MamAnomolie

I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is Cadbury creme eggs. I chalk it up to the fact that, growing up in a Jewish home, I was deprived of their super sugary creamy goodness and have never fully recovered. Easter might be the one holiday when I'm not annoyed by stores decorating and selling holiday-related items months early. It just means more Cadbury creme eggs for me!

I can partially justify this guilty pleasure due to the fact that the Cadbury company is one of the only large chocolate companies that has been embracing fair trade cacao. In the Better World Shopping Guide, Cadbury is graded a B-, above Hershey's, Dove, Russell Stover and Nestle.

So, I was disheartened to hear that Kraft Foods will be buying Cadbury. Based on their overall social and environmental record, Kraft is rated by the Better World Shopping Guide as the #2 worst company on the planet. Ouch. I can't say that I have no Kraft products in my home, but I do keep a list with me when I shop of the worst companies and the not-so-bad companies and avoid the worst when I can. Kraft has not shown any interest in fair trade before, so it is still unclear what will happen to Cadbury's commitment to fair trade chocolate.

All of this brings up an interesting question - who owns your favorite organic brands? What about your vegetarian products? Much of the pacakging of natural foods, vegetarian items and organic products make us think that the companies behind them are small, family-owned businesses. The fact of the matter is that most of these brands are owned by huge food processors like Kraft, Coca-Cola, etc. Many family-owned brands that once had a recognizable face behind them have been bought out by large companies. Toms of Maine is now owned by Colgate Palmolive, and Burts Bees was purchased by Clorox. Take a look at The Good Human's post about this issue to learn more about who owns what, or look at Philip Howard's graphics of the organic food industry to get a better picture of the issue.

This is just another example of the need to step back and look at the big picture. Buying organic is great, but it's important to know what company those dollars are supporting. Boca and Morningstar provide similar veggie options, but they are not owned by similar companies. Do a little digging and you'll be able to shop smarter and more in line with your values. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do come Easter.