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Save The Planet, One Snack at a Time
As I was researching for what was supposed to be a post on green snack foods, I realized just how eco-harmful the food industry can be. Looking at Newsweek’s Green Rankings for 2009, only 28 of the top 500 companies are from the food and beverage industry. Yes, a measly 5%. Plus, the best ranking food company (Brown and Forman) ranks in 374th place overall! In other words, the large-scale food industry blows.
I knew I just couldn’t lie to the intelligent ladies that you are, so I scrapped the article and came up with this.
Here are some of the worst snack options and their greener replacements to reduce your environmental impact… and your waistline. Seriously, think about this next time you go shopping; we’re all probably doing more harm than we even know.
Culprit #1: Tyson
Why it sucks: Tyson is one of the largest companies in the meat industry. According to the movie Food, Inc. (which you all should see!), such large scale farming contributes to pollution, greenhouse gases, depletion of resources, antibiotic resistance and illness in workers and consumers, and poor employee treatment.
Don’t eat: Tyson’s fried chicken fillet sandwich. For so many reasons. Gross.
Eat instead: Gardenburger’s Original Veggie Burgers
Culprit #2: Smucker’s
Why it sucks: In environmental impact scores, Smucker’s ranks a lowly 463rd out of 500 U.S. companies with a score of 7.8 out of 100. I think if you got a 7.8% on a test you’d officially get an F-.
Don’t eat: Smucker’s Goober Jam/Peanut Butter sandwich
Eat instead: Trader Joe’s Organic Peanut Butter and banana sandwich
Culprit #3: Dr. Pepper Snapple Group
Why it sucks: This beverage company, like most, use large amounts of plastic to make single-serving bottles of soda and juice. Not only is soda linked to obesity and diabetes, but the plastic is also very energy intensive to make and often end up in landfills. Yeah, Best Stuff on Earth, my a**.
Don’t drink: Dr. Pepper, Hawaiian Punch, Snapple, or any of that crap.
Drink instead: Club soda with a squeeze of lime.
Culprit #4: Hormel
Why it sucks: All of their products are heavily packaged in unnecessary amounts of plastic and glass, both of which use a lot of energy to make and never decompose.
Don’t eat: Hormel Compleats Microwave Meals
Eat instead: Amy’s Microwave Meals
Got an opinion on the food industry or specific corporations? Have your say in the comments section!
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mommyinthemountains says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20102:25 pm
You know what I found that once I started eating the better choices, they actually taste better. You do however have to let your taste buds get over the super sodium taste that it is addicted to. Msg is in most of the "bad" foods. Hooray for eco friendly and tasty.
Dave says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20102:47 pm
You never mention why your alternatives are any better.
alyssa says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20102:51 pm
OMG this is awesome. I sat here reading the part about Snapple being the best stuff on earth, with my green Starbucks cup in hand. I read that picturing my Kiwi Strawberry Snapple sitting upstairs on my file box. Just yesterday, I read the label on my Snapple and thought, "ewwww sugar's not the best stuff on earth!" Now, of course cane sugar might be better. Not the best, but better.
And plastic? Triple, quadruple bypass EW.
But my Snapple is glass. Which I am totally proud of.
b says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20103:18 pm
I would rather die in a mound of plastic hawaiian punch and Dr Pepper bottles than drink club soda with lime. EEW.
I could switch it out for regular water with lime though… Club soda is just nasty
Patrick Pyatochkin says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20104:54 pm
alyssa says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20107:51 pmOMG this is awesome. I sat here reading the part about Snapple being the best stuff on earth, with my green Starbucks cup in hand. I read that picturing my Kiwi Strawberry Snapple sitting upstairs on my file box. Just yesterday, I read the label on my Snapple and thought, ewwww sugars not the best stuff on earth! Now, of course cane sugar might be better. Not the best, but better.And plastic? Triple, quadruple bypass EW. But my Snapple is glass. Which I am totally proud of.
lifeaftereighty says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20104:58 pm
Try to remember that you are not addressing millions of clones of ONE identical "person." Blanket statements re: diet should NEVER be stated as for all; end all; think.
Danny says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20108:11 pm
One other reason not to eat factory farmed animals is the inhuman treatment they receive before they are killed and they horrible ways they kill them. I'm not a vegetarian. Unfortunate you can't exist without killing something to eat, even if it is a plant. I'm not saying that plants are the same only making a point. I personally don't see anything wrong in eating meat as long as the animals are treated humanely before they are killed and killed in a humane way. One of my new years resolutions is to try & stay away from fast food burgers and buy only organically raised and free range meats. It's healthier for you anyway!
