Non GMO Pirate's Booty Only for SOME Customers - Others Get GMO

Pirate's Booty: SOME Packages are GMO-Free -- MANY Are NOT. 

Arrrrrr ya kidding me? Pirates Brand - the company that makes the wildly popular Pirate's Booty snack line - has FINALLY gone GMO free ... BUT... only for SOME customers and SOME stores. If you shop at Whole Foods, for example, Pirates Brand has decided YOU deserve the more expensive non-GMO corn and canola oil ingredients now found in their "for special retailers only" products. If you shop at Target, Albertson's or another regular retailer though, Pirates Brand has decided your family DOES NOT  deserves the same non-GMO ingredients, therefore you get the old genetically altered cheaper stuff they've been hocking for years. Sorry! Don't believe me? Pirates Brand states this very fact right on their own website: "...we recently began offering ... products that are Non-GMO Project Verified. Currently, these products can be found at select retailers...Our [same]... snack products [sold at other stores] contain ingredients that may have been genetically modified." 

To make matters worse, the company talks down to those of us who may dare question why they chose to STILL use GMO corn and canola for SOME of us: "Many consumers do not understand that the vast majority of all food crops have been genetically modified" they state on their FAQ page "and that bioengineering technology is only one of a number of technologies used to genetically modify crops. Currently, the majority of food crops grown in the U.S. have some bioengineering. For example, more than 85% of corn (the key ingredient in our products) is bioengineered." 

Yes - Pirates Brand - but YOU decided to purchase that non-bioengineered 15% for your more persnickety health conscious customers. Almost nothing infuriates me more than when a food company PRESUMES their customers are idiots and have no clue how the GMO industry works. Many of us BANNED your products from our homes and schools two years ago -- and because of your elitist insistence to NOW provide a healthier, more costly product ONLY to the louder voices that demand it (i.e, the Whole Foods crowd) you shall remain banned. What a shame you chose not to listen to your REGULAR consumers (i.e., the NON Whole Foods crowd) who begged you to replace GMO ingredients for ALL children. Instead, you felt the need to school us with your ridiculous justifications and to CONTINUE to feed us (or MOST of us anyhow) your cheap GMO ingredients while reserving the good stuff for the "rich kids."

I informed my readers two years ago about a healthier, ALWAYS GMO-FREE alternative to your products: the ridiculously delicious Bearitos Veggie Puffs and Cheddar Puffs. Since you have flat out refused to make your products free of GMOs for ALL, I will shout from the rooftops (via blog posts and social media) until EVERY parent realizes what you've done (and failed to do) and inform them that there ARE ethical company out there like Bearitos who believe ALL children are worthy of the healthiest ingredients possible, not just the select "Whole Foods few." And it is those companies who deserve our dollars.

Bearitos Non-GMO Alternative for ALL Children

All-Natural Pillow Made with Hypoallergenic Kapok

Organic Kapok Pillow by Bean Products

So, you've "gone green" and bought yourself some organic sheets (maybe) and forgotten (probably) to "green" the pillow INSIDE the organic pillow case. No one should be resting their head on chemically treated polyester anymore. Ditch that toxic thing and go all natural! What are your choices? Well, there's down, wool and latex -- but many people are allergic to these. Buckwheat is GREAT but it feels a bit like sleeping on magic beans, which just doesn't work for some folk. Cotton FILLED pillows are nearly impossible to find since (a) cotton is highly flammable (on it's own) and (b) as a pillow filling, it clumps.

I had tried ALL of these "green" pillow options myself and not found a single one I loved UNTIL I discovered Kapok. Kapok is a silky, cotton-like fiber that covers the seeds of the tropical Ceiba Tree, (aka the Kapok tree). It makes the PERFECT natural pillow filling because it is soft yet firm, has no scent, and does not need to be chemically treated. Best of all Kapok is sustainable because no chemicals are needed to grow it, it is not genetically modified and no crops are destroyed when it is harvested. Pair the Kapok filling with an organic cotton cover - and you've got the perfect pillow!

Kapok Fiber from the Ceiba (aka Kapok) Tree - Photo Courtesy of Bean Products

I bought my organic Kapok pillow for about $40 from Bean Products via Amazon.com. However, Naturepedic, Brentwood Home and other online retailers also sell organic Kapok pillows at reasonable prices.

NOTE: Whatever you do - DO NOT replace your polyester pillow with a foam, gel or corn stock (aka PLA fiber) pillow. All of these are just as toxic as polyester (if not more so) so don't fall for any green-washing marketing spiel that tries to tell you otherwise!