I Heart Farms

The HELLman's You Say: "Real Ingredients" Don't Mutate DNA

(Graphic: created by me in Photoshop.)

Though I am loathe to give up top billing to YellowWallFarm.com—about my favorite thing I get to do is shine light on the good and beautiful in the world…well, I've got a barrelful here for Hellman's^® and their completely ludicrous and cynical misuse of the words "real ingredients" when listing what actually goes into their products.

I am aware that Hellman's and Best Foods are the most popular mayonnaises in this country. I am also aware that some people eat ground beef at Taco Bell and McDonald's, so clearly we are a nation who likes to play fast and loose with our food safety.

You might be lulled into a sense of food security with the sincerity of words like "real" and "natural," and even "organic" and "free-range" or "cage-free." Then, last evening another pro-food (real food, not corporate chemicals in boxes and jars) food blogger, "Genie," aka @egratto, tweeted this little nugget:

"So. Hellman's Mayo has an ad campaign claiming they're making it from real ingredients. Here's the nutritional info: http://bit.ly/bWPawC"

And that's when my insta-cynic knew I was about to launch out the gate for a horserace to be the first to find out…WTF, HELLMANN'S?

Yellow Wall Farm ~ Santa Cruz

Pictured above, my newest website design: a collaboration between farmer, Judy Rose Hasty, and me, for Yellow Wall Farm, which she and her husband, Allen, own. I'd received an email from Judy shortly before the EcoFarm conference in January, and mid-February, we hooked up. All I knew is that Yellow Wall Farm—I'll get to the name in a minute—was partnered with Freewheelin' Farm as the "hot weather crop" component of Freewheelin's CSA.

I drove up the road to the farm—one of my favorite roads in the county—and she met me at the gate with dogs a-barking and a big smile. Because all the farmers at Freewheelin' are young, I expected Judy to be one of their generation. I was happy to meet a contemporary of my own age—and that was just the beginning of our commonality.

So the website is still in development, but we'd like to get your input on recipe sites you like, particularly if they are seasonally based.

Obviously, there will be more to come here about Yellow Wall Farm, but I just wanted to have a fresh post up here because—would you look at that? Morning Edition is now following me on Twitter! (I'm @tanabutler.)

Leave your recipe recommendations in the comments, if you would. Thanks!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." —John Muir 

Thanks for visiting! I'm excited about the new work lined up for springtime!