9.02.2008

Who Is Behind That Organic Label?

Shit.

Ok, I thought I was an educated consumer in the area of food, especially organic. Recently, however, something prompted me to do some research into the food I was buying. I started off in search of companies who don't use ANY genetically-modified (non-GMO) ingredients. What inspired me to do this with a sense of urgency, besides my own intuition and common sense radar that says GMO BAD, was reading of a study that was done that involved a researcher/scientist, a lab and some potatoes. The Scientist grew his own potatoes in this lab, both of the regular variety and genetically modified. Upon harvest, he fed them to the proverbial lab rats. The results shocked him. The rats who ate the genetically-modified potatoes showed significant changes to their health, noticably smaller brains (!!) and damage to the kidney and liver.

!!!!!!

His conclusion was GMO products were not safe, or at least, he could not give them the safe to consume label. More testing needed to be done. Much more testing. As he concluded, "I would not eat these potatoes I grew." Refusing to comply with pressures from his superiors who wanted a different answer, superios who were pushing for the genetically modified movement, the Scientist was fired.

How's that for a bedtime nightmare story?

GMO foods have always made me nervous. Everything in me has given me the red flag warning when I first heard about this movement. It changes protein in the foods. No one can say for sure HOW the human body will respond to this effect. Studies that show the damaging effects on rats are destroyed. The FDA gave cart blanche approval for food manufacturers to use GMO ingredients in their foods several years ago, DESPITE the damaging, buried reports and DESPITE any real long-term studies.

Whatta they want? Human studies? Well then ok. Let Nina organize it. We have a huge number of political and business leaders who don't utilize their time responsibly or ethically. Let them take on the challenge. Let the nominations begin...

I digress...

I mean come on. We're not talking about a GMO golf club or computer. We're talkin' food here. That little thing we ALL NEED FOR SURVIVAL.

So I went on a mission to find the lists of non-gmo food suppliers. The most current I could find was in 2003. I can say with 99.999% certainty that the entire population of the US of A has been eating GMO foods. If this doesn't top and I mean top the list of crisis needing resolved immediately, I don't know what is. War can wait. Global warming. Political and biz corruption. This is our food production we're talking about. The FOOD WE EAT. What we cannot live without.

Christ...

Upon doing this research, I discovered something that made me feel, once again sick on the inside. Sick. Betrayed. Abused. Fucked. All without someone asking for a kiss first. All without someone asking for my permission.

Buying organic makes people like myself feel good inside. We feel we're supportin' the little guy. We're supporting the healthy food movement. We're saying "NO" to chemical and heavily processed crap and "YES" to good health, healthy food. Foods that SUPPORT our health rather than foods that damage it. Foods made by folks who care about the environment. I thought I was doing this when buying organic. I thought I was supporting the small business, dedicated to the health of its consumers and environment as priority number one.

Wrong.

I discovered many of the organic labels I buy are actually owned by Big Corporate food producers, such as Kraft, Coca-Cola and the like (ilk).

Check this out FMI.

And if that weren't enough...

Not only have I been very conscientious of the food I put into my body, I'm equally conscientious of the make-ups and lotions and shampoos I slather on my body. I've discovered an independent company that makes pure mineral make-up that is very friendly to my sensitive skin (contrary to the bare minerals and other celebrity-endorsed infomercial outfits who use some ingredients that can be irritating and damaging to the skin). The lotion I use comes from an equally small, independent company called earthworm herbals. The ingredients are pure and organic and absolutely positively NOTHING artificial. We're talkin' hemp oil, olive oil, aloe, chapparal, mugwort, chamomile and other REAL OF THE EARTH stuff. Zero colors. Zero perfumes. Amazing stuff. I love it and would not go without. The shampoo I use, made by a family owned company--rather large, but still independently owned, has very few ingredients, including none of the sodium laureth crap in it. Since I began using it, I've noticed my hair is so much softer, I often don't need conditioner, which of course is the same manufacturer of my shampoo.

And last but not least, on my lips, I use Burt's Bees products. They're great for moisturing my lips and they add the perfect touch of natural color. Again, I thought I was supporting a small, independent company.

Wrong again.

Burt's Bees is now owned by Clorox.

The bleach people.

The chemical people.

The bad for your skin, eyes, mucous membranes, people.

The bad for the planet chemical people.

FUCK!!!

When will this monopolization end? And why in the hell do these small businesses sell themselves out like that?

In the end, was it money and money alone they were really after?

I expected more from them. In the end, they weren't really part of the solution. While they may have begun that way, they turned into being part of the problem called monopoly. What was once an innocent child's game has turned into a nightmare. And I am royally pissed about it.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The healthy body was gotten by the strong spirit...

Pugs in Space said...

I know! I freaked out when I discovered Clorox had bought Burts Bees! I am sure a big company has also bought Nature's Gate. Also Jason Natural. They changed all of the formulas and put dimethicone and plastics in it. They never had that stuff in there before. The evil never stops....just when you think you have a handle on it!

Nina said...

Yes, a strong spirit is essential to good overall health. However, that isn't enough. Health is also achieved by taking care of the body and nourishing it with foods that are in symbiosis with the physical make-up of the body. In short, if someone eats tainted meat or accidentally picks and ingests poisonous mushrooms, a strong spirit is not going to fend off the physical effects. Certainly not all of them anyway.

