I'm sorry, what?
She kindly repeated what she had just disclosed, and the look of shock on my face invited her to employ a kinder, gentler approach in helping me understand.
Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.
The truth left me feeling empowered. Empowered to set a new standard.
THE MARKETING GAME
In a moment of realization, I saw that companies capitalize on consumers' fear of toxins and consumers' desire for clean.
Without having any regard to safety or truth in marketing, companies were labeling products either through words or creative images to lead consumers to believe the product they were holding in their hands was delivered by cherubs created in a mystical field in the most pristine far away land.
(Ok, I may have gone too far there but I'm sure you get the picture.)
Have you ever grown a vegetable in your own garden? Perhaps you even called it organic. But did you carefully prep the soil, adjust the pH, and ensure you were using organic seeds? Did you prevent run off from neighboring yards that had been fertilized and cover protect the plant during wind so environmental contaminants did not have an effect?
Chances are, you did not.
You may have done some of those steps, and your intentions were surely of the highest, but what you produced was a homegrown vegetable…not a “clean vegetable.” But who is to say…because the term “clean” is not regulated.
See the problem?!
The reality is, too much unregulated room was given, and the lines of definition became blurred from companies and marketing departments that were left to their own perceptions of what and how they define “clean.”
The blurred lines, the marketing, the use of creative misleading words…this just isn't a pool I'm willing to dip my toes into.
You deserve better.
xo,
Melissa
