Environment

The Green Polka Dot Box Is Not Truly Organic. They’re an Astroturfed Walmart.

October 10, 2011 by admin in Politics with 91 Comments
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Part of a painting by Gina Tyler, both talented artist and homeopath. She can be found at http://ginatyler.com.

Part of a painting by Gina Tyler, both talented artist and homeopath. She can be found at http://ginatyler.com.

There’s a new organic foods player in town, and it knows how to play the game. First, come up with a cute name—like the Green Polka Dot Box. Next, get big players in the organics field—trusted names—to promote you. That’s not so hard to do, if you give them a cut of the profits. And that’s just what the Green Polka Dot Box has done. So Natural News, the Organic Consumers Association, and the Institute for Responsible Technology are on board—and the first two have written of the Green Polka Dot Box with high praise, strongly urging their readers to do business there.

After that, you can do what you want. And that’s just what the Green Polka Dot Box is doing. They say that they won’t sell any GMOs or nonorganics. As I’ll show you, that simply is not true. They say that they’re out to promote the little guy—but don’t try to find any evidence of it. Just say that black is white and up is down. When you have the money behind you in a corporate world, then you can get away with it.

Organic Foods

There is one simple fact that must be understood about organic foods. They cannot be grown on a grand scale. Yet, that is precisely what the Green Polka Dot Box would have you believe is happening. Here are their stated objectives:

  1. Eliminate the “organic deserts” that exist through rural and urban America allowing everyone access to “clean” organic foods. Our ability to ship to every zip code will make healthy food accessible to all.
  2. Make clean organic food available to all health-minded consumers at affordable prices. We accomplish this by expanding the marketplace and inviting new consumers to participate, thereby increasing distribution and sales opportunities for our vendor partners.
  3. Using a “grass roots” approach, in cooperation with our influential institutional partners, we intend to educate the public about the links between diet and disease, motivating them to seek out healthier, clean organic alternatives. We know that, through truthful education, we can influence the buying decisions of our family members, friends and neighbors. We can reverse the ravaging effects of chronic disease that are devastating our aging population and protect our children from the debilitating consequences of processed and genetically modified foods.

It sounds good, until you examine them closely. This is obviously not a small operation, and their focus on low prices is a clue. They’re saying that they intend to bring the same sort of pressure into the organic world that Walmart already does. We’re already seeing the destruction of real organics when the term is applied on a large scale. The USDA’s rules for organic food production twist the term into something unrecognizable.

Grass Roots?

So what do they really mean by a ‘”grass roots” approach’? Are they trying to create a movement to change public policy? Are they leading a movement to improve the world? Or are they using the term to do exactly what Walmart has done: bring masses of people into their business and use that clout to bully producers into selling for lower and lower prices at ever lower standards of quality?

Real organic food is not mass produced. It’s grown lovingly in fields small enough for a family—a real family, not a bunch of corporate hacks—to manage. It isn’t grown to corporate pressure’s demands. When it is, then the quality is destroyed. As the Cornucopia Institute documents, Horizon, the so-called organic milk producer, gives their cattle very little access to pasture and sell all their calves—a distinctly non-organic approach that results in lack of control over their welfare, health, and ultimately, the quality of milk. However, they meet the watered-down standards of the USDA, so they get away with it.

And it all happens because of the power of big buying groups, just like the Green Polka Dot Box plans to become.

The Products

The most significant point to note is that nearly all of the Green Polka Dot Box’s products are from multinational corporations. I took a look at a few of them, and it was shocking. For example:

  • MAVEA Water Filter Products is owned by Brita, and Brita is owned by Clorox. How earth-friendly is that? Please note that this proved to be in error, as pointed out by a sharp-eyed reader. Brita sold Clorox the rights to the Brita name in North America, but Brita then developed the Mavea product to compete! Thank you, pseudonymous in nc.
  • DeBoles Organic Pasta is owned by Hain Celestials, a multinational corporation, which also owns several of the other products sold by the Green Polka Dot Box. Though they cultivate a green organic image, the truth is often far from that.

Most of the corporations represented are not small, though there are a few little guys in the mix. Bob’s Red Mill, an employee-owned company in Oregon, is a nice standout example. But one must wonder how long they will be able to produce quality products for mass production.

Organic?

A lot of the Green Polka Dot Box’s products are organic—if you consider the USDA organics label meaningful. (See above for what passes as organic milk under the USDA regime.) But much of what they sell is not, as I’ll demonstrate shortly. But first, let’s take a look at their claim about GMOs:

“Clean food” means certified organic foods of all varieties that are 3rd party-verified to be free of GMO. We want to protect all consumers by insuring that food production in America is designed to exclude derivates from GMO food crops and from dairy products injected with genetically modified growth hormone. In addition, we want to exclude meat from animals fed from GMO feed. As far as meats and fish are concerned, we will only accept certified organic animal proteins or 100 percent wild caught or grass fed animals. That is our definition of clean food.

We will never knowingly offer products that contain GMO. We will inform you, however, if manufacturers’ and producers’ products we carry are “self-claimed” GMO free and are working towards third party verification; ideally, in qualification with the NON-GMO PROJECT. We endeavor to work with all manufacturers and growers that produce certified organic foods. At first, we will allow self-verification of NON-GMO products, but,as we grow in membership and consumer clout we will insist on third party verification.

Our objective pertaining to clean organic food is intended to protect not only consumers but also food providers. If we can help insure that providers produce clean food we will protect the labors and dollars they have invested to become “organic.” After all, organic is only good if it is GMO Free. We want organic to mean something.

That sounds just plain wonderful! If only they actually did what they claim. Sadly, it took only a minute to see that there’s little truth behind it.  Go to their page of Spectrum brand oils and shortenings. There are seven products:

  • Organic Olive Spray Oil
  • Organic Canola Oil
  • Organic Coconut Oil
  • Toasted Sesame Oil
  • Walnut Oil
  • Organic Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Organic Natural Palm Shortening

Notice that they don’t include the entire product name under the pictures. There’s a reason for that. They’re hoping you won’t notice that two of the seven products are not organic, the Toasted Sesame Oil and the Walnut Oil. If you go to the Spectrum company’s own page listing all their cooking oils. Scroll down to the Toasted Sesame Oils, and you’ll see that they have two offerings: one organic and one nonorganic.

Self-verification? Spectrum clearly distinguishes between organic and nonorganic in their products. If a product of theirs isn’t labeled organic, then it isn’t organic.

It begs credulity to believe that the folk at Green Polka Dot Box don’t know the difference. This company that claims to always sell only organic products is already breaking that promise during the first weeks of operation!

But it gets even worse. Walnuts and sesame seeds are being genetically modified. If a walnut or sesame oil is not organic, then it can be a GMO—and there’s no way you can possibly know if it is. Therefore, there is no way to know if the walnut or sesame oil that the Green Polka Dot Box is selling is genetically modified!

And that was all found by looking at a single page of the Green Polka Dot Box’s products!

Why Are Natural News, Organic Consumers, & Institute for Responsible Technology Pushing It?

Why would these trusted outfits push the Green Polka Dot Box on us? They certainly must know the truth. But it all comes down to money. They get a cut of every sale.

The Green Polka Dot Box is an astroturf outfit, trying to make people believe that they’re just folk, like you and me, and that all they want to do is get good organic non-GMO food to the people. They want us to believe that buying from them makes you part of a grassroots movement. The reality, though, is that all of this is nothing more than a veneer, put together to appeal to people who want quality food from honest earth-renewing producers.

I would like to give special credit to Barbara H. Peterson and her blog, Farm Wars, for alerting me to this issue. Please, read her articles on it and other related topics—truly eye-opening stuff. 

Sources Not Linked in the Article:

 

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1046413639 Laura Newton

    Wow… I originally found out about the green polka dot box from the Organic Consumers Association website. So for them to promote this company is highly unethical and shocking to say the least. I joined the company, but luckily did not buy into the $2000. price tag for the founding trust membership. Thanks for posting this eye opening article!

    • Anonymous

      Laura, you would believe this author who didn’t even make a phone call to learn about GPDB, who has completely misrepresented or distorted every truth about GPDB…over credible organizations like the OCA, Natural News, Citizens for Health and many others that have come out in support and endorsed GPDB? You’re missing out on a great consumer opportunity. At least make an informed decision. Whoever wrote this article is not interested in the truth.

      • Gab Chi

        I have read this whole page from top to bottom, and I must say Rod Smith, you are pretty transparent. Although perhaps many will not question the certification standards of the organic world, or the connections between said corporations, or the logic in your argument/mission statement. I know. And you have been caught out, lost a customer and many more.

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000803367100 Eric L Salerno

          HELLO,

          What a RIP-OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

          Where are the farm direct 24-48 hour fruit and veggies???????

          http://www.organicrootsdelivery.com

      • http://twitter.com/jenniferetfamil Jennifer & Ami(e)s

        It seems like the author of this article either is connected to a competitor (Whole Foods? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Monsanto itself wrote it) or living in some kind of fantasy land where organic food is produced not for profit and with no flaws due to capitalism.