April~ Jason AND Nature's Gate?? I have both of their shampoos in our shower, although I rarely use them because of the parabens and laureth. I noticed when I picked up my lip balm last week, reading through the ingredients it says may contain oxides and titanium blue amongst some other things that I don't recall reading previously. I've either forgotten or they've now changed formulas. SICKENING! Makes me want to learn how to make my own. It can't be that complicated.

Hopefully Aubrey Organics won't change or sell out--their make-up products are some of the purest that I know of. I use their blush and I love it--powered form and you can't beat the price. Their lip gloss is really nice, too.

Pugs in Space said...

I love Aubrey shampoos and conditioners. They smell awesome and work very good but unfortunately I cannot use them since they make my scalp break out :( I am super sensitive. Even some fragrance-free stuff bothers me.

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Pugs in Space said...

The new ingredients in the Kelp Conditioner from Jason are: Cyclopentasiloxane (plastic silicone) and Dimethicone (silicone).

Both of these ingredients are in Pantene so I wonder if Hain Celestial is associated with Proctor and Gamble? It is all so insidious.

Years ago when I used Jason when they were owned by a small independant company, it did have silica in it but it was from the horsetail extract. Since being bought out by Hain Celestial, they added the above ingredients.

I noticed that Nature's Gate changed their surfectant from Sodium Laureth Sulfate (which is gentle if coconut based not synthetic) to Sodium Olefin Sulfate which is very drying and strips hair color so I looked at the label to see who owned it now.

I used to love the basic Herbal Shampoo and Conditioner (it smelled so divine like incense) from Nature's Gate but they changed the forumulas when they were bought by Levlad.

Unknown said...

Hi, i lead the marketing at Kiss My Face and saw your blog about Burts and their new parent company. We would love to invite you to try our natural and organic products by using code KMFBLOG3 for 25% off anything at kissmyface.com. we have wonderful organic SPF 15 lip balms in addition to over 200 other products from shampoo to moisturizers to shaves and a bunch of other stuff. I joined Kiss about 7 months ago from a huge consumer packaged company and one of the reasons was that it is still owned by Bob Macleod and Steve Byckiewicz who started the company 25 years ago out of a rented barn in the hudson valley of new york. I appreciate working for a company that is run by the founders and it sounds like it is important to you and some of your readers. Thanks for your consideration. Lewis Goldstein, VP Marketing. also, feel free to email me at lewis@kissmyface.com with any comments or questions. have a good one.

Nina said...

I hear you on having sensitive skin, April. One thing that has really helped me is getting a shower filter that filters out the chlorine. I no longer get out of the shower feeling itchy. Corvallis adds a lot of chlorine--so much so I can smell it at times. Of course they claim it's not a health threat. Whatever...

I checked the labels on my shampoo and yep, you're so right. Even my Jason Kelp Shampoo has the dimethicone. My hub uses Nature's Gate and has commented how his hair is so dry. Now we know why. I started using a tea tree shampoo by Swanson's Vitamins. so far so good, although now i'm going to check out all of the ingredients. there's no synthetic laureth stuff and some good herbal extracts.

it is insidious. pantene SUCKS!!! i used to use it after some stylist once years ago said it was one of the better shampoos on the market. anyway a couple of years ago i had my hair colored and their conditioner removed the color w/in days. i went back to my stylist and she asked what products i used. when i said pantene her eyes got big and she said NEVER USE PANTENE. they use wax in their conditioners, which feel good--makes the hair feel soft at first--UNTIL you stop using it, then you're left with a mess. i always thought the mess was just my real hair.

thanks for commenting and for the offer lewis. that's really generous! i'll check out your product line. it's good to know there is SOME natural product company that hasn't sold out!

Pugs in Space said...

Yeah Pantene and Herbal Essences (both owned by Proctor and Gamble) put ammonium xylenesulfonate which is nail polish remover solvent. Very drying and stripping as it lifts the hair cuticle up. I will have to try the Swanson's Vitamins shampoo. Love tea tree oil stuff. Thanks for the tip :) I noticed since I moved into town how much the water smells like chlorine. Tastes funny too. I miss the good tasting well water but the hard minerals wreaked havoc on my hair.

Pugs in Space said...

Ugh okay another comment. I have seen these shampoos at the Co-op and I think I am going to try them since they are paraben free.

http://www.alaffia.com/

I do like Kiss My Face products but the shampoos have Sodiuk Olefin Sulfonate which is very drying and strips hair color. Love their Peaceful Patchouli Shower gel.

Pugs in Space said...

giggle Sodiuk...typo...Sodium.

Nina said...

swanson's has methylparaben, which i don't like--although it is supposedly the most mild of all the paraben's. it also has a couple of other ingredients that may cause some irritation. the cleansing agents are very mild and safe. as i said, i like it, but i'm always in search of something that is synthetic and irritant free. uncle harry's has some shampoos i believe--maybe even tea tree. their products are as natural as they come but you have to order them online. and also as i mentioned, earthworm herbals (another online retailer)--although she just makes lotions (WONDERFUL HEMP), perfume oils, body oils and the like. the owner, hila, is wonderful. sometimes she sends me freebies--my package today contained two 5 ounce extras of lotion and body oil. very generous!

i wrote kiss my face and asked about the olefin, which i read can be derived from coconut oil or petroleum. they said theirs is derived from coconut oil.