Dear Betty: Dear Gardein, Your Bags Need Work 6/14/2019

Dear Gardein,

I really like your product but I feel that the thick plastic bags it comes in are counterproductive to your mission to help the earth. I would be more inclined to purchase frequently if you could package in a more sustainable way.

Thank you,

Betty Stebber

Hello Mrs. Betty,

Thank you for your contact.

Our top priority is that you enjoy our food, including your satisfaction with the packaging.  We often review our packaging to see where improvements can be made.  We are thankful you emailed us so we can get all the details to our team.

-Conagra Brands

My daughter Esmeralda (not her real name) became a vegetarian a few months ago and we have been on a sometimes painful journey to find meat substitutes that she will eat without throwing up. Yes, a veggie burger made her throw up once and that's why I called it a painful journey. I won't disclose what company made the barf-inducing burger but it wasn't Gardein and it wasn't actually bad but I digress.

Esmeralda discovered that she liked the meat alternative products made by Gardein. I tried the breaded tenders and the black bean burger and both are pretty good. My problem is that they are seriously over packaged in super thick resealable plastic bags that are about four times the size they need to be. Naturally, I wrote to Gardein to suggest a more earth-friendly package to go along with their earth-friendly slogan. Like most companies, they did not respond to my heartfelt thoughts.

Here is where it gets interesting, for me at least. This is their slogan:

By choosing Gardein, you’re making a choice that’s good for you and good for the planet—and you don’t have to sacrifice taste one bit! All Gardein foods make for healthier, meat-free meals, perfect for Meatless Mondays, Fishless Fridays, or any day of the week. You don’t even need to vegan or a vegetarian to make great dishes with Gardein. We promise your taste buds will thank you.

How can you have a slogan like that and package your product in the aforementioned atrocious way? When you say your company cares about the planet, I suggest you at least try to package in the eco-friendliest way possible. When you package the way they do, it tells me you don't give a flying f*ck about the planet and your slogan is merely consumer propaganda. [mic drop]

Wait, I guess I'm not done. [pick the mic back up] I didn't notice until I went to send the email that the site Gardein redirects to when you chose 'contact us' is that of Conagra. I'm the first to admit that I'm not good about knowing who owns what and which parent company oversees what smaller company. I did recall something about Conagra that smelled funny. Actually, it smelled delicious, the smell was meat. [insert comedic drum riff here]

Conagra owns SlimJim, Gardein, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Earth Balance, Marie Callender's, Hunts, Reddi Wip, Vlasic, Birds Eye, Boom Chicka Pop, Duke's Smoked Meats, Orville Redenbacher's, Frontera, Udi's, and Pam. 

When you take a look at the larger picture, it really brings things into focus. The words you read on the Gardein bag is just that, words. Conagra doesn't care more about the planet than any other big corporation. They don't care about people giving up meat for Meatless Monday, they own Slim Jim and Duke's Smoked Meats for crying out loud. They, like most big corporations, care about making money, your money. [mic drop...again]

Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion?

I'd love to hear from you!

Email me at Mrs.Stebber@gmail.com or comment on the blog