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262 Comments
- rabidmonkey1, on 03/14/2008, -7/+143Look, I don't care where it's coming from as long as it meets real organic standards. If a company figures out how to mass produce it, isn't that a good thing for everyone? My concern would be that they are fudging over those organic standards in order to produce more efficiently/at a lower cost.
- GuerillaC, on 03/14/2008, -6/+77Fantastic chart. I had no idea about most of these. I love how far companies will go to appear like the farm next door, when it's really a multi-million dollar corporation.
- chris9902, on 03/14/2008, -4/+61Is there really a company called Garden of Eatin'? That's so awesome.
- rickytan, on 03/14/2008, -0/+51A lot of these companies started up independently and were purchased up by the big players.
- godzillaWax, on 03/14/2008, -3/+39Why? Shouldn't you be encouraging major corporations to produce organic food? As far as I'm concerned I hope companies like Kraft see the most profit in their organic brands.
What's more worrisome is how the standards that qualify something as "organic" are applied (there's no one government body that oversees this). - drlha, on 03/14/2008, -8/+43***** Organic, which as can be seen by this chart is basically a marketing ploy by big business.
Sustainable and Local is the way to go if you really want to eat healthy and make a difference. - blackolive, on 03/14/2008, -17/+45I feel betrayed.
- chemosky, on 03/14/2008, -3/+25Organic is a marketing term, go buy local food. To paraphrase Eliot Coleman, "I don't care if it was grown by elves in fairy dust, anything shipped across country isn't fresh." Organic in it's original concept was food grown without manufactured petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides, sold locally by people who practice agricultural craftsmanship. Seriously, a carrot you buy in a grocery store isn't a carrot, it tastes like oil. Spinach tastes metallic from the high nitrate content from the crap they put in the "soil". There are dozens and dozens of cultivars of every vegetable, they all taste different. You're missing out, go buy local, and support your local economy, or better yet, get off your ass and grow you own.
- sepllcehck, on 03/14/2008, -2/+21Are they "making them" or distributing them?
I'd honestly like to know... Is the company relationship a parent/subsidiary or is it divisional? - displaced1, on 03/14/2008, -3/+21As long as the food sold is actually what is advertised, does it really matter who owns the company? I am assuming people are eating organic to try and live a healthier lifestyle.
- Zera, on 03/14/2008, -0/+16WAIT - WAIT - WAIT ! I thought Organic Food was about how it was healthier and good for the future of plant diversity. Even if it does consume far more resources to produce the same amount of food, I thought maybe there were maybe some valid reasons for Organic.
But look at all these comments on Digg! Are the justifications for "organic" just a facade for hating corporations? This is crazy talk. I'm shocked too see so many people complaining about FORTY brands of organic, just because they were purchased by some company they've learned to hate. - roosterjm2k2, on 03/14/2008, -0/+15Keep in mind to that "ownership" != "total control"
I was sitting next to a bigwig from kashi on a flight to San Diego last year. We were talking about how Kellogg's bought them...but Kellogg's has almost no control over the company..they basically just invested in them to get some of the profits...part of the purchase contract was the part that only gave Kellogg's like 10% of executive control...so basically, they could be the tie-breaker in a decision, but not near enough weight to throw around and force change... - sneakeykop, on 03/14/2008, -18/+33the illusion of choice...THE AMERICAN WAY!!!
- theblackgecko, on 03/14/2008, -5/+18Damnable Coca-Cola, ruining the unpastuerized juice market.
- warlokaz2004, on 03/14/2008, -4/+17"Dagoba" Organic chocolate?
"Hmmph. Chocolate you be. "
yummy candy bars with the Force! - pussnuts, on 03/14/2008, -2/+13BREAKING NEWS: Companies who have been in the food processing industry for decades decide to shift markets to stay on top of current trends.
Holy ***** why are you all so surprised? This is how companies stay in business. God damn some of these comments are so ***** stupid. - dondara, on 03/14/2008, -3/+14The term "Organic" is regulated by the USDA and is required to be certified as such. Wal-Mart tried to buy the committee and reduce the organic standards but they were stopped. The term, "Natural" on the other hand is just a marketing term that means nothing but "organic" means certified organic. Now are the certifiers and companies complying as required? Well, you never really know now do you. But anything that discourages pesticides and GMO's is a good thing and should be encouraged. People complain about the cost of organics but it's just your body and health, why would you spend money on that?
- willy3121, on 03/14/2008, -0/+9A lot of people like to buy from local farms for the sake of supporting the little guy working in one of the most difficult industries in America to stay afloat in. Also, closer proximity translates to fresher produce and less gas needed to get the goods to you.
- antifreze, on 03/14/2008, -5/+14And just because they are owned by a large company doesn't mean organic is bad. Organic will still be healthier because its free from pesticides, genetic modification. Just don't think you're helping out a local farmer. And the more you buy organic, the more these big money driven companies will shift their resources from industrial agriculture to organic agriculture.
