Green Giant Kernel Corn

          A commodity chain is able to identify the different aspects of a network of labour, production and packaging processes which generate a finished commodity item (Hopkins and Wallerstein, 1986:159).

         Gereffi proposed the concept of a commodity changing during the mid-1990s, the Global Commodity Chain (GCC) was developed within an analytic framework of the political economy of development and underdevelopment, originally derived from world-system theory and dependency theory. It was developed primarily to analyse the impact of globalisation on industrial commodity chains. The commodity chain shows the link between production, consumption and distribution of goods (Watts, 1999).

Timeline of the History of Minnesota Valley Canning Company

History of Green Giant 

A popular brand of frozen and canned vegetables is Green Giant. Established in 1903 in Le Sueur, Minnesota, the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (MVCC) produced canned vegetables under the brand Le Sueur Z in 1903. By 1925 the new brand Green Giant Great Big Tender Peas was introduced. Founded by John S Hughes, he started the MVCC cannery which at that time was a relatively new process. Years later Ward Cosgrove joined the board of directors and changed and influenced a new concept to the cannery which made it more efficient and effective.

Corn is grown it the valley on the fertile alluvial floodplains of the Minnesota River around Le Sueur under environmentally sustainably and friendly conditions with the consumer in mind. In an attempt to gain costumers attention, the Jolly Green Giant was appointed mascot of their products. This green friendly giant appears on television commercial and the packaging of all their products.

Though they were profitable MVCC merged with Pillsbury in 1979. General Mills, in turn, bought Pillsbury in 2001, and in the early twenty-first century Green Giant remains a division within that larger company. Currently they are one of the largest producers of canned and frozen corn and peas, their main crops, in the United States along with a variety of other crop produced on a smaller scale (carrots, peas, broccoli, green beans, and spinach). Green Giant Company has been able to take advantage of new technological process and inventions which has allowed them to climb the economic ladder in the food industry.

Upon questioning the Operations Manager, Mr. A. Kocher, of seven different Hilo Food Stores in Trinidad and Regional Assistant Fresh Buyer, Ms. S. Ramjattan, of Pricesmart in Chaguanas, both described a similar process by which Green Giant corn is brought into Trinidad and by extension other Green Giant products, which can be seen in the flow chart below. Green Giant is U.S based where processed and packaged goods are kept in MVCC. Distributors are granted the license to market and distribute Green Giant products to local supermarkets. Goods are shipped via sea freight in a refrigerated container on a ship where it arrives at the port and cleared by port authority and collected by M&D Company in Trinidad. From here it is redistributed to local food stores where it is publicly advertised and purchased by customers.

Social and Environmental Conditions

Social and Environmental Conditions explained based on the Green Giant Valley Report:

Caring for the Land Less Land Usage
Their sustainable land use encourages the use to of less land, by implementing farming techniques and non genetically modified hybrid seeds to get more yields from every acre of the land. Within the last 35 years, double the amount of sweet corn has been harvested from the same size of land. That means more food for the world produced on less land.

Less Water Usage
To conserve the limited water available, one of Green Giant’s programs uses drip irrigation for broccoli as it is 50% more efficient that traditional irrigation and saves up to 15% of water.

Less Pesticide Usage
Responsible use of pesticides allows us to save land and grow vegetables to feed the world. Through research and testing they have be able to reduce pesticides by implementing techniques such as crop rotation techniques, timing of applications and integrated pest management. Pounds of pesticides used to grow sweet corn has be reduced by over 90 percent, and cut the number of applications in half.

Efficient Packaging
Packaging is designed to ensure that all vegetable produced are kept fresh as possible. The ability to freeze and can good that remain fresh and preserved in quality give customers the ability to have nutritious foods on-hand without going to waste. Though the process of packaging and shipping goods has a negative impact on the environment they are working on ways to reduce waste and minimize the carbon footprint of our packaging, such measures include:

Vac-Pack Technology
After steaming vegetables, a vacuum pack canning technology is used to remove all air in order to keep vegetable fresh. This process also makes it possible to deliver the same amount of vegetables in a can tin that is 30% smaller. This means less water, less metal and less fuel is used to get our vegetables to the grocery. These tins can also be recycled.