        I live out in the country. The ONLY store who has a viable selection of organic food is Wal- Mart, and I have to swallow my pride and morals every time I make a purchase there. I try to drive into the city once a month to get my groceries at a small health food store connected to a farm, but it is less than ideal, and does not have the greatest selection for an organic vegan like me.

        GPDB sells many of the products I already buy, but I won’t have to drive 100 miles to get them. I don’t have to buy any of the products not certified organic! I think it is a great idea and competition is good for Whole Foods and other national chains, who lost their integrity to GMO’s.

        • Anonymous

          You’d best read The Big Guys of Faux Organics are Cramming Coexistence with GMOs Down Our Throats before accusing me of being connected to Whole Foods. And to suggest Monsanto as a co-conspirator is truly laughable.

          If you actually paid attention, it’s the lack of profits to the real organic farmers that’s pointed out as the problem with a Walmartization of organics.

          GPDB sells many of the products you already buy? You mean, like Organic Valley or Stonyfield Farm, both of which have joined Whole Foods in selling out to Monsanto (as described in the article linked)? Or do you mean one of those pseudo-organics outfits wholly-owned by companies like Mars?

          As pointed out here in response to the CEO, if it’s certified as organic by the USDA – as most of the GPDB products are – then it’s approaching meaninglessness. This is the destruction of the term organic.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000803367100 Eric L Salerno

        Where are organic fruits and veggies ??? (:

        • Anonymous

          Hi, Eric:

          Commencing, most likely, in very early March, if not late February, we are launching our Harvest Fresh program. It is the first phase of a comprehensive plan that will provide fresh harvested organic produce across the U.S.

          The GPDB members that reside in western U.S will receive the opportunity to choose from a broad selection of popular fresh harvested organic produce and order it for home/office delivery with 24 to 48 hours.

          We have purchase agreements in place with the nation’s top organic farmers, covering a wide range of produce, to harvest and deliver to our organic certified packing facility for packing and distribution via FED EX to our membership.

          Members will choose their selections and delivery dates on our website; then all produce will be harvested by farmers early morning to match our orders, chilled, and then delivered to our packing facility for repacking and shipment, same day, to our members.

          The GPDB package that houses a Member’s produce selection is specially designed to maintain refrigerator temperatures for up to 60 hours in transit. So, any members living with 1-2 day delivery will be able to order.

          The best news of all is that the freshness, quality, and price of the produce we sell will be incomparable! And, the farmers will be earning 10% to 15% more than they receive from other distributors and brokers!

    • Daniel Layton

      I dropped my membership to OCA after a string of questionable promotions, including of homeopathic “remedies”, which have been debunked time and time again. OCA does good things, but they seem very ready to endorse whoever will pay them.

      • Anonymous

        I think that’s unfair. I always double check products even certified products.
        Right now, I’m looking for a reverse osmosis water filter for my daughter which will substantially reduce the trihalomethanes that are in her water without allowing more benzene (if benzene is available) into her water. I want a NSF (National Safety Foundation) certification for THHMs reduction. But, there seems to be a war and questionable means of what is called reduction.

        Reduction should be what comes out of a water filter, but some companies are changing their numbers by what is going in. And while what goes in is very important, the purpose in buying a water filter other than taste, is what comes out.

        Bottom line is one has to read everything available to make decisions. OCA is not a profit making organization. It is solely non profit but has costs to cover.

        I donate money every month the non-profits that help me make better decisions and fight back against the Obama Administration and the biotech-pesticide industries. I’m not rich, but I am angry. I’m angry that corporations are giving disinformation to get our money. It means that we must be even more vigilant with purchases we make.

  • http://twitter.com/CookingTF KerryAnn Foster

    If you’ll notice, they’re still adding brands, including more and more ‘small’ brands every day. They’ve stated they still have about 90 brands to add and that they will at least double the number of products available before their launch. They’ve added many just within the last week.

    They will clearly label GMOs, including having a way to sort out any product that isn’t GMO-free from your viewing. IT’s about informed choice- they make you aware, you make the final decision.

    Do you shop at a local health food store? If so, how is it any different? Surely you buy salt, oil and spices somewhere? Rice, grain? It seems rather hypocritical to attack GPDB but then turn around and support other companies (like your local HFS) that sells the exact same products. It is very likely that not everything you buy is both organic and local.

    The bottom line is that for many people, including myself, this is the only way I can afford organic for my family. Their prices bring it down to where it is obtainable. I will no longer have to choose between grass-fed meats from a local farmer and the organic products I get from the store. I will now be able to do both.

    • Anonymous

      So, what you’re saying is that it’s okay to destroy organics by driving prices down in the same way that Walmart drives prices down – by the brute force of being the big guy on the block who can force people to take less and less to produce more and more by cutting corners. Or by buying pseudo-organics of the sort that huge agribusiness-style organics outfits produce, which reduce the quality and demean the process, as happens in all large-scale production. That’s how supermarkets supply so-called organic and free-range eggs – by getting the rules changed so that the chickens can be horribly abused, just not quite as badly.

      That’s not true organic, and it’s not possible to produce true organic food in this way. If the prices are too low, then your low prices are at the cost of a farmer who doesn’t get paid adequately – effectively becomes a slave laborer – or at the cost of genuinely healthy production methods that demean the concept of organic.

      I know it’s difficult to get genuine organic food – but telling yourself that this is an acceptable option doesn’t make it so. I do my best, and no, I can’t always get organic. My budget is probably much tighter than yours. But I’m not going to kid myself that a marketed image of organic is real.

      Go ahead and buy there. I don’t blame you for doing so. The options are, as you noted, limited. But try to focus on finding better ways, rather than accepting marketing imagery.

      • http://twitter.com/CookingTF KerryAnn Foster

        Heidi, they aren’t selling eggs. They aren’t even selling beef yet. You can still get your locally produced items and use an online retailer for your staples you can’t get locally. That’s what I am doing.

        No one, not even GPDB, forces you to choose big agri-business brands. If you don’t support those companies, don’t buy from those companies. You have every choice to buy from the smaller (and more expensive) companies on GPDB and elsewhere. In my conversations with them, GPDB has been extremely willing to look into any brand that is recommended to them, even the small brands and items that are unusual.

        GPDB isn’t doing anything that your local HFS doesn’t do.

        You’re treating it as if buying ethically and trying to get the best price on what you do buy is a black and white, either/or proposition and it clearly is not. You can still go with the lowest-priced retailer to purchase from the companies you support. And that option does NOT destroy organics.

        • Anonymous

          When the buying method applied by Walmart is applied to organics, it destroys organics. You cannot produce everything to the lowest price and expect the quality to remain the same.

          Yes, there is something drastically different between GPDB and local health food stores. GPDB is clearly aiming at purchasing the same way that Walmart does – driving prices down through brute force. The fact that you “always have choice” comes to an end when we follow through on practices like this. Why do you suppose that real organic food is so hard to come by? It’s because of Walmart and such. While low prices are appealing, they cost in the long run. They cost in quality and selection. Low prices forced by huge buyers result in monoculture and virtual slavery of producers.

          It doesn’t matter that GPDB is willing to look at any brand, when what they intend to do is drive the prices down through large-scale buying.

          I agree, it’s far from simple. But we’ve already seen what large-scale buyers do – and the fact is that GPDB is not what they present themselves as being. There is absolutely nothing grassroots about it – though that’s how they’re spinning it. (Seriously, $2,000 to become a founding trust member? What’s grassroots about that?) The fact is that they are offering the non-organic version of a product, when the company offers an organic one – as documented above. And no one can guarantee that a non-organic food is non-GMO unless they also grow the food. (Remember, the FDA doesn’t allow labeling of non-GMO foods, so how are you to know? And how is the buyer of products to make other products to know?)

          I’m not saying that things are right the way they are, and I understand only too well how difficult it can be to get good quality organic food. But that doesn’t excuse a company trying to do to organics what Walmart has done to food in general.

          We each must do the best we can, but my argument is about the nature of the business. You can use all the buyer-beware and we-each-make-our-own-choices arguments you want, but we need to face the reality of the full effects of our purchasing. It’s not easy, and I most assuredly do not claim to be a perfect buyer myself. But I don’t kid myself about the realities – and continually try to do better.

          Would it be better not to know what GPDB is doing? All I’m doing is informing – and you’ve said nothing to indicate that what’s in the article is untrue. As you say, buyers can make their own choices.

      • Anonymous

        Heidi, what you don’t realize is that we are simply saving consumers money, not driving the price down to harm suppliers. The margins are very big in organics and consumers are getting ripped off under the current distribution system. ANY manufacturer, producer of organic food will tell you they want prices lower and they want EVERYONE to be able to afford them. It’s to their advantage to increase distribution by lowering prices. They can produce more and benefit financially.

