It's Too Easy Being Green

[nosmokes]

At some point you do hafta step back and take a look at just what the hell you're doing. This is a classic example. Caarrott soup from across the Pacific ain't green no matter what ya do. It might help someone's image or conscience, but it ain't doing a thing for the environment. Gives me a chuckle though.;)
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original-thetyee

It's Too Easy Being Green

How current food greenwashing feeds profits not preservation.
By Shannon Rupp
Published: July 3, 2007



With apologies to Kermit, it's just too easy being green. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that it's just too easy paying lip service to being green.

Nothing hits home the way greenwashing undermines the environmental movement like a trip to Capers Markets, the "natural" food store chain owned by the Boulder, Colorado-based Wild Oats Markets that recently announced a proposed merger<*> with the Texas-based Whole Foods chain. (Wild Oats has 110 stores across the U.S. and Canada and annual sales of about $1.2 billion. The Whole Foods chain, which has about 200 stores in the U.S. as well as outlets in Canada and the U.K., is a Fortune 500 company that did $5.6 billion in sales in 2006.)

Let's leave aside my reason for being there -- a truly amazing supply of superior imported junk food including my favourite root vegetable chips -- and consider the organic carrot soup.

It's mystifying. The roughly two-bowls' worth of soup, in a metallic envelope, is imported from New Zealand.

Why? Are there no organic carrots grown in the Pacific Northwest? How about North America? Is there some genius-of-a-chef in New Zealand cornering the soup market? And how does it get here? In tankers? The label said it was packaged in Ontario, and all I could think was that some smarty-boots in the oil industry had found a resale market for those single-tank oil carriers that were prone to major spills.

On the plus side, we won't have to worry about the environmental impact of a carrot soup disaster.

But the biggest question of all is: just how the hell do these people have the nerve to market themselves as "sustainable?" To be fair, Capers isn't the only food fair doing this, but it's the loudest and the most self-righteous, and that sort of blatant hypocrisy is always eye-catching.
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complete article here

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

1. Corporate.

[candice]

2. Vote with your pocketbook...

I buy my carrots at a local farmers' market. We all need to learn how to cook basic things. I've ordered carrot soup at restaurants but it isn't a favorite. I did saute a huge amount of veggies I bought last weekend at the farmers' market and made a delicious soup out of it.

[kestrel91316]

3. Trader Joe's is also full of imports.......

As for me, if I want carrot soup, there's nothing stopping me from making it myself from scratch using LOCAL organic carrots.........

I'm trying not to buy ANY imported foods - though this past weekend I did pick up some Chinese import black bean sauce, lol. Bad me.

Support your local farmer's market, CSA, or home grower.

[mainegreen]

4. Join a CSA.

My vegetables come from an organic farm. I know my farmer.
My eggs comes from an organic farmer. Sure I get blue, brown and white eggs in a carton, but so?
My milk comes from a local dairy. It's natural, from real cows that don't get injections and run around a field. It's non-pasteurized, non-homogenized goodness.
My meat comes from a local farm. It's grass fed, allowed to live a natural life. Tastes about 1000% better too.

It's just too bad this sort of local co-operation isn't practiced in all states, but I think it's spreading. Maine is always ahead of the curve in this area.

[Javaman]

5. whole foods gets their garlic from china...FUCKING CHINA!!

I get my garlic from my CSA which is 10 miles away.