A few folks have asked me to comment on this week’s Peter Pan peanut butter recall. I don’t want to bring everybody down with the subject – I personally find it depressing, and not surprising – another example of why I am trying, as much as possible, to opt-out of our hyper-processed, industrialized food system. But I don’t want to ignore the recall, either. So here is my recommended response to the recall:
1. Look through your cabinets. If you have any Great Value or Peter Pan peanut butter with a product code on the lid that begins with the number 2111, throw it out.
2. Click over to the Accidental Hedonist and read yesterday’s post on the Past Sins of ConAgra. It’s a troubling overview of some other recalls by ConAgra, the company that owns the Peter Pan brand. The short story: six major recalls in the last five years alone. Two recalls happened this month. Her missive speaks for itself.
3. Check out this grim profile on the company, ranging from food safety concerns to executive compensation to accounting scandals to bilked farmers to turkey rape (yes. You read that right).
I won’t tell you what to do from here. But I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a close look at all of those ConAgra brands (listed on the above profile) – I recognize many. Then I’m going to avoid them. I just don’t want to give my money to that kind of company. More important, I don’t want a company like that to be responsible for my kids’ health. And the truth is, we won’t be missing much nutritionally, especially if I use all that extra room in my shopping cart for fresh (ideally local) produce and other whole foods.
I’m also going to get to know my local farmers a little better. It’s time I met some of them. I hope you don’t mind if I highlight them from time to time.
If you’re interested in meeting some of the people who grow your food, visit Local Harvest. That’s where you’ll find the folks who provide the best alternative to the ConAgras of the world.
Now I’m going to check my cabinet for peanut butter.
Thanks for the post on this. You will also find more insight on ConAgra in the book “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and I also recommend “Fast Food Nation.” It took me from eating local as the right thing to do, to it being the only SANE thing to do. Like you, I am searching for healthy foods for my toddler. I started building recipes on my site for this purpose. The idea that kids will only eat chicken nuggets is beyond stupid.
http://expatriateskitchen.blogspot.com
If you drop by my site look for Taute Cuisine recipes (Haute Cuisine for Tots) and coverage of eating local and food issues.
Cheers! Nice site!
OH MY STINKIN HECK!
I just threw out a can of Peter Pan thanks to your post. My son eats PBJ everyday and he has the weakest immune system in our family. I cannot believe I’ve fed him 3/4 of this PB – and it is on the recall list!
What a great new blog… here via Breed ‘Em…
Eating whole foods is one of the biggest challenges we have… and eating local.
Agribusiness is not healthy. Hard to be a mom these days.
Here, here; I’ve been on about this for years. Everyone shouldd read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. If Fast Food Nation doesn’t open your eyes, nothing will. My daughter is a teenager, and I can count on one hand the number of times she’s eaten at a fast-food place. Needless to say, her tastes are wide-ranging and eclectic. Unlike most of her friends, she eats a lot of fruit. Hang in there, Expat Chef and every other mother who is striving to provide healthy, nutritious, tasty food for their families.
I not only had the “2111″ Peter Pan peanut butter in my cabinet but I actually ATE some of it for dinner the day before the news report came out.
A few nervous days later I am ok, so I guess I am one of the lucky ones. Thanks for the info about ConAgra. I took a look at the list and am thankful that aside from the peanut butter I don’t eat any of those other products.
PBs in the trash along with what little faith I ever had in the food industry.
Holy heck. Thanks for this head’s up—I missed this entire recall. And, how sick must you be to sexually assault a turkey in a slaughterhouse??? Ugh!!
About the Peter Pan peanut butter – here’s the thing. While big business CLEARLY has it’s problems, it also provides affordable food for the masses. My family and I are priviledge to have access to organics and free range meat…but in reality it is incredibly expensive and most folks in the country (much less our local counties) cannot afford it.
