Organic Lies

Everyone at SavvyHQ was appalled by last week’s story of the mom who runs a ‘healthy and green’ childcare food catering company (aptly named Whole Green Kids) but was accused of serving food that did not meet the criteria promised to her clients and to the parents of the childcare children. Hundreds of children in daycares across the country were being served food that claimed to be peanut-free, halal, kosher and organic, but in fact was not any of those things.
The Toronto Star broke the story on May 30 with an investigation into the business that tells of bankruptcy, unpaid leases, unhealthy (and illegal) kitchens, unsanitary food handling and the owners of the company driving around in Porsches and renting luxury homes. Since then, the health inspectors have been called and her business has been shut down. According to reports, she is no longer delivering food to daycare centres.

The fact of the matter is that the owner sent staff out to buy bulk food from discount grocers, then re-packaged them with green ribbons and pawned them off as premium organic foods. This is a serious breach of trust. In all industries and all walks of life there is a level of trust that we take for granted. We trust that people are telling us the truth when we ask for directions. We trust that drivers will stop at a red light. We trust that employees tell the truth about where they go and what they do (ie. a sales call or a job interview). But caring for children introduces a whole new world of trust. Parents trust daycare providers with their children—their most prized possessions. That’s a very big deal. Layer that with life-threatening allergies (peanuts) or religious beliefs (kosher foods), and the trust goes deeper and becomes more dependent.

Susan Blouin has made a very deep wound in the trust among the families whose children attend the daycare centres where she supplied food. She has not just single-handedly taken her own business down, but she has taken a stab at the childcare industry as a whole. Children’s safety is always paramount, and hearing reports that non-peanut-free foods were being passed out to schools is unfathomable. Katie York, mommy blogger and member/contributor to the popular Bad Moms Club said it very succinctly regarding the food-allergy negligence: “especially that nut one—could have killed a child. Killed a child.”

These are the worries that keep working parents everywhere awake at night. If this can happen at 75 day care facilities across Canada, what is happening at mine? Or, I wonder if my nanny is watching properly when Jack and Jill cross the road?

I am truly sorry for all the families who have been lied to and affected by this scandal but I am also sorry for all the families who have children in daycare and have been frightened by these reports. Working moms have enough guilt and worry; we don’t need to add more to the equation.

What do you think about the scandal?