Just to Clarify

Last week we concluded our organic talk by diving deeper into sustainability using fish as our example. At that time, I promised you we were done with the organic talk…but I lied – sorry!

I need to clarify one more thing—my Dole comment. Over this past week, some readers have voiced their confusion over it since I didn’t explain myself very well, so here’s my explanation:

First of all, I don’t dislike Dole—I simply don’t appreciate their sneaky marketing strategies, and hope you don’t get misled because of it. But hey, I guess that’s marketing right? Moreover, I’m picking on Dole because I’ve only specifically explored their company…however, I’m pretty positive other banana companies do the same.

What marketing strategy am I talking about you ask?

Well, if you look at one of Dole’s organic bananas, you’ll find a little sticker describing the exact farm the banana came from in Ecuador. While processing this information, you’ll probably think: “wow, I’m supporting a local farmer in Ecuador!” Unfortunately, if you do a little bit more research, you’ll discover that there’s no individual farmer—the farmer who runs that banana field is actually a Dole employee. In other words, you’re not actually supporting a small local farmer, but Dole themselves—and that’s okay, I just don’t want you to be mislead by what they’re trying to sell you.

I hope this clarifies my Dole Comment, and please continue to eat bananas since their health benefits definitely outweigh some misleading marketing!

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Image courtesy of AleksandarPasaric