What is really behind food names??
Why buy local? Isn’t organic even better? These are questions we hear from many people, especially at farmers markets. As farmers we like to support local businesses and certainly encourage our friends and family to buy from local farms. It is good for the economy, good for the environment and we believe, good for your health. However, a recent email from our oldest daughter Marlisa, convinced us that knowing where your food comes from and how it is raised is critical in today’s world.
Mom:
Here's another thing - the reason why buying locally is SO much more important and meaningful than simply "organic." It's a chart of the huge agro-businesses that own popular "natural" brands, made by some Brown students who just started a magazine called GOOD.
Check it out!
Marlisa
http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/features/009/009buyingorganic.html
Rich and I are very cognizant of the origin of everything we feed our animals. We try to transfer this care to ourselves and our children; we grow much of what we eat and when we shop we look for goods that are produced by companies with missions and goals similar to ours. We buy local when possible and organic – thus we were really surprised to review the above chart.
The Organic Cow of Vermont sounds like such a great company – and full of farmers like ourselves trying to make a living and moving cows through fields and hills in Vermont. The reality that the company is simply an entity owned by Dean Foods, the seventh largest agri-business in the entire country. Dean Foods doesn’t even own land in Vermont let alone house any dairies; so the real question becomes what is behind a name.
Heinz Foods out of Pennsylvania has been on an acquisition roll; the brand names that they own look like the Food Co-op catalogue of fifteen years ago. Kashi Cereal is all about healthy living or so I thought – it was really interesting to learn that it is owned by Kellogg.
Hope you are having a warm and dry day : )
I am off to do evening chores.
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