Minnesota pickle maker agrees to drop 'midget' from labels
A Rhode Island mother has persuaded Gedney Foods, a longtime food producer based in Chaska, Minn., to stop using the word "midget" on jars of small pickles, the Star Tribune reports.
Chelley Martinka, who has a 10-month-old daughter with dwarfism, first noticed the line of Cains pickles in December. In protest, she contacted the company, started a blog and made a YouTube video. Watch it below:
Gedney’s CEO, Barry Spector, called Martinka earlier this month and told her new labels are being designed.
She wrote on her blog, "Mr. Spector began telling me that the person or people who named the pickles never meant harm, it was just a word when the marketing was done for the pickles. He agreed that in these times that same word is offensive, and he and the company would never want to offend anyone. Because of this, he sent my video to the company’s board who voted to … CHANGE THE LABEL!”
In an email statement, Gedney said it was "simply doing the right thing," according to the Providence Journal.
Martinka told Fox in Washington, D.C., "Seeing a word that is so hurtful used in such a benign fashion, it's hurtful for parents."
Watch the video below:
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