Here’s an interesting stack of information I dug up the other day. What began as a curiosity about who was in charge of some of the common organic food companies ended up feeling like I had opened Pandora’s box. I’ll just jump right in with some of the connections I found. Follow the money and you soon see who is really making the decisions.
The first name is probably a well known corporate food processor, after that I’ll put the names of the organic food companies that are owned outright or controlled. It’s a tough web so if anyone who reads this sees an error or knows of a connection I missed please let me know so I can fix it.
Kraft Foods-Back to Nature, Boca Foods. Kraft is #3 in global food sales.
Unilever-Ben & Jerry’s organic, Ragu organic. Unilever is #4 in global food sales.
Cargill-French Meadows, Hain Celestial, which is also tied into Heintz. Cargill is #5 in global food sales.
Pepsi- Tostito’s Organic. Pepsi is #6 in global food sales.
Tyson- Natures Farm. Tyson is #7 in global food sales.
Coca-Cola- Odwalla. Coca-Cola is #8 global food sales.
M&M Mars- Seeds of Change. M&M Mars is #9 global food sales.
Danone- Stonyfield Farm (80% equity as of January ’04) #10 global food sales.
ConAgra- Hunt’s Organic, Lightlife, Orville Redenbacher’s Organic. ConAgra is #12 in global food sales.
Dole- Dole Organic.
Campbell Soup- Campbell’s Organic.
General Mills- Gold Medal Organic, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen,
Dean Foods- White Wave, Alta Dena, Horizon, The Organic Cow of
Heintz- Hain Celestial, Westbrae, Bearitos, Westsoy, Little Bear, Celestial Seasonings, Imagine, Breadshop, Health Valley, Arrowhead Mills, DeBole’s, Garden of Eatin’, Farm Foods, Nile Spice, Earth’s Best, Heintz Organic, Walnut Acres, Mountain Sun, as well as several others. As you can see, Heintz is into Organic in a big way!
ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) is now in the business of processing organic soybeans. Anyone that knows much about ADM will know that this is a very nasty company.
Monsanto is another very nasty company that is starting their own line of organic.
Wal-Mart is starting to carry an organic line of foods, another nasty company!
I know there are a lot more connections but I don’t have the resources handy that I would need to find the information right now. When I do I’ll update this.
When something becomes as commercialized as organic has become the problems start showing up and the standards start to become a little messed up. These big guys are really after one thing and it looks like this- $- with a lot of zeros after it. In order to attain that they will do as they have done before, flatten the little guy, the farmer, and the customer, in fact, anyone who gets in the way of just one more zero.
I can think of two ways to get out from the squeeze. Cry out to God first, He is able to deliver us. Second, bypass the whole marketing scheme entirely, grow small and sell direct to the customer. So far all I can hear is the organic crowd trying to get big enough so they have a voice. I tend to think that is wishful thinking. You would have to be a snake charmer even if you did have a voice big enough to be heard, which would be almost impossible. We all know how Wal-Mart squashes everything in its path as it marches onward in the conquest of American marketing and shopping. The organic food industry is getting the same treatment. Watch out guys!
4 comments:
I'm guessing it won't be too many years down the road before they make it illegal to market organic foods if you don't adhere to certain regulations, and of course we won't want to do that so we'll be out of business, just like the big corporations want, right?
Jonathan,
You are quite right though that is the case right now, the "organic" label can only be used by the priveleged few that willingly submit to the regulations and pay the eternal fees. That is one of the main reasons why I am not and will not become certified organic.
Good mornin Chris, Haven't talked to ya in a bit. The word organic for me is like "new and improved". I think at one time it had some merit but now it is just a marketing deal. A way for corporations to increase prices and brain wash the yuppies. I am tryin to buy as much as I can from people like yourself. I will pay a fella like you premium dollar for your product before I will give Wal Mart one nickel for their organic deal. It is sad but money talks in this world so I will do my talkin to guys like you. Sick of snow yet? I know I am.
Hi Chris,
I came to your site to post something different but decided to join this discussion today instead.
I must disagree with you about the "Eternal certification fees". We pinch pennies every year to come up with the "Proof" that our product is top-notch. True, the ideal would be to have every city person lined up to buy their food from a nearby neighbor. Maybe if we lived in California or Pennsylvania this would be our reality.
However, we don't have enough neighbors here, who are educated to know what is in their food and to want what we have, to begin to support our family. So we need to sell our grains and beef to a middle man, sad to say. This guy doesn't know us from Adam and he's not about to take our word for it that it's 100% organic. Hence the need for our certifying agency.
Sure, we'd like to keep that money every year, but be honest with me, would you have bought anything from me when we met based on my word alone?
It's a sorry state of affairs but people don't trust anyone anymore because they've all been ripped off. Our agency stands between us and the consumer saying, "Yes, we know these people because we've inspected their operation and they are indeed organic."
Once I was at the farmer's market and this guy was trying to sell me a head of cauliflower. I asked him, "Is it organic?" He looked at me with a dumb expression on his face and said, "UH, yes, it's organic." I knew better than to believe him because I knew that if he was on organic producer, he would have known what the standards are and whether or not he was following them.
For me, I've never been against somebody holding the standards high because we're all such sinners that people will lie to make themselves appear better than they actually are. This lie can cost people like me, with chemical sensitivities, our very lives. I'm not afraid to run my work past an inspector because I WANT to keep my standards high for the health and well being of all. I think that the next guy should be willing to do the same. His very reluctance to do so has to make me wonder what he actually put into that head of cauliflower.
Not ashamed to say I pay my fees,
Dawn
PS. By the way, there is a $10,000 fine now for anyone who says that their product is 100% organic and can't prove it with a paper trail. I guess I'll pay my fees, and earn the consumer's trust as a result, for then we shall all benefit--everyone except the corporations that is!
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