I generally avoid this kind of consumer bs greenwashing but I just noted this cereal is made with kernza, a perennial crop. Do you think the label is more accurate in this instance?
"Climate smart" is even worse - it was taken over by Big Ag as a term for industrial ag subsidies while their pollution accelerates global warming at least a decade ago.
OK a lot of you are very passionate about Kernza which admittedly I know nothing about — I am merely reacting to the vague "climate-smart" marketing term. So I will do some reporting and get back to you and I promise to be fair about Kernza!!
This is exactly the kind of use of language that will be illegal in the EU very soon. All claims like this will need to be verified and backed by evidence.
Absolutely. I insist that we never use the word to describe the company I work for. If we had the legislation 30 years ago that is coming in 2025 , we’d be in a very different world. Hopefully better late than never. And non-EU companies either comply or risk not being allowed to import by 2027/28.
You're right to be skeptical of the labeling. Other responses mentioned Kernza - as a perennial cereal crop it can store carbon in its roots for years. We tried to convince our barley farmers to grow it for brewing grains, unsuccessfully. I think it's a key piece for decarbonizing the beer industry
I dunno. When average suburban families have "climate smart" cereal on their breakfast table instead of sausage and eggs, at least the concept is getting into the subconscious. It's vegan/eco junk food but seems like there are bigger battles to fight.
It comes directly from the USDA. The Inflation Reduction Act, for instance, is loaded with tax exemptions for “climate smart” agricultural practices like renewable energy credits for selling refined methane from manure pits.
All you need to know about friendly sounding Cascadian Farms is that it’s wholly owned by corporate mega-giant food company General Mills, and cannot be trusted as far as you can throw a kernza grain.
eh I'm a big critic of climate smart ag greenwashing but at least Kernza is a a serious work-in-progress with real potential. I'm glad theyre able to make some money to fund their ongoing research
This critique hurts my heart. I understand it's about the marketing term, but watching this idea for a perennial grain develop for decades and to now finally into products is a real victory for all the hard work and vision of the scientists. The grain needs to scale fast for all the best reasons.
I am doing some reporting so I can make a fairer assessment! My initial reaction was to the marketing term, I know nothing about Kernza. But I will learn
Thanks - I'm not a fan of the marketing term either. I'm in the Midwest and we desperately need a third crop for a host of environmental reasons. I know a couple farmers experimenting with Kernza and having a marketing stream for the grain is critical. No market, no hope of change for the better.
My objection is to vague unregulated marketing terms like "climate smart" that force individuals to go digging into how "climate smart" the product actually is, and 99% of the time it turns out the product is only like .5% better and drives up consumption which cancels out any benefit
I was wondering if you had an objection to this particular product. I’ve been watching the Land Institute’s Kernza program with some interest because perennial grains seem like an effective climate solution if they can be scaled. I wasn’t sure if you were remarking on that.
It's use in a breakfast cereal is meh at best... highly processed food and all that. But for a new product trying to get traction on the market, I figure you take what you can get.
There's also a question of how much Kernza is actually in there.
But as a permaculturalist, I think that Kernza itself is really interesting and has a lot of potential, at least in principle. Being able to leave the roots in place and not having to till and replant year after year... There's just so much I want to know about how that works in practice!
Well, the first feeling I have is happiness that there is any mention of climate in a grocery store, and reminds people of its existence. One of the big problems is people aren't talking about climate change. So that's cool.
And then my happiness gives way to disappointment and anger that addressing climate change is being reduced to our individual purchasing choices -- a box of cereal. We don't buy cereal due to the packaging and also the extra sugar. We only do oatmeal at our house.
If instead, the box encouraged people to do something more serious after they ate the cereal, maybe I can get behind it. Like, after you eat this cereal, go block a pipeline or data center from being built.
I would love that so much. Everything could use that label. Drink this coffee and then use the energy to call your local representatives or testify at a planning meeting!
I encourage you to read up on the Land Institute’s work to breed, cultivate and develop markets for kernza. I learned about this project on a 2022 visit to one of their research sites. Getting a more climate-friendly ingredient into consumer brands seems like something we should be celebrating!
This week, I spotted a cleaning sponge that was made partly from recycled plastic - but it was still plastic and sponges are known as a source of microplastics. Yet the label still said "eco-friendly".
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And here. https://landinstitute.org/
Miss you and Fish. Promise to resubscribe soon.
https://www.patagoniaprovisions.com/pages/why-beer
https://bsky.app/profile/unpopularscience.bsky.social/post/3lawgfcffds2n
https://bsky.app/profile/waiterich.bsky.social/post/3l776udkd3b2y
Kernza itself seems like a good idea.
I was wondering if you had an objection to this particular product. I’ve been watching the Land Institute’s Kernza program with some interest because perennial grains seem like an effective climate solution if they can be scaled. I wasn’t sure if you were remarking on that.
It's use in a breakfast cereal is meh at best... highly processed food and all that. But for a new product trying to get traction on the market, I figure you take what you can get.
There's also a question of how much Kernza is actually in there.
But @solidaridadnetwork.bsky.social* recently shared a report on 10 years rolling out climate smart practices in coffee & cocoa in South America - https://www.solidaridadnetwork.org/publications/growing-the-future/
*where I work