If you look at the label for Peter Pan…it’s actually one of the better processed peanut butters out there. It has the fewest perservatives and chemicals of all of the mass produced peanut butters. So…for those who can’t pay $4-$5 a jar for all natural organic…it does give them the option for chosing something that is at least a little a bit healthier than the other options.
While as a food professional I have all sorts of problems with mega-agribusiness and their practices- cheap food is not one of them.
The fact that 40% of American household budgets used to go towards food but today that number is closer to 10% is not a bad thing.
Yes, the food industry needs to have regulations that match the scope challlenges of mass production and almost instantaneous global supply chains. But please do not expect or pretend that those who do not reside squarely in the middle class have access to, let alone afford, locally grown grass fed beef or boutique organic peanut butter.
Hunger in America still exists but it affects a far smaller slice of the demographic pie than it did in the mid 20th century and prior. Affordable and accessible food is the primary reason.
Thanks for the comments. Greg, you’re absolutely right: agribusiness has made food less expensive, and many, many folks can’t even consider the cost of higher quality products, even if they could find them. Absolutely. I’ve got all kinds of thoughts, but I’ll post the highlights here, and try to address other issues in future posts:
First, (I know you know this, but I feel it must be said): the more I’m learning, the more I realize we actually pay a lot more for the “low-cost” food than is reflected on the grocery store price tag. As taxpayers, we pay for things like agricultural subsidies (for the cheap corn that feeds the cheap cows that feed us), environmental cleanups from poor industry practices, obesity crisis, etc. We’ll pay even more down the road. These are a part of the “cost” of industrialized food, and we do pay for it, even if it’s accounted for on a different line item in a household budget.
But, point taken, for many people, it’s that extra dollar out-of-pocket at the moment of purchase that is impossible.
But it’s not impossible for everyone. It’s certainly uncomfortable for lots of us, but not impossible. So many of us spend money on new clothes from the Gap, cell phone plans, cable television, houses with guest bedrooms and 2.5 baths and finished basements, iPods, Playstations, bigger cars requiring more fuel…These are things that some of us (including me – I’ve got my share of Gap clothing, I carry a cell phone) have prioritized more than high-quality, sustainable food. I am writing this blog, because I’m trying to learn more about my own choices, to be more mindful about what I prioritize, and how.
And (this is where the idealist in me will leap forward)…in people’s being mindful, there seems to me to be tremendous opportunity to change things for everyone, including those who can’t afford boutique peanut butter. Very small changes (even 1 or 2%) in market share can be sufficient to get companies to improve how they do business. A relatively small amount of pressure encouraged P&G to expand their offering of fair trade coffee, for example. Another recent example is Taco Bell’s improvement of farm suppliers’ working conditions) Also, if the people who can invest in local foods do so, then it will help create a more viable system of decentralized agriculture, which can in turn make local food available in more places. In our area, Price Chopper makes local corn available in season. They make the effort to get Darlings corn, every day, so it’s totally fresh) – helps the local economy, helps farmers, and makes the product available to people who don’t have the luxury of shopping at boutique stores. Another example would be CSA’s donations to food pantries and soup kitchens, which also happens. These are changes that benefit everyone.
Anyhow, those are some of my thoughts. It’s turned into a post in itself, so I’ll stop now. But I do appreciate your comments…very good food for thought, so to speak.
Very small changes (even 1 or 2%) in market share can be sufficient to get companies to improve how they do business.
I agree with you completely on your premise. My post about cheap food has more to do with the notion that modern agribusiness is, by definition, a terrible thing. I am quite torn by the trade-offs between the social costs and social benefits of companies like ConAgra and Monsanto. But unlike Hummers and Gap clothes, food and hunger are much more elemental to the human condition. Market forces be damned.
Also, I sincerely applaud your personal efforts and think that you are spot on with most of your observations. In fact you have a unique and entertaining insight when you write about things you are dealing with for the first time. Since I am in a kitchen 10-12 hours a day, there are few ingredients that bring the particular joy of discovery. You might say I’m a little jealous.