Did you know that Dagobah organic chocolate is really owned by Hershey's ? That Kellogg's owns Gardenburger, and Cascadian Farm is really General Mills? You do know that little, homespun organic companies are getting gobbled up like bar snacks by giant multinational corporations, don't you?

Big Organics isn't the biggest rudo (villain) that you'll face in the Fair Food Fight universe, but it may be the trickiest. WARNING: If you prize an organic diet, and don't have access to a grocery store that's hip to Big Organics, then you may be very susceptible to this villain's trickery.

Using words like "farm," "nature," or "health" in its assumed names, and using recycled cardboard in its packaging, Big Organics attempts to blend in with smaller farms and food companies, the kind that instilled widespread integrity and built the organic industry into the $20 billion per year behemoth that it is. Big Organics would rather you didn't know who owned what, or that the larger, parent companies -- like Kraft and General Mills -- have been working behind the scenes to changes organic standards at the USDA level. We call this move The Rule Changer, and after Mastery of Disguise, it's Big Organics' most lethal maneuver.

The danger in fighting Big Organics is "throwing Goliath out with the organic bathwater." Don't stop buying organic food just because of this diabolical rudo -- there are still thousands of trustworthy, small organic farmers who continue to better the world. And we don't want to hurt them.

Just don't become a chump of Big Organics.

(Interestingly, some believe that Big Organics is a rudo who could be turned into a tecnico, that is, a hero, to use Lucha Libre lingo. Some Big Organic companies do support small organic farmers very well, after all. More on this in future blog posts...)

Strategies For Getting in the Ring with B.O.

Unmask him. As a Master of Disguise, Big Organics' Squeaky Clean Appeal and other powers wear off when its true identity is revealed and trumpeted to others.

Here is your best tool for fighting Big Organics: Dr. Phils Howard's Organic Industry Structure. Buy locally, cooperatively, and as directly as possible -- and then blog about it here! Every time you blog about shopping for real food from real farmers, you strike a blow against B.O.

Join Fair Food Fight and keep checking back here. Once we have an army of Fair Food Fighters, we plan on having LOTS of fun at Big Organics' expense.

MORE

Buy Organic Inc by Sam Fromartz (or read his terrific blog Chews Wise)

Fair Food Fight: "Why We Fight"