Originally, this was going to be a typical, light-hearted post about an unusual food. I was happy that it was autumn-themed, or even late Halloween-themed, since it featured parts of pumpkins. But then, once I started researching the company that made the seeds, I learned some details that I found unsettling. So be forewarned--today's post isn't just about food, and will even touch on some political and societal issues. If you're the type of person who doesn't like hearing about such things, maybe give this article a pass. For the record, I tried two kinds of pumpkin seeds from Eden Foods--their lightly sea salted kind, and the hot, spicy, and savory ones.
At first, Eden Foods appeared to be similar to many of the food/beverage companies I cover. In fact, they seemed to be a bunch of "crunchy hippies," if I can use that term. The Michigan-based business opened in the late 1960's as a food co-op. Then it became a natural food store, then an establishment that had a cafe, bakery, and bookstore. Then in 1972 it became an organic and natural food warehouse, selling its products throughout the U.S. and Canada. Currently Eden sells a lot of different products-noodles, condiments, seaweed, teas, pickled veggies, rice, Japanese cuisine, oils, vinegars, beans, lentils, flour, cereals, hemp oils, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, butter, juices, fruit spreads, soy milk, etc. They also boast of being the oldest natural and organic food seller in North America. Oddly, their product labels don't have the USDA Organic seal, nor the Non-GMO Project Verified seal. Because, as they claim in their "FAQ" section on the official company website, Eden considers the federal regulations for each of these issues to not be stringent enough, not as organic or non-GMO as Eden is. Which seemed a little strange to me, but there it is. Otherwise, the folks behind Eden seemed like they were the usual good-hearted, green, health-conscious, vegetarians or vegans I often run across for my blog posts.
Then I checked out the company using other online sources. And found out some quite negative things. I guess, for legal reasons, I should preface all of these events by using the word "alleged," since I'm not 100% sure. But, on the other hand, the links and sites I used to confirm these claims seemed pretty legitimate. Anyway, first off, about 10 years ago Eden wanted to refuse to cover contraceptives for its employees on its health plan, because of the owner/founder's Catholic beliefs. A lower court blocked this, but the U.S. Supreme Court eventually reversed this decision. Additionally, in April of 2022 four women claimed that the owner and possibly some other high executives subjected them to various types of sexually harassment. In autumn of 2023 Eden settled, and paid out $182,500 to these employees. Finally, and most seriously, in 1988 a Canadian infant developed a rare eye and bone disorder due to vitamin deficiencies. The baby's parents had given it only Eden soy milk, instead of breast milk or vitamin-rich formulas, due to claims made by Eden's advertising. The CEO, Michael J. Potter, pled guilty to a misdemeanor, and got a $25,000 fine, 2 years of probation, and a 30 day jail sentence. (Fortunately, the baby later recovered.)
Eden pumpkin seeds with sea salt: These were a green color. They were okay. A bit bland. They reminded me of sunflower seeds. Dry and crunchy.
Eden pumpkin seeds, hot/spicy/savory variety: Some of these were green, and some were brown. A dusting of spice was visible on them. These were also dry and crunchy. But there was a noticeable spice bite. Not too strong, but pretty decent. I liked these better than the regular sea salt ones.
Overall these were a good snack. Previously I'd had a few dried pumpkin seeds that were collected after pumpkin carving, and found those to be extremely bland, probably because they didn't even have salt on them. But these professionally made seeds were pretty solid, especially the spicy kind.
So, in normal circumstances I would recommend these seeds, and would have been willing to try some other Eden products. But because of the unsavory and criminal details I learned about the company's higher ups, I don't want to support these folks financially. Obviously each reader will have to make their own decisions about this. I encourage everyone to research this on their own, and draw their own conclusions on whether to buy Eden products or not. Again, I didn't want to inject politics into this post--it just happened, and I felt I should comment on it. I hope that all (or at least most) of my future posts are just more fun musings on weird or unusual food and drinks, or discuss interesting trivia about horror movies or sports, or are accounts of upcoming magazines or anthologies that feature some of my stories.
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