Echo Boom

The other day a friend of mine who is an organic farmer sent me this really interesting attachment. A detailed map of who owns what in the realm of organic food. I am posting this not to depress people but rather as a reminder that there is no magic bullet response through consumer sovereignty.

While organic food is obviously a better choice then food injectected with hormones or worse yet genetically modified, the argument of production should not be lost when we look at where the majority of organic food comes, which in my case is large farms in California - largely based on monocultures and is situated thousands of kilometres away.

Making better choices is a continous stuggle. The other day I was telling a good friend of mine that when I was doing my undergraduate degree, choices seemed easier and more black and white, now as I am a bit distanced from that world I realize increasingly that there are many more shades of gray. What annoys me, however, is that these large companies prey precisely on that unknown space.

When it comes to buying organic food, many stores now have their organic food sections. I am naturally drawn to these aisles, yet after seeing the map my friend sent me I realized that I was fooled again! So many times you think you are buying a product from a local company when in fact it is actually just a subsiduary of a much larger company. How is that my precious Sunrise organic tofu acutally belongs to General Mills? Or my Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey is owned by Unilever? Or my Miss Vicki's are owned by Pepsi? etc...

It is important to be aware and informed that these large corporations are trying to capitalize on the fact that many people are extremely disturbed by multinationals' on going pursuit to gain control over the global food chain. It is our task to realize that when we see brands like 'Back to Nature' or 'Farm Foods' that they are actually exactly what we are seeking to avoid. Hopefully this attachment will help you with this on going collective struggle!