Many of us have been so trusting of the companies who make the foods we buy to feed ourself and our families. For many years we have been fooled! This will be one of many articles I will share with you.
The Corporate Corruption of Organics-
June 2003
What We Need to Know About the Corporate Takeover of the "Organic" Food Market
by Paul Glover
Multinational Ownership Impacts on Organic Standards List of Boycotted Brands Health Impacts Packaging Miscellany The Good News GreenStar Education Committee Most goods sold at GreenStar Co-op (Ithaca, New York) are chosen with a high degree of concern for the environmental and labor impacts of manufacture, and the health effects on shoppers.
GreenStar's Mission Statement emphasizes "exercising ecological responsibility and leadership in our choice of product line..." and "being sensitive to the working and living conditions of those whose labor produces the goods we sell..." But exploring GreenStar's aisles, one finds that several of our favorite products are now owned by global corporations which damage the environment, oppress labor, and endanger world peace.
The good news is that there are alternatives to these products, and we should stock them. In fact, GreenStar can use its capital to help start new businesses which rely on local culinary talent to create new products of greater variety and quality. HERE ARE THE DETAILS: € Bearitos, Bread Shop Granola, Celestial Seasonings, Garden of Eatin', Health Valley, Imagine Foods (Rice Dream), Terra Chips, and Westbrae (canned vegetables, soy drinks, pastas, Little Bear Corn Chips), are all owned by the Hain Food Group whose prime investments are managed by companies like "Wellington Management."
Their principal stockholders are PHILIP MORRIS (cigarettes), MONSANTO (genetically modified food), CITIGROUP (rainforest destruction), (genetically modified foods), EXXONMOBIL (global warming), WAL-MART, ENTERGY NUCLEAR, LOCKHEED MARTIN (weapons), WASTE MANAGEMENT INC (giant landfills), PFIZER (drugs), MERCK (drugs), BANK OF AMERICA (racial discrimination) & (animal cruelty), etc. All of the above are themselves significantly owned by Citigroup, "the World's Most Destructive Bank" --Rainforest Action Network. Citigroup backs corporate prisons, Third World debt, genetic engineering, predatory lending, and rainforest destruction. H.J. Heinz Co. owns nearly 20% of Hain: Editorial in Natural Progressions, by Bob Swientek 11/99: "Back in April, I wrote in this column that the corporate suits (mainstream food manufacturers) were overrunning the tofu eaters (natural foods processors) at the Natural Products Expo-West. Well, the "run" is now a full-fledged sprint.
In September, Heinz bought a 19.5% stake in Hain Food Group for nearly $100 million. Hain, the leading producer of natural foods in the country with annual sales of $206 million in '99, acquired the Earth's Best baby food brand in the deal. By gaining entry into the natural and organic foods arena, Heinz may be in the initial stages of reinventing itself. It better...most of its businesses, including its profitable ketchup franchise, are slow growth." Heinz itself is owned by same mutual funds that own Hain, and its prime stockholders include the same multinationals. € Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen are owned by Small Planet Foods which is owned by GENERAL MILLS, whose principal investors are PHILIP MORRIS, EXXONMOBIL, GENERAL ELECTRIC, CHEVRON, NIKE, McDONALD'S, TARGET STORES, STARBUCK'S, MONSANTO, DUPONT (weapons & pesticides), DOW CHEMICAL (Agent Orange, breast implants, napalm), PEPSICO, ALCOA ALUMINUM, DISNEY (exploit Third World labor), TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (weapons: one of GW Bush's top contributors), PFIZER.
General Mills is also being boycotted for animal rights abuse. € Stoned Wheat Thins is made with GMOs and is owned by NABISCO, which has been bought by PHILIP MORRIS (12/00), which also owns KRAFT General Foods Philip Morris Boycott & In Fact & Nabisco/Labor & Nabisco News & pension funds & other € Odwalla Juice is owned by Coca-Cola, part of the Minute Maid unit. Coca-Cola prohibits unionizing: WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire -- Edgar Paez, of the Colombian trade union Sinaltrainal, was joined on Monday by Teamster representatives, the AFL- CIO, members of the clergy, civil rights activists and political leaders as he described the brutal torture, kidnapping and murders of union workers in his country -- particularly those working at Coca-Cola bottling facilities.