Recycled Packaging Material
Measures have been implemented to save trees as you eat your peas. Previously, Green Giant frozen vegetable cartons were constructed from bleached white paper board with no recycled fibers. Now we current cartons are made from unbleached, 100 percent recycled paper, saving 54,000 trees a year in the process.
Here are two current initiatives that allow Green Giant to be an even more sustainable company.

Academic Research
A study with the University of Arkansas is being conducted to understand the impact of products on the environment known as a life cycle analysis, this study carefully tracks the total impact of growing sweet corn and its journey from the farmer’s field to your dinner table. 
Freshwater Conservation
Collaborating with The Nature Conservancy, an initiative to educate farmers in Minnesota’s Root River Valley on more sustainable farming practices was implemented. The techniques allow farmers to filter runoff before it makes its way into local streams and rivers. In addition to keeping the water cleaner, the farming practices - which include ponds and buffers - create habitats for migratory birds and regional wildlife, such as frogs and ducks.

Non-GMO seeds are planted in May and June to accommodate the seasonal climatic condition and are grown between May and August. Once our sweet corn reaches its peak ripeness, it is simply:

HARVESTED  Harvest is done around the clock by famers when crops are they are ripe and done quickly to preserve the taste and taken to canning plants that said day.  WASHED, DRIED & BLANCHED  At the canning plant corn is husked and the kernels are sawed off the cob. Then, the corn is washed to remove pathogens via heat treatment to deactivate enzymes. Then the corn is chilled with water and dried it to prevent clumping.  FROZEN & PACKAGED After heating corn is frozen and placed it into cold storage. Then packaged and shipped to retailers. Importing such a commodity as Green Giant Kernel Corn allows locals a wider variety of choices in corn products from which they can purchase. Green Giant corn is packaged in a tin or plastic, both of which are recyclable and sold in the grocery on shelves or cold item section. This product is very well known around the world due to its advertising. The friendly green giant logo used to promote and market the goods as it appeals to all ages. Being a product grown directly from the soil, which is also grown in Trinidad, Green Giant adds value to their crop to get and edge over competition. Value added goods are higher in quality as Green Giant corn is grown with hybrid seeds to yield larger sweeter kernels. The harvested corn is washed then heat is applied to kill bacteria and chilled and dried to prevent clumping, and vacuumed to preserve freshness. Such products may appeal more to costumers in terms of food safety and shelf life instead of buying corn from the market which is not well taken care of when harvested. Purchase is based on preference and influences supply and demand. The availability of these foreign US products, feeds into the idea of us living in the North, as there is stereotype that foreign good are of better quality, pay more for better. As foreign goods are always portrayed to be of a high value this tends to influence our taste in what we eat, from where. In Trinidad, corn in general is used in many of our foods and cuisine (pelau, corn soup, pizza, fresh salad, potato salad).  Works Cited "Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade." Environmental Justice Organisations Liabilities and Trade. http://www.ejolt.org/2012/12/commodity-chains-2/ (accessed April 8, 2014). "Green Giant® -    Green Giant Sweet Corn-Fresh from the Field to Your Freezer." Green Giant® -    Green Giant Sweet Corn-Fresh from the Field to Your Freezer. http://blog.greengiant.com/category/all/green-giant-sweet-cornfresh-from-the-field-to-your-freezer.aspx (accessed April 8, 2014). "History of Innovation." General Mills. http://generalmills.com/~/media/Files/history/hist_greengiant.ashx (accessed April 6, 2014). "Sustainable Agriculture." General Mills: Environmental Sustainability. http://www.generalmills.com/~/media/Files/sustainability/GM_agriculture.ashx (accessed April 6, 2014). "The Green Giant Company." Minnesota Encyclopedia. http://www.mnopedia.org/thing/green-giant-company (accessed April 8, 2014). " Green Giant Our Story." Green Giant®. http://greengiant.com/Our-story (accessed April 8, 2014).