      • Anonymous

        Heidi, Walmart drives prices down cutting the farmer’s profits. I don’t believe GPDB is in the same box, so to speak. They have clearly stated that they cut out the middle man giving more to the farmer. Their volunteers deliver food, or pay for food delivery. That is not the same as Walmart and the way they have undercut their employees, treated people unfairly, to make a profit.

        I strongly feel that GPDB is not in the same category. If I could purchase food that I cannot buy locally, I would buy from them. But their savings mean more in freight and for me, it doesn’t make sense.

        No one is going to give away organic food, and everyone deserves to make a profit for healthy food. I think GPDB is trying to purchase the best available food they can, but some farmers have not seen the writing on the wall as yet.

        • Anonymous

          GBPD is a for-profit company. Perhaps it would be better to compare them with Costco, but the point is the same. They drive prices down, and that ends up profiting primarily the large suppliers, and at the cost of quality.

          How they treat their employees may be excellent. I don’t know & if they do treat them well, then they deserve high marks for it.

          They are not, though, a charity. The suggestion that “volunteers” deliver food is rather bizarre.

          GBPD says they cut out the middleman, and the CEO stated in these comments that they deal directly with the farmer. But the products for sale are all or nearly all from rather large corporations.

          You are concerned about how USDA has been destroying the meaning of the term organic, and I agree completely. But GBPD is selling largely USDA-styled organic products, when they do sell “organic” of any sort. That’s not helping the cause.

          I recognize the difficulty in finding genuine organic food. And I can sympathize with the fact that it may not always be possible to do better than GBPD. But let’s not put up blinders and make claims that the company is something other than what it is.

          Real organic food is not produced on a mass scale. It isn’t USDA. The real thing is either done on an honor system – which requires that it be local so you can make a personal judgement – or through smaller certification efforts like Oregon Tilth. The concept of a big buying club to drive prices down simply makes no sense within the concept of genuine organic foods.

          • Anonymous

            Heidi,

            Being that we all live in America, you are entitled to your opinion, and to express it…that is until you to commit libel in your representations. I’ve been tolerant, trying to have an honest dialogue with you. I’ve invited you to call me and discuss any concerns you have so that you can comment about us truthfully. You continue to refuse that opportunity. Keep up the misrepresentations about our company and you will be talking with our legal counsel, not me.

  • Sherry England

    I will say to everyone to please just check them out for yourself and make a well informed decision based on facts and not misinterpretations. This company is in its infancy and there is still much to do before launch.It just makes me wonder if possibly competition plays a factor here?

    • Anonymous

      There’s a problem with this comment. It doesn’t even attempt to discuss what the author describes as misrepresentations. It accuses without offering any support for the accusation.

      The fact that the company is in its infancy is particularly worrying, not heartening. They’re trying to present their effort as grassroots, a completely misleading description of what they’re planning to do. They intend to drive down prices in exactly the same manner as other big-box type businesses – and that cannot possible result in genuine organic products, only in degraded forms of the concept. There’s an inherent conflict in the concept.

      • Anonymous

        There are so many misrepresentations…it’s not worth the time and effort to respond. It’s clear the author has some sort of agenda or reason for misleading people about GPDB.

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000803367100 Eric L Salerno

          We just heard about GPDB and cannot find any organic produce?
          Where’s the farmer direct organic fruits and veggies???
          (:

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000803367100 Eric L Salerno

  • Jen Baker

    I’ve been suspecting this for a while, but today’s Facebook post cinched it for me:
    The Green PolkaDot Box
    Just returned from 4 days spent in NYC, meeting with a host of different investment banking firms. The response was overwhelmingly positive. I sent out 14 Green PolkaDot Boxes in advance of my arrival to the principals of the various firms with whom I had appointments; each box was full of assorted products. They were a huge hit! Some firms requested I sign engagement letters before I left! We will be raising approximately $5 million for the purpose of expanding inventory to meet membership demand, and for establishing distribution centers in the east, southeast and midwest, including produce operations…Rod

    I live in one of those ‘Organic Food Deserts’ but won’t be buying from them. Everything about this ‘launch’ has rubbed me the wrong way.

    • Jay Cruz

      Just because someone wants to invest in a successful market idea doesn’t mean that they are making false claims. He does after all sell products from recognized brands. He does make this clear when he claims to sell “organic produce WHERE AVAILABLE”–not just organic. I have requested more information on how I can determine whether his organic produce on the site (labeled as such, I mean) is truly organic and whence it comes. I do wonder if Rod samples the wares that he distributes….

      • Jay Cruz

        Just because investment firms want to invest in Rod’s idea, I should say.

  • http://twitter.com/shopOrganic shopOrganic

    If I may, I’d like to off a truly organic alternative. I’m one of the founders of shopOrganic.com. We’re a very small business and we take great care in selecting products for our website. We only offer a non-organic product when no such organic product exists. We strongly favor small companies and when we do carry products from the large multinational organic companies, we typically only carry the products that we can’t find from another company. We’re founded by a small team of committed organic eaters and supporters hoping to both make organic food available to people in organic food deserts and support small organic businesses by offering their products to a wider number of people. Please visit us at http://www.shoporganic.com and drop us a line if you’d like to connect with us.

    • Anonymous

      I took a look at your site, and it really does look good. Being associated with Oregon Tilth, as well as your other organic groups, says a lot about you – and it’s all good.

  • Anonymous

    Monsanto, Syngenta and other friends of the USDA Secretary of Agriculture under the Obama Administration and Bush Administration are out to destroy all organic, and they are on their way. It’s becoming more and more difficult to find organic fruits, grains, legumes. Stonyfield Farms organic yogurt is becoming more difficult to find, as well.

    The Obama USDA has even allowed pesticides and GMO’s on the National List for organic agriculture. Some of the ingredients in organic baby food may contain GMO’s.

    I suggest that the reason for the Green Polka Dot box is to give its members a choice of less expensive non-GMO foods when otherwise there would have none.

    When I shop for organic, I go to several different stores and to farmers markets to buy produce. I’ve stockpiled beans and grains, and have a freezer full of organic meat and powdered milk, but it will not last the rest of our lives unless GMO’s cut our lives short. Hence, we need other sources of food that is verified not to contain GMO’s and is not herbicide or pesticide tolerant to the vast amounts of petrochemicals sprayed upon the plants. The Green Polka Dot may be a new source.

    • thepixie

      @beccadog:disqus i have a may be stupid question: why do you stock up powdered milk? what is organic about that?
      i mean this seriously! not a put down or negative, i really would like to know why you would do that -we all have our reasons for things after all

      • http://www.facebook.com/Mauhadette Hannah Hayes

        A lot of people stock pile food that doesn’t need to be refridgerated in case of an emergency. (i.e power outages, natural disasters, etc.) Frozen meat will go bad, but the powdered milk will last a long time.

  • Anonymous

    Regarding your comments about The Green PolkaDot Box, you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about, and you haven’t done any fact finding to validate your claims. I encourage you to call me or write directly if you’d like to know the truth, rather than invent it to suit your purposes. I would be happy to help you.

    Rod Smith
    CEO
    The Green PolkaDot Box

    • Anonymous

      Every time organics are produced on a large scale, the quality goes down. The nature of organics is that good quality is produced on a small scale and close to the point of purchase. Large scale production means cutting corners, being removed from the farming itself, becoming the same as agribusiness.

      One of the most important points about organic food is that it’s personal – not faceless like agribusiness. It means knowing the source of your food. When the focus is first on saving money, then quality suffers.

      What you’re selling is the same pipe dream that Walmart sold, the idea that a big customer base means lower prices. It does – but the real cost is destruction of quality and quality of life. We’re already paying an enormous price for cheap goods & food. And the USDA is helping to destroy the nature of organics by redefining it so that pseudo organics can be produced & sold on a large scale. Its organic label is close to meaningless already.

      We are not paying the real price of food production via agribusiness as it is. We aren’t paying the cost of their pollution or the damage to health – yet, though that’s all starting to happen. Until it does, organics will not be playing on a level field. To make price comparisons with that distorted system is unfair – and ultimately helps to maintain the false idea that organics producers are charging too much. Focusing on lowering cost distorts the entire issue.

      I purchase organics – as much as I can – from local suppliers. None of them are getting rich and none of them could survive by charging less. They could not produce on a scale much bigger than they’re doing now and maintain their quality. I don’t like paying the price, of course, but don’t begrudge it. It’s certainly true that buying real organic food is becoming more and more difficult – but that’s because of a distorted system of food distribution, not because organics producers charge too much. e

      If you’re saving consumers money on genuine organics, then you’re doing it by cutting into the profits of the suppliers and forcing them into larger scale production – and away from truly organic farming. If what you’re doing is getting into the broad-scale pseudo organics of the USDA system, then you’re helping to continue the corruption of organics – and the destitution of farm workers.

