Nov 19 2008
The Food we love, brought to you by ConArga
So, I was reading this article about people not having enough to eat, and the invention of a peanut butter super food bar called Plumpy-Nut and I had to ask, what happened to all the food. Well, it turns out that there isn’t any. A combination of devistating drought or the reverse, way, way too much rain, is wreaking havoc everywhere. Those of us lucky enough to live here in the U.S. don’t notice this too much because they don’ t talk about these depressing matters on Fox News. I’ll bet you didn’t know that the folks living in the Maldives are looking to buy a new Homeland. Yeah, rising sea levels are forcing them to move. Yeah, we sank their country, but don’t worry, we only have a few years before rising sea levels hit us too.
Back to the subject at hand though. So, like, what is the deal? Why is it that folks in, well, lets all face the facts here, most the rest of the world, and down the street, can’t get enough to eat. I mean, I can go to McDonalds and order a McChicken and small Fries for like $2.09, so if they can produce a processed (formed and chuncked) chicken sandwich and french fry thingie for a price low enough to make a profit off that, why can’t we feed people?
Well, one theory I was reading suggests that this is a direct result of consolidation of the food industry.
This consolidation issue led me to look at who made what, and here is what I found.
If you like Peter Pan, Blue Bonnet, Hebrew National, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hunts, Marie Calenders, Banquet, Pam, Orville Redenbachers’s,Chef Boyardee, Act II, Parkay, Swiss Miss, Van Camps, Reddi Whip, Andy Capp (those little corn sticks), or Wesson, then you are using Con Agra. Oh, and they also make Manwhich, Guldens (Mustard), Fleischman’s, and Fiddle Faddle.
Now, if you like A1, Breakstones, Capri Sun, Cheese Whiz, Chips Ahoy, Cool Whip, California Pizza, Cracker Barrel, Crystal Light, DiGiorno, anything by General Foods (International Coffee), Honey Maid, Jello, Kool Aide, Maxwell House, Miracle Whip, Nabisco, Newtons, Nila Waffers, Oscar Meyer, Planters, Pollio, Premium (Crackers), Philadelphia (cream cheese), Ritz, Royal, South Beach, Stove top, Velveeta, and Wheat Thins, well then you are eating Kraft Foods. They also make Oreo’s, Kraft Singles, and the gods know what else.
Nestle is another one, but you can go here to look at their multi-page list of brands. Interestingly enough, they also make pet foods.
A few others you may be interested in. I had no idea so many made Pet Food as well, but it makes sense. I’m still ticked about Red Dye 40 being in my little guys Pup-Peroni..I guess I’ll have to yell at Del Monty.
The listing:
General Mills - Owns Betty Crocker
Cargill - Are a major food produce, and manufacturer.
Coke - A really interesting read. I didn’t know they owned Odwalla
Unilever - Skippy and Vasaline all in one house.
I am sure you can find a few others, but every brand I know except Heiz (who own Ore-ida and make Classico and Weight Watchers brand foods) lead back to these. You can have a lot of fun looking for the information. Punch in the brand, visit the site, look for a copywrite or investors page. You can then start climbing the ladder.
I had a lot more to say, but a friend of mine just got laid off here at work and I’m kind of down.
2 Responses to “The Food we love, brought to you by ConArga”
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I think you are oversimplifying the matter by laying the blame on the food conglomerations. Certainly they do have a great deal to do with setting the prices. You noted that the weather has not been very cooperative. Also, when transportation costs went through the roof this year, that caused an increase, which has not come down yet due to the lag time. The increased cost of fertilizer and animal feed have also had a great impact. What I’d like explained in great detail is why fresh food, and even less processed food, costs more than processed stuff, given the cost of the processing. Sure, out of season can cause a higher cost, but in season?
Now that is for this country. Looking at the sites of massive starvation - especially sub-Saharan Africa - the expulsion and murder of the large scale planters by newly “elected” governments caused much of that problem. Those farms were given to various warlords and supporters of the head of government, most of whom wouldn’t know how to farm if they had to. Hence, nothing is grown because either no one knows how to do large scale farming, or the corruption of the governments have made buying seed and equipment impossible.
Actually I’m not laying blame, I am noting, “Well, one theory I was reading suggests” I neither agree nor disagree with this. I’ve not finished putting everything together. I became a bit distracted this afternoon when several people I work with lost their jobs. I should have time to edit this and move forward.
But yes, Malawi is a prime example of issues related to weather, they have one rainy season per year. The past several years the rains have either been late or they have been inundated.
Robert Mugabe forced the White Farmers off the land in Zimbabwe and then handed the land over to his cronies. Many farmers who did not leave ended up killed, Kenya actual made a bid for as many of them as they could, and I believe the majority ended in up South Africa, Australia, and other commonwealth countries.
Congo is not a happy place. But then outside of a few African Nations, very few, I think most of them have been in a state of constant flux following the end of colonial rule, but Mugabe I believe has a special place in hell reserved for him.