Happenings on the Ranch

April 27, 2011

You are what you eat … but what are you eating?

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Karin @ 3:17 pm

Organic.  Grass fed.  Free range.  Naturally Grown.  The labels on our food purchases can be confusing and it seems that more are being added each week.  How do you choose between Certified Organic and Certified Naturally Grown?  Do you even know the difference?  Here’s a quick breakdown of what some of those labels really mean.  (Thanks to the Nature Conservancy for helping us put this together.)

Animal Welfare Approved

Found on: Meat, poultry, pork, dairy, eggs
Definition: AWA is a free and independent third-party auditing and certification program for family farms raising their animals humanely — outdoors on a pasture or a range. Both farms and slaughter plants are annually audited to the highest animal welfare standards in the U.S.
Source: Animal Welfare Approved

Bird Friendly®

Found on: Coffee
Definition: It’s certified organic and certified shade grown — good habitat for birds.  Rather than cutting down rainforests to plant coffee, the coffee is grown naturally under the shade of existing trees. The coffee producers protect waterways and soil, avoid pesticides and chemical fertilizers, minimize the use of fuel wood and maintain fair, safe and healthy conditions for workers and downstream communities.  You can also look for coffee labeled Shade Grown.  It may not be organic, but it’s still better for the birds.
Source: Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Certified Naturally Grown

Found on: Produce, honey, meat, poultry
Definition: CNG is an alternative organic certification program. It’s similar to USDA certification, but relies on peer-review rather than third-party inspection.  NV Ranch is considering this option for certifiing our produce, meat and eggs.
Source: Certified Naturally Grown

Fair Trade Certified

Found on: Almost everything, from coffee to clothing to body lotion
Definition: Fair-trade products are, well, fair. Workers are fairlycompensated, and local farmers and entrepreneurs are empowered to create sustainable businesses that benefit entire communities.
Source: Fair Trade USA

Free-Range/Cage-Free

Found on: Poultry
Definition: USDA free-range regulations apply only to poultry.  American producers must prove that the birds have “access to the outside,” although the frequency or duration of this access is not defined.  Pastured Poultry relies on poultry directly on green pasture.  Producers who are members of the APPPA, like NV Ranch, are more focused on producing chickens and turkeys raised on green grass.  
Source: USDA, American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

Grass-Fed

Found on: Meat
Definition: From day one, the animals were fed a diet of “100% forage,” were raised on a pasture and were never given hormones or antibiotics.   “USDA grass-fed” is not third-party verified – it’s just a recommended standard from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
Source: American Grassfed Association

Hormone-free

Found on: Poultry, pork, beef, dairy
Definition: Federal regulations prohibit the usage of hormones when raising chickens or hogs, so your poultry and pork products are hormone-free by default. For beef or dairy, producers must show that no hormones were used in raising the animals.
Source: USDA

Local

Found on: Just about anything edible
Definition: If the product adheres to USDA guidelines, it was transported less than 400 miles from its origin, or hasn’t come from another state.
Source: USDA

Rainforest Alliance Certified

Found on: Coffee, tea, cocoa, bananas, oranges, cut flowers
Definition: This certification ensures that “goods were grown on farms that meet rigorous standards for sustainability that involve reducing waste, water pollution and water usage, while curbing deforestation and protecting wildlife habitat. Further, farm workers and their families are guaranteed good working and living conditions, decent wages and access to health care and education.”
Source: Rainforest Alliance

USDA Certified Organic

Found on: Anything that comes from nature, so pretty much everything
Definition: Things that are USDA certified organic are managed in accordance with the Organic Foods Production Act “to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity.” It usually, but not always, means that synthetic chemicals weren’t used in that item’s production.
Source: USDA

So, what if the food you are buying at farmer’s market isn’t labeled? Talk to the seller. Find out if they (or the producer) follows any of the methods above. Most very small growers don’t have any certifications, due to the expense involved, but may follow many of the guildelines to the letter or even more strictly. For example, NV Ranch is not certified naturally grown, organic, free-range, hormone free, or animal welfare approved. But, we adhere to all the standards and in many cases are stricter than the official definition. Take the opportunity to talk to the producer and visit the farm, if possible. In any case, it helps to know where your food is coming from!