      • Anonymous

        Heidi, your response is not based in reality and reflects a lack of understanding about the marketplace. You are, apparently, not aware that there is a very high mark up on genuine organics because of the expensive distribution system that is established. Take produce, for example. They typical mark up on organic produce ranges from 250% to 350%. GPDB eliminates most of this mark up and pays the farmers 10% – 15% more than they are currently getting from brokers and distributors. But the consumer is saving from 30% to 60% off retail pricing. There is no negative impact, whatseover, on the quality. To the contrary, GPDB buys directly from the farmer and delivers to the consumer within 24 to 48 hours from harvest. In most cases, produce takes 7 t0 10 days to reach the consumer. Comparing Walmart to GPDB is like comparing a used volksewagen bug to a cadilac. There is a huge difference in quality because of the care GPDB takes in selection. I really don’t understand your point of view. But I do understand that you are making sweeping generalizations that cannot be supported with facts and that are contrary to the realities of the marketplace. But as far as GPDB is concerned I advise that you do your homework and get the truth before you try to characterize it. You’re doing yourself and your readers a great disservice, while harming a legitimate business that can help consumers.

        • Anonymous

          Okay, an example – water. You have one item in that department, O.N.E. Coconut Water.

          It’s wholly owned by Pepsico – hardly a wonder of the organic world or decency.

          Blue Diamond Almond Breeze: How can a product be “natural” if it’s ultrapasteurized? And what do you mean about buying from the farmer? Blue Diamond is an enormous company, the world’s largest processor of almonds.

          Don’t try to accuse me of just picking a couple of things and making generalizations. I’ve also looked to see what sorts of things you carry in general, and they do not fit within the description you’ve just given. I’ve looked for something that might fit the description you’ve just given of what you buy & sell, but cannot find any – not one item.

          Most of your products are heavily packaged and from large-scale operations – not from farmers. In fact, I could find absolutely no fresh foods on your site, though you just wrote that you purchase from the farmers & deliver within 24-48 hours. The closest I could find were a few nuts and one type of seed. Everything else is thoroughly packaged, along the lines of what’s produced in a factory.

          You wrote: “GPDB buys directly from the farmer and delivers to the consumer within 24 to 48 hours from harvest.” Where’s the produce on your website that you say you buy directly from farmers?

          • Anonymous

            Heidi, organic is organic; it doesn’t matter who makes it. Exercise a little patience and restraint. Give GPDB time to perfect it’s performance. You’ll see…that your criticisms are hasty and unfounded.

          • Anonymous

            One can judge only based on what’s there – and what’s there does NOT support what you have claimed.

            It is also not true that “organic is organic”. The USDA so-called organic label demonstrates that quite clearly.

          • Anonymous

            Have you seen the new name for conventional products, compliments of the USDA? It’s “Natural.”
            Of course, Monsanto also wants to market their products as “natural” even though they have been created in a laboratory.

            But, I don’t think the GPDB is in the same category at all.
            Individual people have put up $2,000/per person or family for top grade memberships. That’s money I don’t have. Hence, I took out a free membership so I could decide after I saw what was offered.

            GBDB said that for people living in or near Utah, they could deliver organic produce. But, we live in Louisiana, where not much is available. I think I’d starve on what is here, so I supplement CSA crops with whatever I can find online and through health food stores.

            BTW, health food stores in their haste to fill their shelves are buying some GM foods like Miso from sweet rice, which never was organic, but now makes me sick in my gastrointestinal track and I refuse to eat it. It will go into the trash.

            Someday soon, we will have nothing to eat and the GPDB may be the only food available. I

        • http://twitter.com/sepi9 September Ventura

          There you go again. I’m sure Heidi is based in reality. You have a very offensive manner when explaining your point of view. You may be right in all of your explanations. Your delivery is obnoxious.

        • ask4j

          if you are as you say, a legitimate business that can help consumers, why are you associated with “natural” news? (someone I group with the likes of rush limbaugh. It makes one suspicious that your glowing family is a front for big time money demeaning those who do produce purely organic foods. Having to become a member before a purchase can be made, well I don’t need to pay club dues at TJ’s or my local coop or any other legitimate business selling produce and groceries. but then I doubt this really busy businessman, rod smith, would be at home blogging on his computer either, right?

          • ChemicalRefugee

            Natural news is nothing like Rush and the ditto-heads.. I have no idea why to associate them with one another. All other issues aside, this totally confuses me. Every person has the right to their opinion, but i have no idea where you got that one or what you might have against “Natural News”.

          • / Heidi Stevenson

            At the time of this posting, Natural News was promoting Green Polka Dot Box heavily, and making it quite clear that they collected a percentage of sales. That’s the reason.

    • Daniel Layton

      Sorry Rod, I agree with this article. I signed up for a free membership based on your promise for an all organic store at lower prices, but you don’t even manage that. I can tell you right now I’m never going to order anything from you. You sell all the same old crap for very little less than it costs at Whole Foods or anywhere else. I thought that unlike whole foods, you would try to offer only USDA organic products, flawed as that label is, but you don’t do that. And as this article points out, your claims to being “grass roots” are impossible considering virtually every product you offer is from a major company. You seem to have no interest in the organic movement, but are rather motivated by profit via greenwashing.

      • Anonymous

        Daniel, your comments, again, reflects an unwillingness to have an honest conversation, but rather resort to sweeping generalizations and exaggerations. I would willingly listen to any honest criticism or suggestions because we have a desire to perfect our performance and improve our offering. But your commentary reflects some kind of bitterness, a ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater’ mentality that ignores the realities in the world, and in business. Everything you write is a mischaractorization or distortion of the truth. We have never stated anywhere that we would only carry USDA organic products. Read again what I have written. http://www.greenpolkadotbox.com/about Quote it verbatim if your aim is to criticize. But don’t distort it. If your goal is really to make things better try a little honey and patience. Try to be innovative and constructive. In the very least try to state the truth. You might get more than five readers. But, first, do your homework. Your claim that we offer our products for “very little less” than what it cost at Whole Foods is an absolute lie. To the contrary, our pricing is generally 30% to 60% off of Whole Foods prices including free delivery. But you don’t really want to know the truth….or tell it.

    • thepixie

      sweet! thanks for your input in here!

  • Daniel Layton

    Genetically Modified Walnuts are not on the market. It takes 30 years for a tree to bear walnuts, and they weren’t making much in the way of GM crops in the early 80′s.

    • Anonymous

      You’re right. That wasn’t the best example. I was aware that they were being tested, but failed to verify whether they’re actually on the market. Thanks for pointing it out.

    • Anonymous

      The Obama Administration allowed the planting of eucalyptus trees in various parts of the country. Eucalyptus trees are said to produce the fungus C. gattii in tropical and subtropical climates. It first caused an outbreak in temperate climes on Vancouver Island in 1999 that has now spread into Washington and Oregon, where it infects local trees. With eucalyptus trees planted in the South and various parts of the USA, I suspect that fruit and nut trees will contract the C. gattii fungus, and when people buy new trees, those new varieties will be genetically engineered, perhaps to withstand vast amounts of fungicides, which endanger human and animal health. That seems to be Monsanto and the Bush Administration’s plan. Recall, genetic engineering pathways were set under the Bush Administration in 1991. But every administration since then have followed in unison to promote the genetic modification of everything and I imagine that whomever is elected president will follow through with this secret agenda for a New World Order and it has nothing to do with the GPDB, but with future Genetically Modified Walnuts and other nuts.

  • Anonymous

    I received the information about GPDB from Natural News. It seemed fairly obvious that Mike Adams was going to make a mint on being the referral to the hundreds of his readers that would sign-up for GPDB. I saw a few products where the discounts were lower than I had seen it for: SunWarrior protein and greens, Mary’s Gone Crackers (about half the price as the health food stores.) I went to Trader Joe’s and all the nuts and seeds are the same if not cheaper from Trader Joe’s. I get free shipping from GPDB, IF I order over $150. If not, the shipping charge may make up for any discounts (Mary’s Gone Crackers about $2.50 instead of $5.00–buying four boxes would save me $10 in cost and charge me probably more than that in shipping.)

    While GPDB CEO Rod responds with percentages, that his company’s prices are generally 30-60% cheaper, I don’t think that is 100% honest. And the FACT that they are selling some non-organic products seems profit-oriented and not following the “organic” by-line. Whether the companies GPDB are dealing with are big or not is their choice. That they claim to be promoting Ma & Pa’s “grassroots” seems dishonest.

    I was given a free membership so will see about using it for a bit. But I don’t delude myself that GPDB isn’t bending the truth and their so-called company statements a little.

    -rebelyogi

  • Anonymous

    Who funds you? Who pays for what you write at Gaia Health? Monsanto?

    Organic agriculture and consumer products has been under attack since the Bush-Cheney Administration who allowed synthetic chemical pesticides in organic food. The Obama Administration through the USDA secretary, Tom Vilsack, a Monsanto shill, has found ways to weaken the organic standard right and left, including allowing genetically modified ingredients in baby food, and helping put organic farmers out of business so that the economy could grow with genetically modified foods!!!

