Below is a message from one of our Micn-Organic List readers about our food labels, organic food integrity and how Prop 37 (California proposal to require that all GMO foods are labeled accordingly) was defeated.
Holly is a passionate organic food activist and put in volunteer hours where to demonstrate her passion for real organic that is local whenever possible. She took the lead to source the great food we had for the Nov 2012 MOFFA conference.
Given the amount of research she did to create this email I want to share with all of you.
Peace
Vicki
Vicki Morrone
Organic Farming Specialist
Center For Regional Food Systems at MSU
480 Wilson Rd. Room 303
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-3542/517-282-3557 (cell)
Www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu
From: Holly Lubowicki <
[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, January 5, 2013 5:00 PM
Subject: food awareness
Hi all,
As you may know, many organic food brands we know are now owned by large corporations that do not have sustainable and healthy foods at the core of their beliefs. You can see who owns the organic brands in the Organic Processing Industry
Structure chart below (also attached), done by Philip Howard at Michigan State University. Nowhere on the packaging of these organic brands will you find their parent company listed so as to keep us uniformed. The chart just shows food related brand and
corporate connections and of course on the personal care front, Colgate owns Tom's of Maine and Clorox owns Burt's Bees, to name a few. We are indeed fortunate to have Eden Foods in Michigan who has not sold out.
I knew this, but didn't think about until after the defeat of California Prop 37. The big companies who carry the organic brands (also natural brands, even though that label is meaningless) contributed oodles of money to defeat the labeling
of GMO products in our food system. I copied a section from the Organic Consumers Association website so you can see which of corporations contributed funds totaling $45 million to ensure GMOs were
not labeled. You may want to reconsider next time you are ready to toss one of their products into your cart. If you wish to learn more, the OCA website is
www.organicconsumers.org
It makes more sense than ever to avoid these processed foods as much as possible and support local, organic growers. Be sure to pass the information on to others who would be interested in making informed decisions about who they are supporting
with their food dollars.
To your health,
Holly
Organic Processing Industry Structure
Changes since June 2009 chart below include (1) Coca-Cola fully acquiring Honest Tea in March, 2011; (2) Nestle’s acquisitions of Cadbury (and Green & Black’s) in January, 2010, and Sweet Leaf Tea in
May, 2011; (3) Sara Lee’s acquisition of Aidell’s Sausage for $87 million in May, 2011; (4) General Mills’ acquisition of Food Should Taste Good in February, 2012; and (5) Campbell Soup Co. acquisition of Bolthouse Farms for $1.55 billion in July, 2012.
PDF version of this chart is attached and also available at
Organic Industry Structure: Top 30 Acquisitions
Boycott the Brands that Blocked Your Right to Know!
$45 Million in Lies and Dirty Tricks Killed Prop 37 - It's Payback Time!
Please sign the pledge below to let the following companies know you're joining the boycott. These companies make billions of dollars selling organic and "natural" brands, yet they spent millions to defeat Prop 37, CA Right to Know's
ballot initiative to label genetically modified food. Click the hyperlinks to contact specific brands.
•
PepsiCo (Donated $2.5M):
Naked Juice,
Tostito’s, Tropicana,
Tazo,
Loóza,
Izze, Sabra,
Smartfood,
Stacy's,
Mother's and
Near East
•
Kraft, recently became Mondelez (Donated $2M): Boca Burgers and Back to Nature
• Safeway (Member of Grocery Manufacturers Association, which donated $2M):“O” Organics
•
Coca-Cola (Donated $1.7M): Honest Tea, Odwalla
• General Mills (Donated $1.2M): Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Larabar
•
Con-Agra (Donated $1.2M): Orville Redenbacher’s Organic, Hunt’s Organic, Lightlife, Alexia
• Kellogg’s (Donated $791k): Kashi, Bear Naked, Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger
•
Smucker’s (Donated $555k ): R.W. Knudsen, Santa Cruz Organic
•
Unilever (Donated $467k): Ben & Jerry’s
• Dean Foods (Donated $254k): Horizon, Silk, White Wave