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 There
is often a lot of confusion for consumers as to what it ACTUALLY
means for a product to be called 'organic' or 'sustainably grown'.
Many brands on the market claim their products are 'natural' and
'organic', even if they contain only a couple of organic components,
or worse, are actually full of toxic and unhealthy ingredients.
Some companies slap a pretty picture
on the label and list a couple of organic sounding ingredients...way
down at the bottom past all the unpronounceable chemicals and
additives...and in amounts so tiny that the organic ingredient's
benefits are completely negated (and thus are actually of NO benefit
at all!)
Then they spend billions marketing
these so called natural products (it's called 'green washing' and
many, many American companies are doing it.) Wikipedia's
definition is as follows:
"Greenwashing
(a compound word modeled on "whitewash" and also called "green
sheen") is a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is
deceptively used to promote the perception that a company's policies
or products are environmentally friendly." (We add "healthy"
to this last sentence as well.)
For example, high fructose corn
syrup (HFCS) is VERY different from sugar and our bodies absolutely
CAN tell the difference. The way corn syrup is processed in
our systems is completely different from the way our bodies process
sugar...and corn syrup is thought to cause disease, obesity and even
death.
 Sugar
can also cause ill health and obesity but high fructose corn syrup
is much more damaging to our health...and it's in just about every
processed food on the market today. This greenwashing campaign
by the corn refiners industry has falsely reassured many Americans
that it's safe, wonderful and cheaper than sugar...so they continue
to consume a VERY unhealthy ingredient.
According to
an article by Mark Hyman, M.D. -
"HFCS consists of glucose and
fructose in an unbound form. Fructose is sweeter than glucose (so)
products with HFCS are sweeter and cheaper than products made with
cane sugar. This allowed the average soda size to balloon from 8
ounces to 20 ounces with little financial costs to manufacturers,
but great human costs of increased obesity, diabetes and chronic
disease. Since there is there is no chemical bond between
them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed
into your blood stream
"Fructose
goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of
fats like triglycerides and cholesterol)...a major cause of liver
damage...and causes a condition called "fatty liver," which affects
70 million people. The rapidly absorbed glucose triggers big spikes
in insulin...both of these features of HFCS lead to increased
metabolic disturbances that drive increases in appetite, weight
gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more."
>>
read full article
BECAUSE OF THE LENGTH OF THE PAGE
(AND THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING IT) WE'VE PUT THE SECTION ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs)
ON IT'S OWN PAGE >>
VIEW HERE
Even more uncertain and
misunderstood is the term "Fair Trade." There are some who
claim Fair Trade is NOT beneficial to farmers and some who claim
without Fair Trade, the abuse will continue forever...from child
labor to outright slavery
to unfair wages (termed 'slave wages' by many) to the destruction of the earth's eco-system.
To
muddle things even further, Fair Trade is often used interchangeably
with the term "Sustainable" but they are two different concepts
entirely. Fair Trade agriculture products ARE usually grown sustainably...but sustainable does NOT mean the farmer is paid fair wages
for their labor and products.
In fact, some want the farmers to change to a more
eco-friendly "sustainable" method of farming...without paying the
higher prices for the crops that allows the farmers to PAY for the
higher cost of earth friendly farming methods (which takes more
time, effort and often yields fewer crops!)
This can be
another form of "greenwashing" by companies...they avoid the cost
and scrutiny of Fair Trade and Organic agencies and yet claim that
their products are "sustainably" grown...while farmers continue to
lose their farms and cannot feed their families.
Other ways that the Fair Trade
symbol is used is for products, clothing, goods and jewelry produced
by people in many places in the world where labor is cheap -- and
lives are as well -- and the Fair Trade movement has finally allowed
these workers, producers and artisans to get paid fairly for their
work and what they produce. We offer several different options
to
buy Fair Trade and organic products,
ethical gifts and handcrafted items from around the
world.
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