permaculture

[Miekal And <dtv@mwt.net>]

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• From: John Spencer <JSPENCER@FCC.GOV> (by way of BD NOW!)
• To: bdnow@igg.com
• Subject: Seeds of Change
• Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 06:54:40 -0500

<This report appeared in the Food & Water Journal. Does anyone have
further info? --John Spencer>

<Steve Badger, long time president of SOC, is an heir to the M&M fortune.
SoC has always had a favorable relationship with M&M, to my knowledge.
Unfortunately, SoC has been struggling financially for some time now. The
recent attempt to incorporate the catalog approach of Mr. Smith of Smith
and Hawkin with SoC is one of the most visible examples of their
struggling. Let's hope for the best. Above all else, IMHO, SoC deserves our
support. -AB>

M&M-Mars buys Seeds of Change

Nowhere is the trend toward the industralization of organics more
disturbing than in the flurry of recent corporate mergers between
traditional food giants and smaller organic corporations. Take, for
example, the recent M&M-Mars, Inc. acquisition of the once idealistic
Seeds of Change.

Seeds of Change, founded by the eco-entrepreneur Kenny Ausubel,
began in the late 1980s with a noble goal: to "restore biodiversity and
revolutionize the way we think about food." According to Ausubel's
introduction to the book Seeds of Change, the new company was
"value-driven" and "intent on preserving and spreading a diversity of
organic seeds through the gritty, caring hands of backyard gardeners in
living gardens."

But when push came to shove and its primary crop increasingly
became money, Ausubel and his clan at Seeds of Change traded in the
"gritty" hands of the gardeners for the well-heeled hands of the folks at
M&M-Mars in an unprecedented sellout of its original "values."

The M&M-Mars acquisition of Seeds of Change gives us the needed
resources to operate over time," explained Seeds of Change
vice-president Steve French in an interview with Food & Water. To add
insult to injury, French went on to confirm our suspicions that the
company's ideals (and common sense) had indeed given way to profits
and corporate double-speak.

Consider this bit of reasoning from French: "Quite honestly, I don't think
there are any real differences between Seeds of Change and Mars. I
think there are actually quite a bit of commonalities . . . and regardless of
whether it's a Mars product or it's a Seeds of Change product, the
product benefits are very, very similar if we're talking about nutrition
here."

So much for the food revolution

- - - - -
From
Food & Water Journal, Spring 1998
published by Food & Water, Inc.
389 Vermont Route 215
Walden, Vermont 05873

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