March 31, 2009

Animal welfare vs. Feeding the world

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , , — Karin @ 2:43 pm

I’m not a “preachy” kind of person.  I do what I do because I think it’s the right thing for my family, our customers and the world in general.  We’ve chosen to grow our produce and livestock in the most natural way possible because we feel it’s better for our bodies, our animals and our environment.  If people want to know more, I’m happy to provide the info but I don’t stand on a soap box very often.  However, after seeing a press release this week pertaining to animal rights specific to food production I had to comment.

The press release is from the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS).  Now, to be fair, I have often supported the HSUS on many occasions on specific issues.  However, I am often against the extreme measures and stances they take as well as their classification as a non-profit (because of some of their functions and activities).  That being said, I can’t help but comment on the their recent announcement that they intend to introduce a resolution at a McDonald’s shareholder meeting in May requesting that the fast-food chain use only cage-free eggs.  Now obviously I should be for this, right?  After all, that’s how we raise our chickens; well, more free-range than just cage-free but you get the idea.  And it’s been proven it can be done on a large scale.  The European Union has already decided to phase out cages by 2012.  California passed a ballot measure requiring that all farm animals be provided enough space to stand up, turn around, and spread their limbs; this includes specific regulations regarding chickens, breeding hogs and veal.  Other fast-food chains — including Burger King, Denny’s, Hardees and McDonald’s franchises in the U. K. — already use cage-free eggs.  So do plenty of restaurants, grocery chains and hotels.  So, it really shouldn’t be much of a stretch for McDonald’s to do the same here in the States.

But, this leads us to a much broader question.  If each and every egg producer is eventually forced to go “cage-free” then what changes occur in our food supply?  Moreover, how about organic farming?  As American consumers, we have become very accustomed to being able to go to the grocery and pick up whatever we need whenever we need it for a relatively low price without a second thought to where it came from or whether it’s in season in our area.  But, as we adopt new animal welfare ideals and sustainable growing practices what happens to that system?

As an example, the number of birds currently housed in confinement egg operations (280 million) would require much more room than those producers have.  This causes their costs to rise, which causes wholesale prices to rise and subsequently consumers pay more per dozen.  How much is the average American willing to pay for eggs that were formally $1.75 a dozen?  $3.00?  $5.00?

It’s fine for people to have ideals about animal welfare or commodity crops if they have the space to do it.  But we are treading on thin ice here if we start wide-sweeping changes to our national food system simply based on ideals, rather than need or economics, without properly preparing for it.  Our country supplies food to the global community through the mass production of crops.  Arguably, these crops provide low-cost goods to our food supply.  But at what cost?  Deterioration of the soil from planting the same crop over and over again, requiring chemical fertilizers to be added; hybrid seeds utilizing pesticides and herbicides or being genetically modified, which could have consequences on our health we may not understand for years.  I could go on and on but if you’re reading this blog you probably already have an idea of what I’m talking about.

Our family is lucky that we can have both our ideals and our food and can provide food for others that share those ideals (or just like really good meat!).  But there is a growing concern that organic farming and humane livestock practices cannot coincide with feeding the masses.  But I, and many experts, disagree.  In his article “Can Organic Farming Feed Us All?”, Worldwatch Institute Senior Researcher Brian Halweil notes two recent studies reveal that a global shift to organic farming would yield more food, not less, for the world’s hungry.  Worldwatch also held a very poignant discussion on this issue on their website.  They can say it better than I ever could, but the point is that it’s possible.  The only thing I caution is that it needs to take a gradual shift, something that the HSUS, PETA and other groups sometimes forget in their fervent effort to enact change.

What do you think?  I welcome comments on this topic and hope for some discussion.  Do you think we can make a change in the way our country grows and raises it’s food without taking into account the global effects?

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