Greenwashing and Brownwashing
What do we call it when a corporation tries to act like it's environmentally friendly without actually taking the steps to match their words? If you answered "greenwashing" you are correct! Also acceptable: public relations. Yes indeed, you can hardly blame a corporation for trying to do what it sets out to do: get money into the hands of its shareholders. That's like blaming a snake for slithering, or a hummer stretch limo for needing to be refueled every hour (not a joke). Research has shown that it is hard to sell yourself to people who hate you. And because corporations do not often change their charters and survive, it is easier for executives to ask the PR people to "deal with the hatred" than it is to turn the hatred to love by downright good behavior. Besides, corporations don't tell YOU how to go about your business! Or do they…
In any case, this article is not out to complain about corporate behavior. That's like blaming the beach for the case of diarrhea you got after swimming there. This article aims to note that PR can be used not only as a shield, but as a sword as well. Take, as case in point, the recent spinach contamination. Early reports of this outbreak centered upon the fact that the company whose spinach was found to contain e. coli produced organic food. The company claimed that its organic spinach was not the source of the outbreak, but the Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI) put forth a press release trying to break down this defense. As is typical of muck-raking blog entries such as this one, I will now note that CGFI gets its funding from the Hudson Institute, which, in turn is funded by a variety of companies that have a stake in industrial agriculture. The CGFI has a history of brownwashing claiming that organic farming is not as green as it claims to be – while greenwashing – supporting claims that pesticides protect food quality and producing more food in smaller spaces (ie, cramming cows into overcrowded dairies), leaves more room for nature. This is the "sword" of PR at work. It brownwashes over the fact that before World War II, there was no option but organic farming. In fact, USDA organic standards were established to distinguish farms that do not rely upon industrial methods.
USDA research regarding the e. coli outbreak has found that the parasite came from contaminated feces from a cattle farm. In fact, the strain of e. coli that was attributed to the outbreak is known to thrive in the stomachs of cattle. The dirty truth: a company producing organic spinach was linked to the e. coli outbreak, was because it did not distance itself enough from the cattle in the farm next door. As Michael Pollan notes in his recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, "we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we're eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world." If we are to live by these words, we should reward the farms that pay respect to this tenet: local farms that sell locally at farmer's markets and grocery stores; organic farms and fisheries that hold themselves to standards of environmental stewardship and fair trade; and even from our own back yards. More info on food standards.
In any case, this article is not out to complain about corporate behavior. That's like blaming the beach for the case of diarrhea you got after swimming there. This article aims to note that PR can be used not only as a shield, but as a sword as well. Take, as case in point, the recent spinach contamination. Early reports of this outbreak centered upon the fact that the company whose spinach was found to contain e. coli produced organic food. The company claimed that its organic spinach was not the source of the outbreak, but the Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI) put forth a press release trying to break down this defense. As is typical of muck-raking blog entries such as this one, I will now note that CGFI gets its funding from the Hudson Institute, which, in turn is funded by a variety of companies that have a stake in industrial agriculture. The CGFI has a history of brownwashing claiming that organic farming is not as green as it claims to be – while greenwashing – supporting claims that pesticides protect food quality and producing more food in smaller spaces (ie, cramming cows into overcrowded dairies), leaves more room for nature. This is the "sword" of PR at work. It brownwashes over the fact that before World War II, there was no option but organic farming. In fact, USDA organic standards were established to distinguish farms that do not rely upon industrial methods.
USDA research regarding the e. coli outbreak has found that the parasite came from contaminated feces from a cattle farm. In fact, the strain of e. coli that was attributed to the outbreak is known to thrive in the stomachs of cattle. The dirty truth: a company producing organic spinach was linked to the e. coli outbreak, was because it did not distance itself enough from the cattle in the farm next door. As Michael Pollan notes in his recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, "we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we're eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world." If we are to live by these words, we should reward the farms that pay respect to this tenet: local farms that sell locally at farmer's markets and grocery stores; organic farms and fisheries that hold themselves to standards of environmental stewardship and fair trade; and even from our own back yards. More info on food standards.
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