Who Is Gobbling Up Your “Healthy” Dollars…The Amazing Spinjob
About a week ago BoingBoing’s posted a list of brands that disguise themselves as separate little health companies, when in fact they are just spinjobs from the biggies. I guess thinking we are supporting the little guy gives many of us the warm fuzzies when we shop…otherwise big corporations wouldn’t try so hard to hide their giant behinds behind their quaint little mini-companies.
See any of your favorites on the list? Boca and Morning Star I knew about; one of our local health food stores refuses to carry them because of their giant ties. Kashi got me. I totally bought into their little commercials…smiling…picking berries. My kids are hard core Kashi freaks. I buy the TLCs by the case. Now…I can’t claim to have ever done the slightest bit of research beyond reading the ingredient label…so I guess I am a fairly easy target.
Why does it matter? 3 reasons my little brain can spot…
- For those who try to keep the mega-companies in check by supporting the little guys….obviously these “little guys” aren’t who they say they are.
- For hardcore locavores, it is virtually impossible to track down ingredient sources for these companies’ products. Consider it the challenge of the day…more like the month.
- We ALL need to be very concerned and watchful of the amount of control these mega-companies have over the politics that go into creating the definitions and standards for organics. The looser the better for them…not so much for us.
Although it doesn’t thrill me that these aren’t the little mom’s and pop’s they pretend to be…I will still buy the products that my family and I like. (Boca burgers with Morning Star Facon are what constitute fast food around here.) I am a big believer that dollars being spent DO make a difference and guide companies in the directions we want them to go. Otherwise, companies wouldn’t bother to create organics, vegetarian, or anything healthy in fact if there weren’t a market. The truth is, these mega-companies stepping onto the “health” scene seems to have brought organic prices down for more people to buy them and increased general awareness as well. Because these companies produce in mass, it also means massive decreases in pesticides being sprayed if they in fact move into organics. Besides…there would be a toddler revolt in this house if I denied access to the TLCs. They know where I sleep…and have access to glue sticks.
How throughly do you research the companies that make your products? Does their size matter? Is there anything that worries you about this type of marketing? Do you feel tricked?
I do try to support small local businesses and companies more, mostly because I want my money to go to the struggling smaller stores, but honestly, from a philosophical viewpoint, I think it’s great that bigger companies also have organic or green lines of food. I know the problems of industrial organic, I’ve read Michael Pollan, but in the end, I do think there is a benefit to it. Cascadian Farm still insures that thousands of acres of land are pesticide free which results in less pesticide runoff to the oceans etc etc etc. Unfortunately, right now the way our food system is set up, not everyone has access to local organic. This is changing, farmers markets and CSAs are getting bigger. But the more organic goes mainstream, and the more it appears in local supermarkets, the more that people not particularly committed to “green” living will be able to eat healthier.
I struggle with where to put my dollars as well. We too, rely a lot on Kashi, the TLC cracker, Yum.
One of the things we are moving toward is eating fresh food - lots of veggies, lots of fruit. That sort of steers us away from packaged food which does get confusing. I try to buy stuff from small and local companies, but honestly it is quite a maze to navigate through. Even the small ones I like can one day be bought by a big business - Ben and Jerry, Burt’s Bees, Odawalla juice, etc., etc. I may find a few brands that I absolutely will not buy. Beyond that, I don’t want to stay in the grocery store for 8 hours