Now the type of farming that is superior to both industrial and organic agriculture is Sustainable agriculture. Basically, buy fresh, buy local. Buy from a farmer that turns waste into resources for other parts of it's farm.
A good listen on agriculture is this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story ...
(Michael Pollan talking about his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma") - jbmcb, on 03/14/2008, -3/+11> Organic will still be healthier because its free from pesticides, genetic modification.
There is no proof that foods prepared without insecticides or GM are healthier than the regularly prepared foodstuffs.
Listen to the second segment from the following:
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/skepticsguide/podc ...
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/skepticsguide/podc ... - Accolade1, on 03/14/2008, -2/+10No thanks. I like to keep my additives IN the food.
- ViperDaimao, on 03/14/2008, -1/+9why is it healthier to have insect ridden food grown in *****? I'll take my large, cheaper, GM'ed, pesticided, irradiated fruit thank you very much.
- inactive, on 03/14/2008, -0/+7Organic foods DO NOT exclude genetically modified foods. Look it up.
They ONLY refer to the kind of cultivation.
e.g. monstrous genetically modified apple that has a penis sticking right outside of it, organic, if it's cultivated the right way. - DrDragun, on 03/14/2008, -4/+11Why? Because "big companies" are selling you these goods? Look, most farm workers get a better gig working for big companies where they at least get a stable income instead of the constant risk of ups and downs from running your own small farm. It's hard to support a family with that kind of insecurity, and it's also a more expensive economic model.
I went to a pretty good school (Tufts) and took a business class in which the professor asked "How many of you believe that most large companies are unethical" to which everyone raised their hand. The prof's jaw dropped. There is a sort of hyper-awareness of corporate corruption in the country that leads to a misperception that any big company is some kind of evil cheating monster.
In truth, most of these large companies listed in this chart employ honest Americans and even at the white collar level most people are ethical and honest on important matters (thought lots of people lie a little here and there on paperwork in a tedious beaurocratic company with a quality-control system). There are a few cheaters and ***** out there in the corporate world but don't let that make you hate ALL big companies just because they are big companies. - 0crabby0, on 03/14/2008, -0/+7Yep, that's why Digg needs a gardening section
- DrDragun, on 03/14/2008, -2/+9Please don't be an uncompromising hippy... open your mind to other models for sustainability. It is possible for a large national distributor to have sustainable and organic practices. Don't immediately call foul on any company that is not small+local.
If a company truly allows transparency to the public in its production process, then consumer awareness / boycott is the best policing possible. - emilydickenson, on 03/14/2008, -1/+8t-r-a-d-e-r j-o-e-s.
- inactive, on 03/14/2008, -1/+7That's why you ought to go to the local Farmers Market and support your local farmer. Those that sell at the market would like for you to come out to the farm and see how they do things. Then you can judge the food you buy by the farmer and his/her operation.
- imbetterthanu, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6We purchase the majority of our produce from our local farmers market. It's cheaper than the grocery store and the quality is much better. We even purchase our Chrsitmas tree, halloween pumpkins, and various herbs and flowers to plant in our flowerbeds there.
We've never lived anywhere (we're in Raleigh now) that had something like this open seven days a week year round. It's a fantastic resource. - o0joshua0o, on 03/14/2008, -2/+8I like Trader Joe's brand, myself. I understand they source most of their stuff locally.
- mogebier, on 03/14/2008, -1/+7So?
What did you expect?? There is no way in hell that people could afford groceries if everything was made by little farms. It HAS to be made by huge companies.
This is the same amazement that the Apple Kool-Aid drinkers have when they realize that Apple is a HUGE company and not run out of someone's garage. - inactive, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6just what are you talking about?
- Zera, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6Because they do. The whole idea of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in "normal" farming result in far greater yields. Therefore, that increase over "organic" methods becomes a ratio, and since all farming has the same inputs (tilling the fields, spreading fertilizers (both 'organic' and not), planting the fields, tilling planted fields to reduce weeds, harvesting, and transporting (not to mention the production of the seeds used); Therefore, these inputs are "sunk" costs. If you have a bumper crop, or an "organic" crop, it still took the same effort to grow. And if a normal bumper crop results in twice the yield of an organic crop, then the resources needed to grow that organic crop is double per bushel, per crate, per pound, per whatever measurement you want to use.
This is purely why "organic" foods cost so much more. The increase in cost is primarily tied to the higher resources used, although the property tax of owning that farmland also plays a larger role in the price, and since you're getting less produce per acre, the price of that produce has to be higher in order to pay those taxes. The majority of the cost increase of organics though goes to pay for fuel for the tractors, and labor for the farmers.
And I will add one more way that organic food consumes more resources and that is that USDA organic standards ban many techniques that keep produce from going bad on the way to the store/on the shelf/in your fridge. Every piece of food that goes bad before you buy it, you do ultimately pay for anyways, and with more food going bad in transit, less of it reaches consumers, but yet still took resources to create. - Zera, on 03/14/2008, -2/+8"Non organic food contains pesticides and God knows what else"
Okay, but at levels so low they haven't been shown to cause harm? And the benefits of pesticides mean less wasted produce, and therefore more produce is made with the same amount of farming effort.
