| "Organic" Grapes of Wrath There's been a discernable campaign among many on the left to portray Wal-Mart as the Great Mercantile Satan.
Brainwashed with cult-like Herbalife sales rallies, associates have been known to jump and clap in unison while greeters ready their baskets for a new day. We know this is exploitation because no miserable sap could genuinely smile selling Sino stuff for Sam, profit sharing notwithstanding.
But it appears the "organic" food industry, with projected sales of $15 billion this year, might as well be putting those blue smocks on their own workers. A recent study published by the University of California - Berkeley reveals the truth behind the ambience of do-good consumerism so popular among the unflappably self-righteous and wealthy. The same folks most likely to throw a fit of moral indignation, and perhaps a few genetically modified tomatoes, at anything considered to be too reasonably priced or available. As an aside, readers should know there is absolutely no evidence that "organic" foods are healthier or safer than the genetically modified variety. In fact, E. coli contamination is much more prevalent among "organic" crops due to the reliance of livestock manure with this type of farming. I say "organic" with quotes because the term has no universally accepted definition thus paving the way for deceptive and fear-based marketing using prima facie nonsense such as "hormone free milk". All bovine milk has hormones. Consumers in the UK are being duped as well. See "If you buy 'organic produce', can you trust what you get?", The Observer, 8/21/05. Back to the UC study. Have we not been told that "organic" farming is more than just sustainable agriculture? That it is about stewardship and respect for both nature and those toiling within it. Profit, a happy consequence, but certainly not a motivation. That organic farm owners are capitalists with a little c. And "organic" companies like Whole Foods, with over $3 billion in sales last year, would never use slick PR firms to reinforce their green, labor-loving image while denying collective bargaining for their own employees. Does this sound familiar to another big company beginning with a W? But "organic" marketing has never been about the facts, it's about buying a feeling. Consider the following:
What do the organic farm owners say?
So the next time you bite into that $3 apricot, consider that your social responsibility would have been better spent buying a Fruit Rollup at Wal-Mart. * Wal-Mart data, UC-Berkeley Institute for Industrial Relations, 2004.
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