Just for fun, because I am in the mood for sarcasm - here is something to put a damper on your happiness about supporting small brands that are good for the environment. Please don't slide into a deep depression after this. And if you just eat what you want because you are an American and it is your right, then skip this post completely.
Seeds of Change: owned by M&M Mars since 1997: in 2010 Mars shut down the Seeds of Change research farm and gardens which was what the company was founded on.
Cascadian Farms: owned by General Mills since 1999: any astute observer has no doubt noticed that the signature "no added sugar" label on their cereal boxes disappeared in 2010, and sugar levels in these cereals has tripled.
Ben & Jerry's: owned by Unilever since 2000: (don't worry both Ben and Jerry will be OK after their $326million payout purchase price): many of the 'all natural' logos on the pints have disappeared since the Center for Science and Public Interest accused Unilever of abusing the term in 2005.
Kashi: became part of Kellogg's in 2000, joining other natural brands BareNaked, Morning Star Farms and Wholesome & Hearty: so the promise of a product sans GMO ingredients is no longer a promise.
Lightlife: owned by ConAgra since 2000: Lightlife was the maker of vegetarian/vegan meat substitutes like Smart Dogs, Smart Bacon etc.
Odwalla: has been part of the Coca-Cola family since 2001 (along with Honest Tea): Shawn Sugarma (Pres. of Odwalla) probably didn't mind his $181million sellout to Coke because in his 2004 words, "Everybody is now chasing nourishment." Apparently so is Coke.
Tom's of Maine: if you watched Food Inc you already knew that they were bought by Colgate-Palmolive in 2006.
Body Shop: many of us wondered why all the Body Shop locations were closing, probably had something to do with L'Oreal buying them in 2006 for $1.1 billion. Wonder if Dame Anita Roddick (founder of Body Shop) cares that customer satisfaction has dropped by about 50% since the deal?
Stacy's Pita Chips: Frito-Lay, the food division of PepsiCo owned since 2006
Burt's Bees: part of the Clorox family since 2007. Maybe the bearded guy used some of that money to get a haircut?
Ahh the truth comes out! What should we buy instead?
ReplyDeleteWell the only one i can think of off the top of my head that stays true even though it is a huge corporation now is StoneyField Farm yogurt. Otherwise, the more stuff you can buy from "the guy next door" meaning a farmer close to you - the better off you are, even if he uses pesticides on your vegetables he didnt pollute the air to ship it to you from 3000 miles away. We have to be realistic, the days of all people growing all their own food are over - the most i can hope for is that people are educated about where their food is coming from, then the decision is up to them, but we can't expect consumers to make decisions based on facts they don't even know exist.
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