The group assembled for a peace vigil in front of the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA. "My brothers and sisters in Colombia have suffered unspeakable horrors because they belong to a trade union," Paez said. "We stand united with American workers to demand that Coca-Cola stop the violence." Coca-Cola paid $192.5 million to settle a U.S. racial discrimination lawsuit in 2000. Fresh Samantha, a Maine juice brand that merged with Odwalla in May 2000, "has already begun reducing its fresh-fruit content by boosting the water content--a way to make juices cheaper and longer-lasting," according to Bill Sipper, marketing vice-president of the Ultimate Juice Company.
- Boca Burgers is owned by Kraft Foods, which is owned by Philip Morris.
- Hearty & Natural veggie burgers is owned by Sunrich Food Group, which is owned by Stake Technologies, which is owned principally by Gruber & McBain Capital Management, whose principal investors are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and by Polymedica, whose principal investor is Safeco, whose principal investors are ExxonMobil, General Electric, and Citigroup.
- Morningstar Farms (Kellogg's) has been contaminated by Starlink GM corn. € Silk Soy Drink is owned by White Wave, which is owned by Dean Foods (5/9/02), whose main shareholders are Microsoft, GE, Philip Morris, Citigroup, Pfizer, ExxonMobil, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Home Depot.
- Stonyfield Farm (yogurt) is not yet dominated by multinationals, but has "partnered" with GAIAM, whose major stockholders include IBM, EXXON, CITIGROUP, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, WAL-MART, and will be owned by Danone by 2004, which has been (like Nestlé) 'breaking code on baby milk for Third World' (1/17/03 http://www.independent.co.uk). Danone is publicly traded: (DA) and has trace ownership by Citigroup, GE, Wal-Mart, Exxon, etc.
- Gardenburger is getting on the corporate gravy train, with 20% of its stock owned (8/02) by such companies as PFIZER, WAL-MART, MICROSOFT, CITIGROUP, AMERICAN EXPRESS, GILETTE, EXXON. Among their brokers is Patman Foods, a major factory farm meatpacker.
- 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. Nestle Boycott & breastfeeding.com & Baby Milk Action: "These babies are twins.(see photo) Their Pakistani mother was wrongly advised that she would not have enough breastmilk to feed both and so bottlefed her daughter while breastfeeding her son. The girl died the day after this photo was taken in Islamabad Children's Hospital. 'Use my picture,' said the mother, 'if it will help others not to make the same mistake.'"
- Seeds of Change is now owned by M&M-Mars Candy: "Women are from Venus, Seeds are from Mars "Earlier this year, Seeds of Change, an idealistic company formed in the 1980s to "preserve and spread a diversity of organic seeds through the gritty, caring hands of backyard gardeners," was bought out by M&M-Mars, Inc, the candy company. As Seeds of Change Vice President Steve French explained to the incredulous editors at Food & Water magazine, "I don't think there are any real differences between Seeds of Change and Mars.... whether it's a Mars product or it's a Seeds of Change product, the product benefits are very, very similar if we're talking about nutrition here." --Earth Island Journal, Fall 98 Impact on Organic Standards & Supply Some have said they welcome major corporate investment in the natural food market, as vindication of the value of natural foods.
- We should be concerned, however, that control of the natural foods industry by fewer companies will result in multinational corporate control of organic acreage and marketing, forcing out smaller regional/family suppliers, reducing competition, leading to weakened organic standards (sewage sludge, irradiation, GMOs). We have already seen the political effects of media integration-- once there were thousands of independent radio stations and daily papers, now there are a handful of TV networks and newspaper chains owned by these same corporations. As well, payments by GreenStar shoppers to these companies reinforce corporate control of other markets and of lobbying, where they do great damage. "If we don't pay attention to the politics of health food industry then we will shortly not have organics." --Milo MacTavish, manager, Whole Foods Co-op, Norfolk, VA For additional corporate link updates, see also VeganBuyout HEALTH IMPACTS GreenStar's Mission Statement: "Emphasizing the sale of nutritious food in as natural a state as possible."
Petguard contains "Ocean Fish" which may include unregulated non-dolphin-safe tuna catch. Animal Protection Institute & Pet Food Ingredients & more yuck Food Additives is book describing harmful ingredients in health foods. "While not all vegetable-protein products are 100% organic, most of them sport the label 'made with organic soy.'
According to the new FDA rule, this means no genetically modified foods. The Wall Street Journal decided to challenge GMO-free labeling by testing 20 products labeling that claim. One product tested showed 40% of the soybean DNA in a veggie bacon came from genetically modified plants." --Soyinfo.com Ten Reasons Why GMOs Will Not Ensure Food Security
