Save Our Sandwiches, Never Mind Our Birds

Written by Dan O'Brien

The Hellmann's company has a commercial out there on the internet and on TV that claims that Hellmann's is holding off the extinction of sandwiches. It's a classic example of greenwashing. For those of you who don't know much about greenwashing, it is the term given to advertising that promotes environmental practices in production, sourcing, packaging, or shipping - whether the claims are true or not. In my college days we called it deceptive marketing. In my parent's day, they called it lying. 

I live on the northern Great Plains, where land has always been relatively cheap and, initially, fertile. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, there was a stampede from the eastern United States and many European countries to acquire and farm this "newfound" and virgin land. Of course, there were already longstanding cultures in North America and the land itself was far from virgin. In fact, the land was a complicated ecosystem of plants and animals that had been perfecting itself through evolution for millions of years. The agrarian invasion of North America not only destroyed Native American societies, but began the destruction of that near-perfect ecosystem that sustained all life. 

Inventions like mechanized tilling equipment, large-scale irrigation, and chemicals for killing insects and improving production for a few crops favored by humans have, for a hundred-plus years, been destroying much of the life that has defined the Great Plains. The farmer's job, after all, is to give his crops the best chance possible to flourish. That means eliminating as much competition for his crops as possible by killing everything on the land except his few anointed plants. How Hellmann's can get away with advertising their mayonnaise as environmentally friendly while expanding their soybean footprint is hard for me to understand. The only logical end to such policies is a giant and sterile soybean field stretching from Pennsylvania to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to Mexico in the center of our country, where the breathtaking Great Plains ecosystem used to be. 

On Hellmann's website, at the extension saveoursandwiches .org, the advertisers tout the 30 million dollars spent on their project to make Iowa soybean farming green. Their main thrust seems to be the use of cover crops - which is an important component of regulative agriculture. Basically, they are paying a few farms to plant an additional crop that keeps the soil covered during the off season before they replant soybeans. Encouraging the careful use of cover crops is a benefit for soil health, but even if it is done properly (and that is not easy), the farmer is still encouraging little more than the growth of soybeans. Cover crops help prevent and replenish some nutrients and bring back a limited amount of soil microbes, but will render many insects, birds, and mammals homeless. It still only services industrial monocultures, which are the death-nell of the environment. 

Being from South Dakota, I've seen a lot of soybean fields. In fact, those fields are creeping closer to our buffalo ranch every year. If the land is converted to farm fields it is temporarily worth more money, so hard-pressed ranchers give in to corporate economics and sell out. The diverse ecosystem of the prairie grassland that has supported innumerable species of plants, animals, birds, and insects is suddenly reduced to nearly bare ground, growing only soybeans. It matters not that a few of the most damaging farming practices are curtailed if a diverse ecosystem is turned into a monoculture with mostly bare ground and dried soybean stalks that the combines miss. The ideal soybean field is devoid of every living thing except soybeans. No deer, no antelope, no rodents, no rabbits, no insects, no birds. And companies like Hellmann's make enough money to buy expensive advertising suggesting that their policies are good for the environment. It's the most devious version of what is rightfully called greenwashing. 

I like a good sandwich as much as anyone, but I like birds better.