Casey says:
Wed, 6th Jan 20109:17 pm
I live in Florida, and if anyone has ever been here (which I'm sure most everyone has) you probably know that the tap water is the most disgusting thing on earth. Even if you filter it it still tastes like rotten eggs. Therefore I drink A LOT of bottled water. I drink at least 3-5 16 oz. bottles a day, and that is a shit ton of plastic! It's not good for the earth and as recent studies have shown, drinking from plastic bottles isn't good for your body either because of all the toxins in plastic. So anyone got any (cheap) alternatives to buying plastic bottled water?
nds453 says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201012:20 am
eco fruit with class banana kiwi in asnapple glass!!!!
nds453 says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201012:26 am
What I do understand, is why u don't can the water?
conradvisionquest says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20103:20 am
Tyson? yuck… soda? eewwww! HORMEL? you've got to be kidding… there are much better things to put in my mouth, and they aren't "produced" by a company… (not that, you dirty mind! well, ok, that, but that's not what i'm referring to here…) how 'bout some freakin' fruit and veggies? nature's already packaged it for you, and it's biodegradable. great post to get people thinking about what they put in their mouth (there you go again, dirty!)
pyrit says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20104:26 am
Some Florida drinking water tastes like rotten eggs because of the sulfur in the water. I grew up in Florida and our water tasted like chlorine. And I liked it! Ha! Oh well.
Stop buying plastic bottles of water! Spend the money instead on an ultra reverse osmosis water filter system!
I always look at all the snack bags, of corn chips, pretzels, potato chips, etc., and those bags are not recyclable! That's a crime.
Crystal says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20105:33 am
about the drinking water in florida…
I'm not sure if a filter will help?
I found this water bottle adaptor by klean kanteen that looks cool, i was going to buy for my family because they have a similar issue. I'm not sure if that would help with the taste, but good luck!
http://www.kleankanteen.com/products/accessories/…
apocalypsecakes says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20106:39 am
Or just shrug and enjoy a slice of Global Warming Hot Apple Pie. http://kl.am/69MP
Max says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20106:41 am
Snacks, soft drinks and food. Check it out almost everything you eat is full of high fructose corn syrup…no wonder we have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. If consumers demanded healthier food and healthier packaging through our buying habits…we could change things. There is a lot of discussion regarding plastic water bottle but that same type of plastic is used for soft drinks, teas, power drinks, etc. There are better alternatives to the standard plastic that is used for beverages…biodegradable plastic is available, is better for our environment…
Max
http://www.ensobottles.com
Pallet Racking says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20107:01 am
Very interesting article, thanks for share.
http://www.racking-shelving.com
destinee says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20108:11 am
I love this post!
Not many people realize what they are munching on…
I am guilty of drinking a lot of soda and punch, though.
Keep up the good work!
dorkarama says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201010:14 am
I have to give up Snapple? Nooooo! Here in the UK, Snapple is only sold in glass bottles. Does that make it okay?
I miss Gardenburgers since I left the States. Ah, memories.
david hennessey says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201010:27 am
For the sake of our children and all of us too we have been buying organic food for long time just to avoid nasty stuff that is in our food including foaming agents. It is really interesting that in some countries vein clogging substances like hydrogenated oils are banned in packaged foods (Canada) but another country famous for its food allows hydrogenated oils (France). That surprised me.
If you don't mind the plug I wrote an ebook on how to buy organic food inexpensively to get away from the idea it is only for the rich. The link is http://thewondertechnique.com/how-to-buy-organic-…
Cheers,
David
Alex says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201012:02 pm
But Dr. Pepper has 23 flavors…
WiseJamaican says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20102:02 pm
Thank you for a wonderful article. Your suggestions are noted and will try them out soon.
Mike says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20102:50 pm
very good and interesting – did not know there were green rankings for companies, thanks for the education.
nadia says:
Thu, 7th Jan 20104:27 pm
http://nadiaknows.com/2010/01/04/in-season-fruits…
I just did a blog on buying local, buy fresh… you might like it. Interesting the more you learn about the food industry the more we realize how in the dark we really are. Very nice blog today, enjoyed reading it. thanks.
I am trying to get more greens going by growing them!!!
Christina Baita says:
Thu, 7th Jan 201011:51 pm
hello and thank you!
I personally have become mostly a vegetarian after seeing the movie Food Inc., and also eat a lot of Gluten Free. You should read the book, Better Off Without Wheat. It's the equivalent of Food Inc. to the green issue as wheat to the body's health. Although eating both gluten free (research it and you'll find out why it's important) and substainibly responsible are both more expensive in the beginning, imagine how much we could all save in the long run with savings in health care and the environment!
the faltese malcon says:
Fri, 8th Jan 20101:07 am
Dave does have a point. The "eating something instead" philosophy isn't really necessary in some cases. Dr Pepper isn't healthy? Don't drink it, period. Plus, it's subjective: #4 – microwave meals? Instead: cook. Well, not arguing that you're completely wrong, but I'm always skeptical on these issues. It's all a matter of balance, probably.
I did replace cigarettes with apples once, but got fed up with apples and replaced them with cigarettes. Ultimately, I intelligently quit smoking without "insteads". I did go back to apples, though.
Plus, if you try not to have snacks at all, but instead drink more water during the day, exercise, eat more fruit and vegetables with your meals (for example), you'll do just fine.
Athena says:
Wed, 13th Jan 201011:38 pm
For those with tap water issues: This doesn't eliminate the process of buying plastic water bottles, but are there any kind of recycling initiatives (deposits for empty bottles brought back, etc.). We have a similar problem with tap water in Germany, but if people buy a pallet of water bottles and return all the bottles when they're empty, they receive .25-.75 cents per bottle, AND the store recycles all of them. Also, people use buy liters of water, instead of individual servings, which makes buying a bottle or two a day unneccessary.
I'm not sure if these ideas would work in the US, but recycling is always a good idea.