| What we need to know
about the corporate takeover of the "organic" food
market
by Carole Resnick
Organic food has been the refuge of many consumers who have
become aware of the dangers of pesticides and other chemicals
in the growing and processing practices of the commercial
food industry. Many of us have come to trust the word "organic"
as the indicator of safety and healthfulness in the foods
we choose. We tend to make an implicit assumption that organic
food producers are still small farmers who combine ecologically
sound farming practices with a political agenda to promote
and develop food systems which are local, sustainable, and
able to survive independent of corporate agribusiness.
More often than we realize, all that remains of this image
is an illusion of advertising and marketing. Far too many
of the local small farmers who brought the value of organic
farming practices to public attention have been unable to
survive the onslaught of corporate competition as organic
food has been "developed" in the corporate food
arena.
What we call "organic" plant or animal food is,
in fact, just plain food that has not been adulterated by
chemicals in the process of doing what it does naturally‹grow.
Organic does not necessarily mean humane treatment for animals
(as in the case of dairy products or meat), nor does it mean
"regionally grown" or "fresh."
The Northeast Organic Farming Association, the regional organization
representing organic growers in the northeast U.S., urges
us to choose locally grown food which is not certified organic
over organic food which is corporately marketed and travels
long distances. Why? The environmental impact of long distance
trucking, energy for refrigeration, etc., is extremely damaging.
Food which travels far arrives as old food, trading in nutritional
value for organic status. For example, the New York Times
Sunday Magazine (5/13/01) reported that a strawberry traveling
across the continent potentially provides 5 calories of food
energy and takes 435 calories of fossil fuel energy to deliver.
The same New York Times article also reported that five giant
farms control fully one-half of the $400 million organic produce
market in California. It should come as no surprise that capitalism
has extended it¹s efforts into this piece of the economy.
Corporately owned organic brands now take up the majority
of space in the organic section of your favorite grocery store.
Organic food is seen for its profit-making potential and treated
as a "market niche," resulting in corporate farms
setting aside "organic" fields right alongside fields
using conventional practices, including genetically modified
seed. As part of its policies in support of large business
interests, the U.S. government has established federal standards
for organic certification which favor corporations, and are
too expensive for the average small farmer to meet.
Growth for capitalist economies demands ever increasing profit,
based on expansion. Family owned and "small" businesses
give way to larger and larger enterprises, until WalMart finally
replaces the local variety stores, and Wegmans replaces the
neighborhood food markets.
The same principal has affected farming and, as a consequence,
we are in danger of losing our local farmers. Already, due
to the global industrialization of corporate agribusiness,
"farmer" no longer appears on the U.S. census as
a job category. This means that less that 2 percent of the
population in our counInstruments (weapons producer and one
of G.W. Bush¹s top contributors).
Fresh Samantha/Odwalla: Fresh Samantha is a popular organic
juice brand regionally produced in Maine. Odwalla is a juice
company founded in Santa Cruz, CA, in 1984. Fresh Samantha
and Odwalla merged in May, 2000. Little do health conscious
consumers suspect that Odwalla Juice is owned by CocaCola,
as part of their Minute Maid unit.
Boca Burgers is owned by Kraft Foods, which is owned by Philip
Morris.
Stoned Wheat Thins are made with GMOs (genetically modified
organisms) and is owned by Nabisco, which was acquired by
Philip Morris in December, 2000.
Arrowhead Water and Poland Spring Water are owned by Nestle
(which is being boycotted because its "breast milk substitute"
causes the deaths of millions of babies).
Soy Silk is owned by White Wave, which is owned by Dean Foods,
whose main shareholders are Microsoft, General Electric, Philip
Morris, Citigroup, Pfizer, Exxon/Mobil, Coca Cola, WalMart,
PepsiCo, and Home Depot.
Organic Cow: Writing for The New York Times Sunday Magazine
(May 13, 2001), Michael Pollan reported that Organic Cow,
previously represented to consumers as an organic dairy based
in the Northeast and consisting of a network of small farms,
was bought out by Horizon. Another source of organic dairy
products, Horizon is a $127 million public corporation that
has become the Microsoft of organic milk, controlling 70 percent
of the retail market. The milk is now "ultrapasteurized"
using a high-heat process that "kills the milk,"
destroying its enzymes and many of its vitamins so it can
be sold over long distances.
Arguably, ultrapasteurized organic milk is actually less
nutritious than conventionally pasteurized non-organic milk.
Horizon¹s "factory farms" in the West are described
as a clear example of the certifiability of inhumane practices
through the emerging corporate organics system. "On Horizon¹s
dairy farms in the west, thousands of cows that never encounter
a blade of grass spend their days confined to a fenced dry
lot, eating (certified organic) grain and tethered to milking
machines three times a day," Pollan wrote.
Now That We Know
Like the greed to control oil resources that is driving the
U.S. war-making agenda, the greed to control food and water
betrays the ultimate capitalist goal of controlling the very
basic resources needed for life. There is much analysis available
suggesting that water wars will be next. Corporate intrusion
into the very nature of nature through genetic engineering,
patenting and "free trade" policies makes it imperative
that we politicize our view of organic food production. Organic
food is just plain food. It is what our bodies are made to
receive and what human beings need to survive within the ecology
of our planet. It is corporate marketing that creates organic
products as "boutique" food for the privileged.
In fact, clean food is as much our right as clean air and
water.
With thanks to Paul Glover for research on corporate connections
in the organic industry as a member of the Ithaca Greenstar
Food Coop Education Committee. Details at www.ithacanews.org/greenstarstock.html
Rethinking food
We have become accustomed to supermarket and convenience
shopping. We are lured into consuming addictive foods that
are systematically destroying our bodies.
* Start buying at consumer-owned stores such as co-ops and
health food stores. You will find that food expenses are actually
less when you pay higher prices for quality food because you
eat so much less.
* Most areas have a u-pick farm where large varieties of
fresh produce is available in season. Experience the joys
of harvesting fruits and veggies in the field and relearn
(or learn) how to preserve them by canning, freezing or drying
(it¹s not that difficult or expensive).
* Support local farmers at the regional market in season.
Some are not certified "organic" producers, but
make conscious choices in their practices.
* Grow what you can in your own garden.
The work it takes to gather and put up our own food is rewarding
on so many levels‹aerobically, nutritionally, socially
and, when we resume the responsibility of feeding ourselves
and each other, we become healthier, happier people living
in stronger communities.
The Idaho Observer
P.O. Box 457
Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869
Phone: 208-255-2307
Email: observer@coldreams.com
Web:
http://idaho-observer.com
http://proliberty.com/observer/
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