Internet, what I’m about to blog may frighten you, and those of you who are uncomfortable around giant, world-engulfing corporations might want to look away.
When I go to the grocery store, I like to think I’m a pretty good shopper. I try to buy only the products that are produced organically, thoughtfully, things that are made with a larger world in mind. I’ve got some Tom’s of Maine toothpaste, some Horizon Organic Milk, some Stonyfield yogurt. But then I read this and that nice feeling went away. It turns out the corporate ogre reaches its grubby hands far further into my world than I thought I was letting it. I guess I always knew my favorite products weren’t what they seemed. I know that Whole Foods founder/CEO John Mackey holds what I consider pretty reprehensible views on healthcare reform, labor unions, and market regulation. I can live with that, I am lucky enough to live somewhere with privately-owned grocery stores. I can spot the obvious fakes, like when Froot Loops calls itself “part of a balanced breakfast” and sticks a “Healthy Choice” label on the box. That’s no problem.
But to read that article, and to learn that not only Tom’s of Maine, Stonyfield, and Horizon, but Odwalla, Naked Juice, Burt’s Bees, Poland Spring, Kashi, and God knows what else are all owned by huge corporations, exactly the same huge corporations that make the gross, synthetic, polluting junk that these products are supposed to help us leave behind. I was hurt when I learned this, it feels like betrayal. I mean, Burt’s Bees! That nice bearded man on the label, how could he?
The stories behind these products are just plain creepy, too. Most of the time, as in the case of Odwalla or Burt’s Bees, they really did start out as small companies with conscientious manufacturing practices and organic products, but they were bought out by corporate behemoths as soon as they started making a profit. Take Back To Nature cereals: they were bought out by Kraft (ew) who is owned by Altria (who?) which also owns Philip Morris, one of the world’s largest cigarette makers (what?!) and now when I think I’m giving my money to a nice bunch of socially conscious people, I’m paying for more fake cheese and cigarettes. That’s just it, though, these people are really, really good at getting money. To giant corporations like Altria (who I’ve still never heard of ) the organic food movement we’re all so proud of is simply another way to make money.
So what to do? On the one hand, organic products are still largely organic. Tom’s of Maine is still way better than Colgate, even if they are made by the same company (and they are, Colgate-Palmolive). And sometimes, I guess we have to make that decision: should I buy the product that is the best available to me? Even if the money is going to someone who makes something really terrible? Of course, we can also decide what products are necessary at all. We can choose the lesser of two evils between Burt’s Bees and Chapstick, or maybe we don’t need to buy lip balm in the first place.
The point I think I’m avoiding, though, is that shopping with a social conscience is hard. There is no one store that will sell me all the organic, fair-traded, non-animal-abusing, manufactured-by-highly-paid-workers-with-health-insurance things that I want to fill my life with. Again, I’m lucky to live in a place where I can choose to buy most things at small grocery stores and farmers’ markets, but that doesn’t mean I should assume I know where my stuff comes from, or where my money goes. It’s a tough fact to live with, but finding products that live up to what I want from a manufacturer is not an easy quest. But if huge corporations think they can chase down my money by buying out the companies I support, I’ll just have to keep taking my business elsewhere.