    Plus, most profitable organically grown brands have been bought out by major companies. This has occurred over many years. It is NOT new.

    As a candidate, President Obama promised before his election to give us the right to know, via mandatory labeling, which foods were genetically modified (with foreign DNA, such as soil pathogens, bacterium, etc.) to tolerate (drink and sell more pesticides). Either Mr. Obama was naive or deceptive, I cannot say. But, he has NEVER given us the right to know and has stood by while deceptive, corrupt action has taken place at the USDA and the FDA.

    Increasingly, organic farmers are threatened, harassed and litigated against for saving their own seeds, as farmers had done for thousands of years. Monsanto’s GMO seed, which contaminates organic and non-GMO farmer’s crops and opens them up to abusive lawsuits. In the past two decades, Monsanto’s seed monopoly has grown so powerful that they control the genetics of nearly 90% of five major commodity crops including corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and sugar beets.

    In many cases farmers are forced to stop growing certain crops to avoid genetic contamination and potential lawsuits. Between 1997 and 2010, Monsanto admits to filing 144 lawsuits against America’s family farmers, while settling another 700 out of court for undisclosed amounts. Due to these aggressive lawsuits, Monsanto has created an atmosphere of fear in rural America and driven dozens of farmers into bankruptcy.

    The biotech-pesticide companies plan to eliminate all organic agriculture so there is zero choice about what is purchased and they can make unlimited funds at the expense of the world’s population.

    The GreenPolkaDotBox verifies that the products do not contain genetically modified organisms, and yes, some are organically grown from organic seeds, which are becoming rare from the powers that be

    The USDA, FDA, in Congress regardless of political party has caused the demise of much of our organic agriculture. GreenPolkaDotBox gives us mandatory labeling through verification even though we don’t have that right through our government.

    • Anonymous

      It’s hard to imagine how you can suggest that this site is somehow supported by Monsanto. That’s as bizarre a comment as I’ve ever seen.

      Everything you say about the plight or organics is true. But then, when you switch to what the GPDB is about, you seem to be basing it on nothing but their rhetoric, not on what they do. They sell all prepackaged foods, nothing straight from the farm, though their CEO made the claim that they deal directly with the organic farmers. They don’t. (Read comments below and you’ll see the truth of that.)

      You complain – legitimately – about how bad the USDA’s organics program is, but completely miss the fact that most of the so-called organics sold by GPDB is only USDA certified – and that a very large portion of what they sell is not organic.

      The fact that the state of organics is so bad has nothing to do with whether GPDB is legitimate.

  • Anonymous

    A post was just deleted because, after a response had been made, it was changed to say something dramatically different, making the response no longer relevant. Please, do not do such things. To continue to do so will result in banning, as it’s disruptive to any sense of discussion.

  • http://www.facebook.com/michele.feltz Michele LeValley Feltz

    What a great article! This article affirms what I already suspected about The Green Polka Dot Box!

  • Anonymous

    Heidi, I think some of your points regarding GPDB are well made. You keep refering to Oregon Tilth, however, as if they are the defination of true organic. They are a third-party certifier that works with some very respectable brands (Dr. Bronner), but they also sign off on some of the biggest corporate organics out there. The Great Value brand of organic milk sold at Walmart for example is third-party certified by Oregon Tilth. ORegon Tilth has sold out to coproate organics as much as anyone else.

    • / Heidi Stevenson

      Thank you for this update. At the time I lived in Oregon, that didn’t appear to be the case. I’m truly saddened to learn this.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000803367100 Eric L Salerno

  • claudia

    Hi Heidi, I’ve read this top to bottom, including comments. It’s great and thank you. Something about GPDB didn’t seem right to me and I’m glad I’ve held off buying into that. However, and this may be addressed somewhere else on this site (this is my first time on it, haven’t explored too much yet), where the hell am I supposed to buy my food?? I’m sort of laughing a little as I type that, but it’s not really all that funny. If organic isn’t really organic, Whole Foods is all about Monsanto, the organic brands I usually buy are just owned by giant agribusiness companies  … it’s a little disheartening to say the least. There is a great farmer’s market that I trust here in Miami and that has a wide selection but 1)it’s only in produce, some raw goods and some dried legumes and grains, 2)it’s CRAZY expensive (I’m talking about my boyfriend and I would be going hungry if I only shopped there) and 3)more importantly, it’s only held on Saturday while I’m at work, so I can’t get there anyway. And now I don’t even know if I should be trusting them! So, yeah, my question is, any suggestions on how to go about procuring food? ;) thanks! 

    • HeidiStevenson

      Hi Claudia,

      Thank you for the compliment!

      The problem with finding real food is real. Believe me, I understand. The truth is that I compromise, in spite of putting real effort into it. There aren’t any easy answers. 

      First, I think we need to be honest about it. We are conditioned to expect our food to cost far less than it should be priced. To adjust to that fact isn’t easy – but if we truly want real food with its benefits, we must acknowledge the fact that it isn’t cheap.

      Those who don’t cook should learn. It doesn’t have to be difficult – and many would be amazed to discover how creative and rewarding it can be. 

      Getting together with others of like mind isn’t necessarily easy. It’s startling to realize how many just don’t get it, don’t realize what’s being taken from them. Nonetheless, I think that trying to do that can help. It’s possible to make arrangements to buy cooperatively. Perhaps one person has access to one sort of food from a farm and can purchase it for the group. Perhaps another can garden and provide foods. Another might raise chickens to provide eggs and meat.

      Another thing to consider is that frozen foods are often a better & healthier buy than supermarket produce. It seems hard to believe, but produce flash frozen shortly after harvest is generally more nutritious than what’s found in the produce departments, which have usually spent a significant amount of time in storage, especially in gas storage that makes it look fresh when it’s on the verge of rotting. 

      We can only do our best. That often means buying less than the ideal. As much as possible, though, buy locally to help keep the local producers going. Talk ‘em up to everyone around, so they’ll shop there, too. Remember that, though the prices may seem high, you’re avoiding future ill health – and that’s priceless.

      Part of this problem is how we’ve become separated from each other. The nuclear family cannot exist in a vacuum. We need to learn to support each other, like we used to do. The old story of the rugged individualist winning the wild west is largely a myth. People have forgotten the barn raising tales, of how whole communities got together to help each other. We need to relearn that.

      And last, realize that this is a political issue. Like it or not, our food choices are so limited because our governments go along with the wishes of Agribusiness. We must be aware of how our options are being circumscribed. We must start riding herd on our representatives – and voting accordingly.

      It would be great if there were easy – or even difficult – answers. Sadly, though, this has become such a pervasive problem that, unless we work at it, we’ll have no options whatsoever. Junk food that brings huge profits is what we’ll be eating because there’ll be nothing else, unless we start pushing back.

      • claudia

        Thank you so much for your reply! And so quickly at that. 

        It’s funny because I was listening to the Dinner Party podcast this morning and Alain de Botton was discussing his newest book and talking about “agape feast” and how this kind of a tradition – getting together with family, friends and strangers in order to break bread – which was a common one in religions before they moved into churches, temples, etc, should be brought back and should be embraced by everyone (his book his called Religion for Atheists). 

        And now, I read your response and you’re exactly right. I love when things line up like this. It makes so much sense: splitting costs with friends and at the same time creating a sort of community feeling… We join Annie’s Buying Club together, for instance, and meet up once a week to split the box of produce and maybe even make dinner together. I love it!

        I’ve had a few health “scares” recently which was immediately preceded by my boyfriend becoming more aware of all these food issues by watching documentaries on netflix (again, things lining up…) and we’ve been eating better and more consciously than before. I also checked out the shoporganic.com site someone mentioned and I think I’ll be using them as well for things I can’t find around here.

        Here’s to making a difference one bite at a time :)

  • http://profiles.google.com/awindenberger Aurelien Windenberger

    “But it gets even worse. Walnuts and sesame seeds are being genetically modified. If a walnut or sesame oil is not organic, then it can be a GMO—and there’s no way you can possibly know if it is. Therefore, there is no way to know if the walnut or sesame oil that the Green Polka Dot Box is selling is genetically modified!”
    Where have you learned that Walnuts and Sesame seeds are being genetically modified? I keep up with these developments and have never heard of either food having any commercially available GM varieties.  The Canola Oil is the only product of the 7 listed that could have any GM risk.

    • Suzy

      Another point about organic being the only way to know that something is non-GMO: unfortunately, this is no longer true. Genetically modified organisms can blow in the wind and through pollinators have now contaminated organic crops. Sad, but true. There is now no way to assure the absence of GMOs in any organic product short of having it reliably tested.

  • Wolfhunter_60

    selling sodas now—with caramel coloring

  • Wolfhunter_60

    also peppers with preservatives and FD & C Yellow #5
    How organic is that?

  • Ben

    This article is retarded. You repeatedly use the size of a corporation as a proxy for “bad” which is an economic-political opinion that has nothing to do with whether or not a food product is organic. Your focus on “big bad corporations” instead of “under which definitions is this food organic or not” discredits your entire article and makes you sound like a tool.

