With the vote on Prop 37 looming next week, it was no surprise to see a new ad campaign by Kellogg's telling us that their Corn Flakes are made from four simple ingredients and come to you "from seed to spoon."
Maybe, but there's more to the story... and to the seed of which they speak.
When Kellogg's purchased the natural brand Kashi, they took quite a bit of heat for GMO ingredients in the cereals and then gained tremendous goodwill when they removed GMOs from Kashi. However, their very public opposition to Prop 37 could blow that out of the water.
So what's up? Why would Kellogg's spend more than $790,000 to defeat Prop 37?
After all, we all know that the basic essence of the bill is to give consumers more information on labels -- that if your product contains GMO ingredients, we have the right to know that. It will simply allow us to make more informed choices about our food. If we can choose foods without salt, for instance, should we not have the same right to choose foods with or without GMOs?
What could be so bad that Kellogg's, the owner of natural brands, would spend close to a million dollars to defeat Prop 37?
The Organic Consumers Association has called Prop 37 "The Food Fight of Our Lives" because mandatory labeling would put an end to the unethical practice of marketing GMO-tainted foods as "natural." Food manufacturing giants understand all too well that if Prop 37 passes in California, the rest of the country will follow suit and before you know it all of us pesky consumers will have a choice because we will know what is in our food... and choose to buy it or not.
And what has this to do with Kellogg's marketing campaign? Plenty!
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Kellogg's Corn Flakes are among the many products that are suspected of containing GMO ingredients. So there is, in my view, probably more to the seed that is on its way to your spoon than you think.
Is it just coincidence that Kellogg's has launched this new ad campaign now, as we stand poised to make a decision that will be a complete game-changer for the food world? I sincerely doubt that.
Placing ads with cornfields sparkling in the sun and families gathered around the breakfast table enjoying cornflakes while a contented mother looks on is simply a ploy to pull the wool over our eyes. It's simply an attempt to manipulate our emotions and cloud reality.
And the reality is simple and scary. For all the ads showing mother nature at her most glorious, Kellogg's Corn Flakes are anything but natural and anything but good for us.
Show your support for Prop 37 by purchasing products from those companies who tell us the truth and boycotting the ones who are working tirelessly to defeat your right to know what is in your food.
For more by Christina Pirello, click here.
For more healthy living health news, click here.