While at Vons, I discovered a new-to-me phenomenon — Organic oreos.
For newbies to the organic movement: Organic oreos are considered a bit of an oxymoron cuz organic proponents are generally about fighting for unprocessed, fresh, healthy food, and against sugar-intensive, over-packaged, obesity and pollution-friendly stuff. Organic activists tend not to like “food” that might’ve been grown organically but then got the hell processed out of it and packaged into a petroleum-made plastic carton, then an airtight plastic bag, then a cardboard box that may or may not’ve been made by razing rainforests before getting stained with toxic inks.
So back to the cookies: These’re generic oreos, aka “Organic Vanilla Creme Sandwich Cookies.” And they appear to be part of a larger generic organics line at Vons, including but not limited to organic crackers and other snacky things.
Partly due to curiousity — and partly to celebrate the completion of a draft of the critical portion of my dissertation — I bought the box for about $4.
Got home, ate 5, then felt a bit sick from all the sugar.
I’m not sure what to do with the rest of the cookies — there are like an additional 30. Throwing them away seems rather wasteful, but eating more of ‘em seems kinda gross at this point.
So I’ve learned my lesson and promise not to buy “organic oreos” from Vons again. I shall celebrate with organic wine like a normal organic foodie.
As a footnote: I rarely go to Vons, but dropped by when a search for creamed coconut proved futile at both Whole Foods and Co-opportunity. I’ve since discovered that omitting creamed coconut from recipes that require it seems to have minimal effects on the tastiness of the resulting dish.
FYI- I read this in Vegetarian Times . The “organics” line from Vons/ Pavilions isn’t really organic. The cows are milked more than 2 times per day and are not allowed out to graze as often as they are supposed to be.
Thought you’d be interested! :)
Comment by Michelle — June 18, 2007 @ 11:41 am
I think it’s an oxymoron too! It’s crazy that we criticize these processed types of food and then organic companies try to mimic them. I’m all about eating fresh, local, and when possible organic food, but I also believe that some things are just better not having (whether they be organic or processed). If one wishes to have an Oreo, have one! I’m not saying eat every bad thing for you, but one cookie isn’t going to kill anyone. If someone is totally against the idea of giving into this processed form, I applaud you. Otherwise, what’s the harm in one good cookie vs. five bad?
Comment by Colleen — June 19, 2007 @ 6:04 am
Well, it’s nice to have the choice of organic junk.
But I FRIMLY believe that if you are going to eat junk food, it better be GOOD and TASTY! So I’d rather splurge on a delish cupcake or homemeade cookie than on an oreo, organic or otherwise….
But that’s just me!
Comment by Rafi — June 19, 2007 @ 10:29 am
The erosion of the definiton of “organic” in the dairy industry’s become a real prob in the US. Gotta fight back –
I think I was most intimidated by just how many oreos there were. Seriously — a package is really a lot of cookies! Unless one has like 10 or so children or lives with a large extended family, I’m not sure how one can finish a box without having them go stale, bulimia not withstanding.
Comment by Siel — June 22, 2007 @ 12:53 am
I am sitting here eating REAL oreos for breakfast while reading these blogs. I am a little embarrased (of course) for eating oreos of all things for breakfast (especially while reading an “organic blog”, but I do agree with Rafi that you should “go big or go home”. And by that, I mean eat something sinnfully delcious from time to time, but try to stick to the home or locally grown stuff when you can :)
Comment by Maggie — January 11, 2008 @ 11:43 am
I guess my “sinfully delicious” desires are somewhat different :) Right now, I’m craving — wine –
Comment by Siel — January 11, 2008 @ 10:35 pm