    • thepixie

      not really, the size of a company says a lot! growing up to a point is ok in my opinion, but this “bigger is better” just does not work! i am looking to see if i want to join this marketing thing called GPDB but worry what it does to the local businesses if i do no longer shop there; me alone, no big deal, 15 more….
      also i have seen it before: the bigger the greedier!
      i have looked at their products as well and some of the things they deem organic…… i would not buy!

  • Victor

    i can appreciate your attempt to analyze the integrity of GPDB. At the same time, starting a company is enormously challenging. From what I have seen, the people involved with GPDB have good intentions, and the CEO has taken time to try and respond to your allegations.

    I do not mean this as a glib statement, but if you want to make things better, perhaps you could, 1) get a group of friends and investors together and start a company that’s better than GPDB, 2) interact with Rod in a personal and friendly way and offer him suggestions to make GPDB better, 3) focus on the positive things that GPDB is actually doing for people living in towns with zero access to organic bulk items, i.e. things they can’t grow themselves, like organic coconut oil/sugar, rice, quinoa, beans, coffee, yerba mate, etc.

    After many years reading on the internet, I have come to the conclusion that hostile attacks do nothing to make things better. Sensationalism is the outdated method of newspapers, tv, and magazines.

    We need to become better than that old, dead model of hyperbole and verbal assault. Let’s use this historically brand new resource that is the internet to learn to work together to make things work for everyone as much as possible.

    Thank you, and may we all learn to get along.

  • Victor

    Another comment: someone earlier mentioned that Rod, the CEO of GPDB, doesn’t look healthy. If you go to his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rod.smith.37017
    he is the father of 5 beautiful adult children, and has been a business man for many years. His wife looks happy and content, so he must be doing something right *wink*.
    I think he looks fine for someone who has had to keep that busy for so many years. The truth is, life is hard, and taking perfect care of ourselves is a constant challenge. Try to have a little compassion for others and understand that we are each carrying our own burdens in life. Someone who runs a health food store or juice bar may be doing so because of a health challenge they experienced in life. That health challenge may have left them looking older than they are, but they are stronger and have more life experience because of that. Just something to think about. Not everyone can look like David Wolfe or Daniel Vitalis.
    Cheers, Victor

  • Pamela Doroshuk

    A long time ago, in the 70′s, is when I started to get into
    organic food. Only those of you who are “old enough” will
    remember the original Walnut Acres. My food was shipped to the new co-op
    in our town. I had a freezer and extra refrigerators. When the kids
    were little we moved on a small farm, where I was able to grow produce.
    After 2 years, my husband was transferred to CT where, at that time, it was
    difficult to find anything organic. I wish I would have had the GPDB at
    that time! Walnut Acres did not ship fresh produce.

    I’ve read most of the posts and both the shopOrganic and the GPDB look very
    similar. With all the variations in diet (gluten-free, allergies to
    different foods, etc.), no one will be able to carry just “your
    products” and stay in business. Both companies carry a variety of
    products. Both company’s product lines are not all 100% organic….

    I have tried the GPDB for the past 6 months and have been very pleased.
    Their customer service is wonderful and if I call or email, I get a timely
    response — whatever my concern, it is taken care of immediately. I
    especially like the produce, as you can order a small amount ($25 + $5.95
    shipping) or get free shipping with a $50 order. (Free shipping on
    non-produce items is a $75 minimum.) The produce is packed with cold
    packs and arrives “cool” and fresh. (You can see from some of
    the older posts that they have lowered the minimum. Soon they will be
    expanding the product line, including frozen foods, and the distribution
    areas.)

    Many of the GPDB suppliers are the same ones that the local co-op I shop at
    carries. No one place has everything all the time. For some items,
    I go directly to the supplier, if they ship, but it is more convenient if I can
    get everything from one supplier. I enjoy shopping on line because it
    saves me time and gas. And if anyone is ill, this is not just a convenience,
    it is a necessity because you don’t get worn out with the whole
    driving-shopping-packing-unpacking-in-&-out-of-the-car process. The
    box comes right to your door.

    I understand that one post felt that sending product to prospective business
    investors was “buying” off people. If you have ever done a
    start-up business or need investors, you need a way to show the banks what you
    are offering. It is no different than the “free” samples in the
    co-ops and health food stores. If your product is good, you are not
    afraid to show investors what you are offering. It’s that kind of initiative
    that makes a company successful, which for me means longevity. Too many
    companies go under within the first 3-5 years.

    I am so thankful that we have organic food. It is not always
    perfect. If we can pressure our government representatives to not
    compromise the definition and standards, to keep our food real and clean, we
    can make a difference. One personal well-written letter or email
    represents 100 others who did not take the time to voice their concerns… and
    of course, VOTE!

  • http://www.facebook.com/kim.g.emond Kim Gregory Emond

    My company provides Green Polka Dot Box the software that they use to receive, pick, pack and ship their products to the consumer. In our interaction with GPDB even before it started we knew they were a high integrity company and had a great concept. Many of the people in our company are on the program and the products, prices and customer service could not be better. As far as them trying to be a “mini Walmart” that’s absurd. I know for a fact that this company is sensitive to what is buys and how it’s produced. It seems like some of the observations here are accurate when describing the Walmart doctrine of lowest price at any means, but this is far from the GPDB model.

    Heidi keep up your strong activist spirit (we all appreciate someone who is generally concerned with these issues), but accusing GPDB of doing anything but providing the health conscious public with an affordable means to acquire great food and green goods is simply irresponsible.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Silvia-Postill/100001823835288 Silvia Postill

    absolutely right & spot on!..Brilliant article Heidi…thank you!!

  • pseudonymous in nc

    “MAVEA Water Filter Products is owned by Brita, and Brita is owned by Clorox.”

    Not so. Brita sold Clorox the rights to the Brita name and old product line in the US; when Brita re-entered the US market with its new product line (called Brita Maxtra elsewhere) it couldn’t call itself Brita, so it created the MAVEA brand.

    http://www.brita.net/facts_figures.html

    • / Heidi Stevenson

      I see what you’re saying, but wasn’t initially quite convinced. Google quotes from Hoovers that North American rights to Brita products are owned by Clorox. (http://www.google.co.uk/finance?cid=1418230) It seems to me that Brita products include the Mavea brand.

      Did Clorox sign a contract with Brita that allowed them wriggle room to start another brand for North American sales without holding ownership of it? That’s what I needed to be convinced of. And you’re right – they did. Here’s the page that convinced me: http://www.mavea.com/mavea/philosophy.html?L=0 It’s on the Mavea site and states, “In 2000, Brita GmbH sold the “Brita” brand in the Americas (North, Central and South America) to The Clorox Company. Since then, Clorox has developed and marketed its own products under the Brita brand in these markets (the Americas) only.

      “The MAVEA brand was developed and introduced by BRITA GmbH expressly to bring a portfolio of premium water filtration products to North American markets. ”

      So thank you for helping to clarify!

  • Bryan

    Sounds like you have a royal stick up your butt against this company or trying to use the company to get attention to your self.. So you say organic food isn’t mass produced? So what is your take on mass producing 10 rows of lettuce, 1 row, 2 rows??……your statement in itself doesn’t make sense. I could have 10 heads of lettuce and call it mass producing. Plus it looks like he’s a distributor, so he doesn’t grow anything. Why don’t you go beat up Walmart, they let meat and produce including your lovely organic food into there stores with 47 percent bacteria on your food. I’ve never shop there for food, but it sicken me to hear that you could eat something with that much bacteria on one single item.

    • / Heidi Stevenson

      No, organic food cannot be mass produced. Any suggestion that it can goes completely against the concept.

      Walmart is disgusting and clearly not the issue in this article. Your mention of it is simply redirection away from the issue – the absurdity of the idea that organic food can be mass produced or that the effects of large scale consuming to bring the price of a product down could possibly be beneficial to production of organic food or to the producers of it. It would obviously simply bring the same sorts of pressures to bear that have brought the nature of so-called conventional food to such a sorry state.

      If you continue to use scurrilous attacks on the author or redirection from the topic at hand, then you will find yourself unable to comment here. Those are not legitimate forms of debate.

      • http://www.facebook.com/Mauhadette Hannah Hayes

        He brings up a good point…What do you consider mass produced??

        • ChemicalRefugee

          Organic agriculture only forbids the use of G.M. plants, nano agriculture inventions, and synthetic poisons and fertilizers.

          Massive farms (centralization) is a sustainability issue, not an organics issue.

          Organic farming rules have nothing to say about farm size or sustainability. They are complimentary (but very different) areas of agro-science.

          Large scale organic agriculture, whichn was also SUSTAINABLE too, has already been done in history, os it would be hard to say it can’t be done and be both well informed, and honest.

