The Satya Interview with Ronnie Cummins

Many compassionate consumers believe that buying organic food is the
only way to go. The label "organic" means refuge from pesticides,
chemicals and the damaging practices of the commercial food industry.
High-quality, mouth-watering, nutrient-rich produce—all harvested
fresh from the farm, right? We tend to assume organic food producers
are all small farmers who combine ecologically sound farming practices
with a political agenda to promote and develop local sustainable food
systems. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) formed in 1998 after organic
consumers criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed
national regulations for organic certification of food. Today the OCA,
a nonprofit public interest organization, strives for health, justice
and sustainability, and takes on such crucial issues as food safety,
industrial agriculture, corporate accountability and fair trade.
...
And then there is the corporate takeover of organic food brands.
This is a major trend, all the way from Unilever taking over Ben and
Jerry's to General Mills taking over Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen.
These transnationals deliberately conceal the names of the parent
corporation on the label because they know those corporations have
such a terrible reputation that consumers would be unlikely to want to
buy the products. Also, for the most part, they do not list the
country of origin on the label. So organic consumers continue to buy
their products, while remaining in the dark about who produced them
and where they were produced. For example, people who buy the
top-selling soy milk Silk, don't know that Silk is actually owned by
Dean Foods, the $10 billion dairy conglomerate notorious for bottom
line business practices such as injecting their cows with bovine
growth hormone and paying the lowest prices possible to dairy farmers.
They also don't know that the soy beans in Silk are likely coming in
from China and Brazil rather than the U.S. or North America.



http://www.satyamag.com/apr06/cummins.html

The country of origin is a good point I haven't really thought much about in regards to organic produce. From a humanitarian ethical standpoint I think it's wonderful. From a environmental ethical standpoint it's not good.

I guess those that are concerned should shop at their local farmer's market whenever possible.

I've heard someone assert that organic produce, if left on a counter, will *never* rot.
:worried:

Clearly the ideal is buying local organic food or organic food grown in the first world or buy organic fair trade food, but buying non fair trade organic food is still better than buying conventional non fair trade food.

i buy veggies from the local farm - i pick up a box of home grown organic veggies once a week. The downside is you don't get a choice in what's in the box (except they always have potatos, carrots + onions), but the fun thing is trying to work out what half the weird seasonal veggies are each week!

I don't know about the US, but organic veggie box schemes are common over here, and if you fetch them yourself they cost about the same as buying only organic from the supermarket. the place i go gives you a free veggie box if you help them harvest for a morning or afternoon too :pibo:

This is not a perfect world. Unless we are ready to start to farm and make these goods ourselves, we are going to have to buy from these companies, regardless of who owns them. If these big corporations are buying these firms, continuing to purchase these brands will show them there is a demand for these foods and they will continue to offer them and perhaps expand these lines.

I think it is naive to think we are going to stop the world from eating meat, but as individuals, we can help save some animals from this fate.

I think it is naive to think we are going to stop the world from eating meat, but as individuals, we can help save some animals from this fate.

maybe not in our lifetimes, but i think as people evolve more and can eventually think for themselves, they will gradually become more aware of the total unnecissary actions of eating meat and the health benefits to it... and also learn some empathy too... and when you think of veganism 100 years ago and veganism now, it seems to be fast on the rise... its just one more thing humans will eventually mostly grow out of, just like flinging poo and raping anything that moves...

I don't know about the US, but organic veggie box schemes are common over here, and if you fetch them yourself they cost about the same as buying only organic from the supermarket.

I'm so jealous! I've looked into getting one of those- I looked through over 20 small farms located in my area- and none of them had options for a single person home. They all seem to cater to families of 4. I can't eat a gazillion pounds of veggies before they all go bad, so I'm kind of stuck. :wall:

I've heard someone assert that organic produce, if left on a counter, will *never* rot.
:worried:

That person has obviously never purchased organic produce.
Or seen my fridge!!
Organic produce certainly can & will rot!!

The OP's article makes a good case for avoiding corporate monopolization/colonization of organics, but the fact remains that organic agriculture is better for everyone, & as mentioned, there are plenty of non-corporate places to buy organics like farmer's markets.

Was Ben & Jerry's ever organic?