Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Food Justice in Our Lives.


So I was eating my lunch the other day, enjoying my daily Odwalla brand orange juice when I noticed something new. The side of the Odwalla bottle said, "Our mission today is the same as it's been for more than 25 years: nourish people everywhere, respect our planet, protect the soil with sustainable practices, and create products good for the soul." The part that stood out for me was the "sustainable practices" part. I got really excited to find something that has to do with food justice in my life, right in front of my face! So in my excitement I researched the sustainable practices that Odwalla is a part of. I went on to the Odwalla website and did a little digging. The website says that the Odwalla company uses "local, organic" food. But then it later states "We buy organic when possible". So the company doesn't buy organic all the time, no big deal. The "local" produce that Odwalla claims is just "California grown". Some of the produce is bought from California but the rest is "purchased internationally due to availability". My definition of "local" produce would be supporting the local farmers and farms that are trying to compete with the huge corporate farms that DON'T practice sustainable farming. So how is buying "California" grown produce, buying local produce? Isn't there big corporate farms in California? So maybe Odwalla doesn't buy as "local and organic" as they lead us to think. Not all the Odwalla news is bad news. " The only items that leave our plant for the landfill is trash that cannot be recycled- typically less than 1%" So that is pretty commendable, especially for a company as big as Odwalla. It also says that Odwalla purchases "Green-energy" that comes from wind, solar and geothermal systems. This energy is more expensive but Odwalla wants to "encourage further development of green energy sources". This is admirable in a big company. I just wonder sometimes if we should be holding our companies to higher standards as far as sustainability. It might be just me, but I think the earth is more important that profit. What a silly notion.

-Seneca Luetke

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