Growers and Grocers

This post is about two areas of the food business that don’t receive a lot of coverage, either intentionally or accidentally.

1) Who Owns Organic?

For a long time, the word “organic” was synonymous with “small”: it brought to mind an independent farmer or a small company. These days, however, that association is not always accurate. Some companies that appear “small” on the label are actually part of an enormous corporate empire.

The Cornucopia Institute hosts the Who Owns Organic chart, which illustrates the connections between organic labels and their owners. For example, Odwalla is owned by Coca-Cola, Celestial Seasonings is partially owned by Heinz (through Hain-Celestial), Seeds of Change is owned by M&M/Mars. The chart has been around for a while, but was updated recently.

2) Genetically Engineered Crops

Do you think your diet is free of genetically-modified foods? Don’t bet on it if you eat grains or meat grown in the U.S. The USDA recently posted a report called Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. which shows that over 60% of the corn acreage in the U.S. is planted with genetically engineered (GE) corn and over 80% of the soybean acreage is GE (see figure below). Since labels are not required in the U.S. and voluntary labeling is rare, it is not easy for a consumer to know if GE crops are in their food. In my experience, the most likely places to see labeling about GE usage are organic products and soybean products from small producers (often in small print, so look carefully).

According to the USDA’s Feed Grains Database Yearbook, over 60% of the corn used in the U.S. is as animal feed (Table 4), so if you eat meat, there is a good chance you are consuming GE corn. About 7% of the corn goes to making high fructose corn syrup (Table 31), which sweetens almost all soft drinks and many other products. Even if you somehow avoid GE corn, there is a good chance that your car might be “eating” GM crops. A significant amount of corn is used to make ethanol (over 15% in 2006, according to USDA’s Feed Grains Database Yearbook Tables 4 and 31), which is blended with gasoline (typically up to about 10%). The Renewable Fuels Association claims that ethanol is blended into 30% of the gasoline sold in the U.S. today (PDF).

Figure from the USDA’s Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.

Definitions from the USDA Glossary on Genetically Engineered Crops:

Bt crops are genetically engineered to carry the gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The bacteria produces a protein that is toxic when ingested by certain Lepidopteran insects. Crops containing the Bt gene are able to produce this toxin, thereby providing protection throughout the entire plant.

Herbicide-tolerant crops were developed to survive certain herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, and allow farmers to use them as postemergent herbicides, providing an effective weed control. The most common herbicide-tolerant crops (cotton, corn, soybeans, and canola) are Roundup Ready (RR) crops resistant to glyphosate, a herbicide effective on many species of grasses, broadleaf weeds, and sedges. Other genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops include Liberty Link (LL) corn resistant to glufosinate-ammonium, and BXN cotton resistant to bromoxynil.