20 Heh by DH from MD - 78
21 Obama has run his campaign with... by First Amendment - 75
22 There's a reason the "uneducated" voters by Muzikal203 - 73
23 OOOOHHHH SHIT ! by WeBetterWinThisTime - 72
24 Wow. And the Trib by insects8mybrain - 72
25 wouldn't that be LOVELY? by Inky99 - 71
26 Wow! This has been the best diary all day. by Lava20 - 71
27 I'm not surprised. No dodging. No funny business by LJW - 70
28 I am beginning to think that the DLCers and the by RubyGal - 69
29 Keep pulling the trigger by socratic - 69
30 As always by PBnJ - 67
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 Tip Jar - 15 March by Jerome a Paris - 617
2 Oops. by Game Theory - 536
3 Tips for Obama camp's swift, hard retort by jhutson - 367
4 Recommended by jenontheshore - 282
5 answer: yes by thereisnospoon - 275
6 Gawd, how I miss police phalanxes ... by Meteor Blades - 261
7 You are forgiven my son by JPZenger - 192
8 Tip Jar by PolitX - 191
9 This could be a whole new genre by Sun dog - 185
10 and so is the 50-state strategy by Barcelona - 170
11 If Hillary wins, Dean is gone by aaraujo - 158
12 Hillary's tax returns are right here by FishOutofWater - 157
13 Author's bio by JPZenger - 153
14 So is the Senate and congress n/t by ParaHammer - 141
15 I am not boycotting strike diaries by jalapeno - 139
16 your link by Prison4Bushco - 138
17 How can I boycott a site by kestrel9000 - 130
18 Hey This Is Fun by Game Theory - 130
19 Please be sure you read the final . . . by nyceve - 127
20 Yes, I like this by The Lighthouse Keeper - 126
21 Clinton 2008 win = a GOP congress in 2010 by aaraujo - 124
22 Tips / Mojo: 15 March 08 by A Siegel - 115
23 Good for Obama by turneresq - 112
24 Vent Hole by ek hornbeck - 107
25 Do you love Howard like I love Howard? by nj mom - 101
26 I heard them creaking when you entered the thread by Trix - 100
27 Hear by DarkSyde - 97
28 Tip jar linked here. by geomoo - 92
29 I like that there's always someone here... by JeffLieber - 88
30 Tip-jar for a polar bear. by ShawnGBR - 88
31 And when the docs are already on Obama's site. by jhutson - 88