          I would direct those who disagree to the Chinese dynasties who, for
          over 1000 years, made it the law for everyone to participate in the soil enrichment programs of their empire. The grew massive amounts of food on huge farms in districts dedicated to farming, which had large, human made, irrigation systems. They did this to avoid having more of the massive famines that were a repeating problem in China. It took a whole lot of forced labor to build the necessary waterways…and for a very long time, every person in those districts took their “night soil” (poop) off to be composted & put on the fields..

          All of this was done by using simple permaculture
          techniques (before the term existed). The fertility of the coil in those parts of China are still the highest in the country, this long after the program stopped.

          They need to start it back up again and add it biomass cookers to make methane out of the composting poo, and pull hydrogen out of the urea in the urine.

          • / Heidi Stevenson

            If you follow the definition of organic given by entities like the USDA, then you’re right. But that’s a corruption of the real thing.

            Again, Wikipedia does NOT qualify as an authority.

            The Chinese example sounds good, but it requires individual input, not mass input and economies of scale, which is what Agribusiness does. It doesn’t apply to the issue of genuine organic agriculture.

            Real organic agriculture requires crop rotation, which you don’t mention. It requires hand weeding, which you don’t mention. It utilizes natural fertilizers, like poop and urine. It doesn’t reduce food production to a commodity.

            Anything that reduces food to nothing but a commodity is NOT organic. Period. Large-scale production cannot be genuinely organic, unless you use a polluted definition of the term.

          • ChemicalRefugee

            what is your definition for organic agriculture/gardening ?

            I am curious here because I am very well read on this topic, and the things you seem to be including are not in any of the definitions that I have found

            Permaculture matches fairly well with much of what you seem to be saying (from what I can tell), but there is a very large permaculture farm about 4 hours away from me. It is HUGE (The enchanted Broccoli Forest) and their land is getting more fertile every year AND they make a good living at it.

          • / Heidi Stevenson

            I’d like to see something about your enchanted Broccoli Forest, but can find nothing online. Do you have more information about it?

            If they don’t rotate crops, then they aren’t permaculture.

            Organic means using natural methods (that aren’t harmful) and ones that nurture and develop soil. It doesn’t mean mass production, because mass production means that a very few are getting wealthy on the backs of many people who are underpaid. Organic production is, by its nature, labor intensive. The only way organic (which must include permaculture within its definition) can be produced on a large scale is through a cooperative approach. Otherwise, it becomes Agribusiness, which invariably becomes corrupt as it focuses solely on the bottom line, as required by any corporation.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kevin.trail.96 Kevin W. Trail

    After carefully reading this thread, I’d say some of you owe gpdb and Mr. Smith a sincere apology. They shipped me a box of produce that I could never get in Michigan in the winter and it was truly nice to be able to eat such clean foods from my own Country. Some of thr products are from “large companies” lol if you consider mid sized health food companies large. I agree that anything offered from a company like pepsi co and the like should be avoided and it’s tough to keep up with how fast corporations buy up businesses here in the US.. For instance, Santa Cruz organics was bought out and it pains me deeply and I’m having a tough time finding a replacement for my juices when I can’t directly juice it myself… Anywho – when all is said and done, they mean well and in my humble opinion are doing what they set out to do and doing it well…

    • / Heidi Stevenson

      The fact is that you cannot truly produce organics on a large scale. It’s foolish to think so. By trying to bring the market to bear on organic pricing, you end up doing precisely the same thing that resulted in the recent horse meat scandal. Anything and everything goes when it comes to bringing prices down. That’s simply counter to the entire organic ethos.

      If you’re going to be responsible for your food, you need to do your best to know precisely where it comes from and how it’s grown. It isn’t easy, but that’s at the heart of true organics and sustainability. Anything else is hype focused on sales rather than food.

      • ChemicalRefugee

        First be aware that My wife and I both have rather extreme Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. We only eat organic food and have since about 1997. My wife gets seizures from very minor exposures, and I have had blisters the size of my hand (deep into the fat layer) from pesticide use over a kilometer away from us. We only leave the house once a month and our one trip out each month, when we go to the doctor and buy our food. It takes as a full month to (mostly) recover from this outing. Our world consists of the two of us and our daughter, in our old stone house (with its own water supply) in a tiny town of 7 houses out in rural Australia (in the arid bushland). In another life we were both computer professionals, and lived in Oregon.

        So, given our situation it makes sense that we are very much FOR : organic food & strong organic standards, permaculture, polyculture, low/no till, low carbon footprints, recycling, and appropriate technology (etc)

        …now with all of that said … (breathing slowly for a moment) …

        —- quote —-
        The fact is that you cannot truly produce organics on a large scale. It’s foolish to think so
        —- end quote —-

        You believe in what you said and I understand that. You believe that large-scale organic agriculture is impossible, because you believe that it violates some of the basic principles of organics. You might want to read this information :

        http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/organic

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_agriculture

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_foods

        Now, take note of which things are not included in any of these definitions. None of them mention : farm size, carbon footprint, greenhouse gasses, sustainability issues, overall energy footprint, food miles (etc), monoculture farms vs polyculture farms, low tillage and no tillage farming methods, erosion control (etc)

        Wonder why this is ?

        These topics are not mentioned in the definition for “Organic Agriculture” …

        … because …

        they are not a part of ORGANIC agriculture; they are a part of SUSTAINABLE agriculture

        They are not the same things. It is common for people who are into organic farming to also be into sustainable agriculture, but they really are different areas (which can be complimentary). However, there are a huge number of organic farms out there right now with do very little in the way of sustainable agriculture. Instead of buying expensive synthetic “farm inputs”, they buy natural ones instead.

        Now me – I strongly believe that we do need to embrace sustainable technology worldwide -> including sustainable agriculture

        We still need to keep in mind that sustainable agriculture is NOT always a part of organic agriculture.

        • / Heidi Stevenson

          Look for all the excuses you want to convince yourself that real organic can be produced on an Agribusiness scale. But quoting Wikipedia, which has proven to be an aparatchik of corporate-type production in foods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and medicals does not qualify as a decent reference. That’s three of your four. The other is a dictionary, which hardly qualifies for nuance.

          You end with the statement that “sustainable agriculture is NOT always a part of organic agriculture.” Yet, that’s the basis of all organic farming. It’s what it’s about – constantly improving using nature, not chemistry & oil-based products. Genuine organic agriculture is sustainable. Large-scale agribiz is not. If those so-called organic farms are doing what you say, then they aren’t organic. They manage to use the term, though, because they get it from the USDA, an Agribiz-controlled agency, which has managed to destroy the meaning of organic.

          I stand by what I said. Genuine organics cannot be produced on a mass scale. Economies of scale have nothing to do with organic production. Close attention and cooperating with nature, things that require a small scale, have everything to do with organics.

          Here’s an example that I just picked at random on the Green Polka Dot Box site: Happy Family. I went to their website and selected one item from it, happy puffs apple, and looked at the ingredients. It’s loaded with non-natural stuff, including tricalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, sodium ascorbate (palmed off as vitamin C – but not natural), and ferric orthophosphate (palmed off as a nutrient, but illegal in the EU!). This “apple” product’s first ingredient is rice flour! Nothing fresh, nothing unprocessed, and a bunch of chemicals. If that qualifies as organic, then the term has been corrupted. Trust it at your own risk. Of course, it shouldn’t be a surprise the Happy Family is becoming a major seller in the US with its marketing game. But, there’s not there there.

          • ChemicalRefugee

            1) I am not making excuses. I am presenting information, and making it plain (by quoting sources) that my ideas are not just pulled out of my butt. If I did not quote any “official” (more learned than I am) sources, then you would have every right and reason to disbelieve everything I might say.

            When a person presents information to any person who has a conflicting definition or idea, it is normal to quote other sources.

            After all, if people disagree on the spelling or the meaning of a word then they usually use a dictionary to settle the point. The same is true for definitions, like that of the word “organic”.

            I am doing that – quoting other people who are better authorities than I am.

            I did NOT just quote wikipedia at you. I do not trust them to that level.

            2) You have still not told me (despite several requests) what you believe organic agriculture is, other than ‘not possible at an industrial scale’ and ‘foolish to think it could be’

            You have given no response to anyone who has asked you these questions.

            Why?

            On the other hand you have threatened to ban people from the site, for only disagreeing with you…

            3) You have also not given me any other human persons’ definition of the term either.

            Why is this?

            = = = = = = = = = = = = =
            Here are other examples the definition as I look them up

            Oxford Dictionary

            http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/organic

            Definition of organic
            adjective

            2 (of food or farming methods) produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial chemicals: organic farming organic meat

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            Merriam Webster Dictionary

            http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/organic

            a (2) : of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            Webster’s Student Dictionary

            http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?organic

            organic.
            Main Entry: or·gan·ic
            Function: adjective
            2 d : relating to, producing, dealing in, or involving foods produced with the use of feed or fertilizer obtained from plants or animals and without the use of laboratory-made fertilizers, growth substances, antibiotics, or pesticides

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            Longman English Dictionary

            http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/organic

            or gan ic

            1 farming
            relating to farming or gardening methods of growing food without using artificial chemicals, or produced or grown by these methods:

            Organic farming is better for the environment.
            organic gardening
            organic food/vegetables/milk etc
            The shop sells organic food.
            organic wine

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            Encyclopedia Britannica

            http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/431991/organic-farming

            organic farming, also called organic gardening, system of crop cultivation employing biological methods of fertilization and pest control as substitutes for chemical fertilizers and pesticides; the latter products are regarded by proponents of organic methods as injurious to health and the environment and unnecessary for successful cultivation.