"Genetically engineered foods are part of reason people in the US are fat. Have you ever done your research on high fructose corn syrup."
High Fructose Corn syrup has nothing to do with Genetically Engineered food, and it is IN so many foods because we have an incompetent government that has subsidized the hell out of corn, and as a result made corn syrup cheaper than cane sugar.
"Also, genetically enhanced food is not our only solution for feeding the world, if it were people wouldn't be starving at a alarming rate."
A year ago the number of the world's obese surpassed the number of starving AND malnutritioned. We have all time record lows on starvation. So which is it? Starving is bad, but so is obesity? At least obesity is a choice. Starvation is low purely a result of GE food.
"what did people do for food before genetically enhanced food? Oh thats right...the did it naturally."
Yep, they genetically enhanced food "naturally", with grafting and hybrid plant experiments. Somehow we forget that none of the plant species we recognize as food evolved that way on their own. It's all human ingenuity. Somehow when the research moves from a field to a science lab, people freak out. - inactive, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6Burt's Bees is owned by Clorox and Ben and Jerry's is own by Unilever(makers of fine products such as Axe body spray and Slim Fast).
- ryan899, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6Where do I buy these apples?
- Zera, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6But the products ARE organic and therefore a real choice. So.......
- Stennie, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4You think these companies have no interest in sustaining the very land they use to produce their products? You say their interests are purely financial, but I would imagine it would be in their financial interests to keep their land sustainable for farming.
- Tweekster, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4If the quality is there, I dont give a ***** who actually made it or for what motivation.
The motivation factor is meaningless to me. I just want quality.
The biggest annoyance about organic food, the goddamn hippies. - thinkart, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4well, as i understand they just own them. im sure in each situation it is different. according to a NY times article about clorox buying burts bees http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/business/06bees. ... they are not changing the way burts bees is run. they are only using them to teach them better practices. yes, i am aware that they pay people to say the "right" thing to the media BUT what if?
- jonnyboy1544, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5Can you blame them? People pay 5 dollars for a bottle of "organic orange juice" for the same benefits that come in Tropicana. But those pesticides might cause cancer in 90 years.
This is bottled water all over again. - johnpaul191, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4But remember most all of these were founded independently. Burt's Bees, Ben and Jerry's, Tom's of Maine etc etc. Ben + Jerrys was a major financial success and acquired as a smart business move on any page. The acquisition of things like Burt's Bees etc is partly because these huge corporations want an organic line. It's easier/cheaper to buy an indie that has some brand presence than starting a new one from scratch. It also gives them a nice founding story for the website or product package.
I kind of put Ben and Jerry's in a different category because they were just a flat out financial success. They were not popular because they were organic or healthy, they just were on the forefront of that kind of ice-cream. The founders had a lot of lefty/hippie political leanings, but at the end of the day ice cream is junk food. - RevRomulus, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4Actually, Stoneyfield is owned by Dannon.
- inactive, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4Actually, I grew up producing most of my own food. It's a lot of hard work, but the pride in cooking a good, healthy meal with vegetables and meats (we also raised cattle, chickens, rabbits and pigs) that are the fruits of your own hard labor is something that can't be summed up in words.
Part of me misses it greatly. - emotecontrol, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4Look, small organic companies are not going to dislodge the big players in the food industry. However, the point of organic foods isn't to "stick it to the man," but rather to get access to healthy food grown and produced using sustainable techniques, without toxic fertilizers or pesticides. If consumer demand is transforming big food producers into big organic food producers, that's a win for everyone. The biggest issue here is to ensure that these organic-labelled foods are actually organic by an independent standard. A better chart would tell us who owned the various organic certification organizations.
- bpende, on 03/14/2008, -3/+7We buy about 80% of our stuff from a coop that delivers, but we do buy some of our stuff from the grocery store. This is a -great- cross-reference chart.
- godzillaWax, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5How far does the organic label extend? If chickens are boxed up and never see daylight, can their eggs still be considered organic? Does it guarentee that the cows are free range? I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely want to know. I just suspect that the term "organic" is not so strict as it should be.
- inactive, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5I wish I was in on that meeting at Kraft or Heinz. "You mean we can charge some stupid hippies 20% more for the same nutritional value and doesn't last as long as canned. Sold!"
- darkstar949, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5Depends on the country that is giving the label - some are stricter than others. As for right now, the Organic Certification applies more to grown foodstuffs [1] than it does to meat. The label Free Range would apply to chickens, however, the United States really doesn't regulate the term too much and all it means is that they have "access to the outdoors" which could be as little as a window in the chicken coop [2]. However, if you happen to be in the EU, then it is a specific legal term that requires the chickens to have daytime open air runs.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_range - jbmcb, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4Not really.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food#Taste_an ... -
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