Farmer Julia's Blog — greenwashing

We got some nice press this week around the funding we received through the BC Buy Local program but I have to admit to having mixed feelings about  certification programs/labels/marketing campaigns that focus on a word... like "humane,""local" and "organic." Don't get me wrong, I'm generally a big fan of these words but I worry that when people see them on a label, they too often stop asking questions.

Seems like everyone is selling "local, sustainable, ethical" meat these days. It's big business and even companies like Walmart and McDonalds are cashing in on consumer demand for products that are produced using methods that take issues like animal welfare and the environmental into consideration. There are all kinds of certification and labeling systems designed, in theory, to bridge the gap between production methods and consumer knowledge. But for all these efforts, the waters just seem to be getting muddier and muddier and increasingly, words like "local, sustainable and ethical" are being diluted to the point where they don't mean much any more.