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            The Free Dictionary [definition of organic gardening in the Free Online Encyclopedia]

            http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Organic+gardening

            organic farming,

            the practice of raising plants—especially fruits and vegetables, but ornamentals as well—without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. In the United States, as elsewhere, awareness of the environmental damage and threats to health (see pollution; environmentalism) caused by DDT, dieldrin, and other insecticides and by the excessive use of chemical fertilizers has fostered interest in organic gardening, particularly among home gardeners. Organic gardeners use short-lived, biodegradable pest-killers or biological pest control and prefer manure for fertilizer. Organic farming on a large scale is both difficult and costly, but a small, steady market for organically grown, or “natural,” foods supports a limited commercial effort in the United States. See also Integrated Pest Management; organic food
            .
            Bibliography

            See J. I. Rodale et al., ed., The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (1959, repr. 1971); C. O. Foster, The Organic Gardener (1972).

            The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. http://www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            This is all I could find of the original word use by Rodale in 1940. The full original text was not included with this information (I wish it was)

            “the origin of the term as used in garden was by J. I. Rodale. He was the first to use the term “organic” in the context of gardening/farming. He used the statement in a magazine article in 1940. Rodale said that the use of “chemical” fertilizers and pesticides was destructive of the environment. The article advocated the return to the use of natural materials such as composts and manures as a better way to feed the garden and the return to the traditional cultural practices such as crop rotation as a better way to prevent and control garden pests. J.I. Rodale was one of the early leaders of the environmental movement and one of the most articulate. He is most remembered for starting Rodale Press which publishes the magazine, “Organic Gardening” and for founding The Rodale Institute which gives organic gardening and farming supportive data.”

            – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

            fell free now to go back to being rude to me, claiming I am making excuses (I have no idea how that even applies to a difference of opinion, as an excuse is just a “fake reason” essentially & I have real ones).

            All I wanted to do was un-muddy the waters. I do not like inaccuracy in word use. If a person online called a hexagon a pentagon, then I wold have done the same thing – – quoting .the definitions of other sources (with links) of people (or publications) that have a good reason to be believed.

            In practice, people use all sorts of methods for actually doing organics.. At this point I would normally link to a web site that has extra info on various specific organic horticulture methods. However the very best and most exhaustive one that I could find (which also had no major gaps in it, or obvious errors, was a wikipedia page.

            Do do realize that most of the science in the world (including agriculture information and plant biology) is documented on wikipedia as a learning resource? By professional in those areas? That most of their entries are very accurate, and are made (and vetted for accuracy) by people who know a lot about those fields?

            Every change made to the entire site is reviewed for accuracy, for straying off the topic, or for failing to cite references? They also check entries for being biased.

            Wikipeida is not just a bunch of infomration that a few teenagers world-wide pulled out of their backsides. It contains a huge amount of history, as well as information on all the hard and soft sciences.

            I do not agree with every piece of wikipeida listing that I have read, and I have made a few changes to things myself that were historically inaccurate (an advantage of being older – you were actually THERE when things occurred).

            So if you really hate any definition on wikipedia and want it changed – why not change it yourself instead of complaining about the inaccuracy of the web site?

            . get an account there and change the entries that you dislike (with references to prove that you are correct).

            You might just find that their standard of proof (though imperfect) can be rather hard to meet at time and their editing staff (they check all entry changes) do not like “opinion pieces”.

          • / Heidi Stevenson

            Yes, you did toss Wikipedia at me. To suggest otherwise is pretty strange, since it was 3 of 4 of your links, the 4th being a limited dictionary definition.

            If you don’t know how Wikipedia is run, then go have a try at changing something and see where it gets you.

            When they don’t allow the members of a profession to have a say in their profession, there’s something very wrong – and that is the case with alternative practitioners.

            As to your condescending tone (and implication of being better/more knowledgeable based on age) – give it up.

            Interesting how Encyclopedia2 points out that it’s “difficult” to do organic on a large scale. That certainly does appear to agree with what I have to say. (Sorry, but I can’t take the time to read the rest of your cut-n-paste job.)

            Now, you’ve had your time and fun trying to push definitions of the term organic, as if it has any meaning. However, you have completely ignored my comment about how clearly phony the very first company I selected is in their use of the term. That’s what really counts. Surely you know that as well as I do. Not some technical definition of the term organic.

            Frankly, your support of this company based solely on some technical definition of a term is pretty sad. If it isn’t obvious that I’m concerned with the spirit of the term, then that’s too bad.

  • Erin N

    I understand your skepticism. I was skeptical at first too, but instead of attacking them I decided to give them a try and find out for myself. They don’t claim to be 100% organic. You do have to read the product description, just like you would at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or anywhere else to be sure you’re getting exactly what you want. But they carry such a wonderful selection of Non-GMO, Organic, Raw and Grass-Fed products, I couldn’t be happier with my membership. I am glad to support a company that is making a great selection of Organic, Non-GMO, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Raw and Grass-Fed products more readily available. I am a charter member and have experienced nothing but wonderful service from their team.

    Read more about my experience here: http://healthyhomemagazine.com/green-polka-dot-box-non-gmo/

  • / Heidi Stevenson

    We each do the best we can – but that does not mean that economies of scale can be brought to organics.

    I understand very well that it’s difficult – in many cases, impossible – to buy truly good honest food. But making excuses for a company that sells products produced by companies wholly held by some of the most egregious Agribusiness corporations will not make things better. Making excuses for a company that sells baby foods that are disgustingly unorganic and full of crap doesn’t help.

    Taking action, as you’re suggesting, is wonderful – and I do applaud you for for it!

  • Elan Drydenhall

    Somewhere down in one of these last 83 comments I had read something by some person related to the EVIL O.N.E. Coconut Water, and it affected my blood pressure. I found no updates regarding the same so here I post this…
    I really loved this coconut water to the tune of about 3 gallons a week, So – They (GPDB) were making money on my addiction. But so what -I felt so good and was loosing weight. Why did GreenPolkaDotBox discontinue my O.N.E. Coconut Water? WELL -I called to make a bitter complaint, threatening to discontinue my membership. I was curtly informed that nasty Pepsi Co purchased it and won’t maintain the non-GM and its organic whateverness. GPDB summarily dropped my favorite brand!!! -without asking my opinion!!! I was PO’d. On the other hand GPDB are sticking to their guns and refuse to sell it to my famished body, and that is probably good for me. I guess I am a nutcase cause what really keeps me up at night is the next big asteroid impact, not whether or not GPDB is harming the planets people.

  • Best-I-Can

    Ok so I get your point but I have a question for you. We travel because of my husband’s work, and we’re often in very remote places where the closest grocery store is 45 miles and I have as much chance at finding ANYTHING organic, especially meat. I drive 2.5 hours to a grocery store because they at least have a few organic fruits and vegetables and oils and organic hamburger meat. Everything else is shot up full of steroids and soy and there’s nothing I can do about it. And I haven’t mastered a ‘garden on a trailer’ just yet lol… I understand your point that GPDB is not COMPLETELY organic, but is it not a total lifesaver for families like mine? Its not the BEST but isn’t it a whole lot BETTER than Walmart? I think people like you are why so many people shy away from healthy living because yall stand on your box and spew all these rules and issues and its too much to take in. I always encourage people to do what they CAN. I think GPDB has done a wonderful thing, they’ve made healthIER food available for those who don’t have any local sources. Yes ideally you could go to a farmers market and get all locally grown produce and meat but 1) how do you know they didn’t poison the hell out of it and write “organic” on a posterboard with a sharpie and 2) there will still be certain things you couldn’t find and still have to go to a grocery store. If GPDB carried only your definition of organic then by time all the small farmers shipped their crop to GPDB then they shipped it to you it would be spoiling or molding since its not loaded with preservatives or sprayed with ether.
    Oh and I never saw you recommend an alternative website that we can get better product from?

    • / Heidi Stevenson

      We each simply do the best we can. But wouldn’t you rather know the truth about where you shop?

      The point of this article has nothing to do with the depravity of Walmart. Of course there is no comparison – but that suggestion was never made, and bringing it up is simply irrelevant.

      Just make your decisions based on reality, not on projected image.

  • / Heidi Stevenson

    Thank you very much for telling what has happened to you.

    A company that asks people to put up money without taking some ownership and control of it is not dealing honestly. They give the impression that they’re something like a cooperative with promises, but I’ll bet if you look at the fine print, you’ll find that they “told” you that they could make “changes” in their plan.

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