Organic, a word that symbolizes the meaning of “untouched,” has been making its way into our products recently. There are clothes and bedding made of organic cotton, organic food and organic makeup. When you walk into Target, it’s hard not to come out with a bag of organic Doritos chips and a stick of organic eos lip balm. However, there was a time when these products were nonexistent. Other than finding organic Doritos and eos, which companies have organic products?
For starters, Frito-Lay has made some varieties of their chips organic. According to Frito- Lays’ website, Tostitos, Doritos, Ruffles, Smartfood, Stacey’s and Sunchips all have one or more organic varieties. The brand Simply Balanced, a brand within Target, also contains a variety of organic food items such as ground beef, maple syrup, tomato basil pasta sauce, etc. In terms of organic cotton clothes, the clothing company prAna states on their website that they are taking action to make all of the cotton used in their clothing to be organic by 2019. Burt’s Bees Baby’s website also mentions that they have a line of organic cotton products for babies, covering items such as bedding and clothing. Organic makeup seems to be the hardest to come by, but there are some eccentric options out there. Besides specific organic makeup products like eos’ organic lip balms, there are organic makeup brands such as Vapour Organic Beauty and Kjaer Weis.
According to Cosmopolitan, Vapour Organic Beauty uses 70 percent organic materials and Kjaer Weis uses 95+ percent organic materials. Shopping for Vapour Organic Beauty and Kjaer Weis is more challenging than looking at your supermarkets or drug stores since, according to their websites, both brands are either found online or at boutique locations such as Free People.
So what makes all these products organic? According to the Frito Lay website, the organic certification that organic Frito-Lay chips receive is from the USDA. According to Target’s website, Simply Balanced organic products are also certified through the USDA organic certification. For clothing, both prAna and Burt’s Bees Baby’s websites state that they have GOTS-certified organic cotton, but prAna’s website also states that they have OCS-certified organic cotton as well. Vapour Organic Beauty has a USDA organic certification and Kjaer Weis has a European organic and natural certification called CCPB.
Students and staff at Northwood have different opinions on which organic products are worth purchasing. “I would buy certain items that are organic, like makeup because it is better for the skin,” a junior, Chloe Lineman said. In terms of clothing and food, Lineman explained that she would “rather buy clothing that was made cruelty free, and food that is processed cruelty free.”
Gabe Koeb, a junior, said that he would buy some organic products. His opinion is that organic food “tastes better;” however, some feel like organics aren’t always worth the money.
“While there are some advantages to organic items, I cannot say that I would spend the extra money for them,” said an anonymous faculty member with a farming background.“There are many ways to grow and make safe, good quality products without them being labeled organic and the prices being raised.”
Ms. Jackl, one of the English teachers, stated that she does buy some organic products “when they are not cost prohibitive;” however, her focus is more on local products. Jackl also mentioned that to her, being organic in 2019 seems like a “marketing gimmick.”
Deciding to buy organic products is a personal decision in which members of the Northwood community have shared their thoughts. Many companies offer more varieties in their products than they used to. Now, they are giving us the choice. Will it be an organic bag of Doritos or the regular kind? The prAna shorts or the Kohls shorts? The organic eos or the regular eos? It will be a duel between the old-school way and modern influence.
-By Grace Miller
