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Just realized my "organic" kale bag was full of filler greens | Food Label Lies - Free To Speak

Just realized my "organic" kale bag was full of filler greens

I was at the farmer's market in Portland last Saturday and a guy who runs a small CSA stopped me. He pointed at my bag and said, "see those big flat leaves near the bottom? Those aren't kale, those are collards, they sneak them in to save money." I checked when I got home and he was right, the label said "organic kale blend" but the first ingredient wasn't even kale. Have you ever caught something like that in a bag of greens?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanbell4mo ago

That bit about "organic kale blend" reminded me of something I ran into last winter. I started buying my greens from a local farm that does a weekly box, and I kept wondering why some bags had these thick, tough leaves mixed in with the spinach. Turns out it was beet greens, which are cheaper and easier to grow. What worked for me was I stopped buying anything labeled "blend" or "mix" and started looking for single ingredient bags. Now I only buy bags that say exactly what the green is, like "baby kale" or "collards," and I check the top and bottom of the bag before I buy. Also, I found that organic brands like Earthbound Farm actually list every single ingredient on the front, so you don't get surprises.

claire8724mo ago

Read an interview with a farmer once who said they put beet greens in because people THROW THEM AWAY anyway if they're separate. That's the sneaky part - they're not saving you money, they're just getting rid of their extra stuff while charging you the SAME price. I started doing the single ingredient thing too after that. Earthbound Farm is good but I also found that Simple Truth brand labels things pretty clearly. The biggest trick I learned was to TURN THE BAG OVER and look at the ingredient list. If it says "may contain" anything other than the main green, put it back.

hollywhite4mo ago

Honestly, I get why you'd be annoyed but I see it the other way. If the bag says "kale blend" and has collards in it, that's not sneaky, that's just a mix of different greens.