Friday
Mar062009
The Manure of Organic (Part 2)
Friday, March 6, 2009 at 6:13AM
This is the conclusion to (Part 1)
In 2002 - the USDA approved four categories of organic labels, based on the percentage of organic content. The organic labels are now one of several types of "Approved Organic" labels that adorn food in the store. The USDA label must follow these guidelines:
1. 100 Percent Organic - may carry USDA Organic Seal
2. Organic - at least 95% of content is organic by weight (excluding water and salt) and may carry the USDA Organic Seal.
3. Made With Organic - at least 70% of content is organic and the front product panel may display the phrase "Made with Organic" followed by up to three specific ingredients. (May not display USDA Organic seal)
4. Less than 70 % of content is organic and may list only those ingredients that are organic on the ingredient panel with no mention of organic on the main panel. (May not display USDA Organic seal)
Alll-rightttty... So - number 1 is pretty self explanatory... based on the principles in the preceding article - no deviation - as expected - you end up with a 100% Organic product. I get it - the seal makes sense - end of story. My hunch, from many conversations with consumers, is this is the definition they all think they are getting when buying "organic".
Now - depending on your paranoia level mileage will vary with this - but number 2 is a bit more, I'll use the term "vague". First - water and salt weight added are not included... OK - but is that distilled water or heavily chlorinated water, used in traditional chicken processing - I dunno - do you? So for clarification - I turned to the USDA's consumer guidelines - that's is helpful: "On multi-ingredient products, the seal is usually placed on the front of the package (principal display panel); however, it may be placed anywhere on the package. When you see this seal, you know the product is at least 95 percent organic." So - I guess it's like horseshoes - close enough is good enough?
Looking back at the 4 basic components in Part 1 of an organic program - here's where the real question in terms of poultry production comes in... what antibiotic agents might be acceptable - what about growth hormones - and what happens to the "few" (defined as less than 5% of the flock) that need "something" administered to them to help them along. Simple - the probability is they end up in someones pot under the pretense that they are produced in a manner that they are not.
Now - my answer is - buy your produce, poultry and other meat products locally from a farmer you get to know or from a source you are comfortable trusting - not simply accept that a label will provide you the piece of mind you would like.
(This is not a condemnation of those large breeding farms that produce 1000's of "Certified Organic" chickens every 7 weeks - I am trying to produce chickens for customers this year at a reasonable price - and boy ohh boy are the margins slim... so in volumes like that - large producers are likely making less than a $1 a bird. So of course they are going to have to medicate, maybe, say 5% of the flock... and then well - they all look the same...)
Number 3 and 4 in the organic listings guidelines are slightly less deceptive than #2 - mainly because there is no promise and the guidelines prevent consumers from being misled.
The point of all this is the USDA has put forth a set of guidelines that help inform consumers and provided factual guidance - but still leave enough room to maneuver for producers to adjust and react to the variability of raising live products so they can remain profitable should there be an unexpected "issue" that needs to be attended to in non-organic ways - which still maintaining their expensive organic certification. The practice of farming is not easy - doing so within restrictive guidelines is harder yet.
Bottom line - if you really want to provide truly organic food for your own table - then you have to grow it from scratch yourself (and don't waste money on seeds labeled organic). The next best thing to that is find a face that produces your food, get to know them, learn if they are honest or not, see where the food is grown and lives, and then buy only the things you are comfortable with. Sure - that's a bit more of a time commitment than pulling up to the local supermarket and grabbing a bag of something with a USDA seal on it - but I guess the question is how sincere are YOU in obtaining 100% organic products.
In 2002 - the USDA approved four categories of organic labels, based on the percentage of organic content. The organic labels are now one of several types of "Approved Organic" labels that adorn food in the store. The USDA label must follow these guidelines:
1. 100 Percent Organic - may carry USDA Organic Seal2. Organic - at least 95% of content is organic by weight (excluding water and salt) and may carry the USDA Organic Seal.
3. Made With Organic - at least 70% of content is organic and the front product panel may display the phrase "Made with Organic" followed by up to three specific ingredients. (May not display USDA Organic seal)
4. Less than 70 % of content is organic and may list only those ingredients that are organic on the ingredient panel with no mention of organic on the main panel. (May not display USDA Organic seal)
Alll-rightttty... So - number 1 is pretty self explanatory... based on the principles in the preceding article - no deviation - as expected - you end up with a 100% Organic product. I get it - the seal makes sense - end of story. My hunch, from many conversations with consumers, is this is the definition they all think they are getting when buying "organic".
Now - depending on your paranoia level mileage will vary with this - but number 2 is a bit more, I'll use the term "vague". First - water and salt weight added are not included... OK - but is that distilled water or heavily chlorinated water, used in traditional chicken processing - I dunno - do you? So for clarification - I turned to the USDA's consumer guidelines - that's is helpful: "On multi-ingredient products, the seal is usually placed on the front of the package (principal display panel); however, it may be placed anywhere on the package. When you see this seal, you know the product is at least 95 percent organic." So - I guess it's like horseshoes - close enough is good enough?
Looking back at the 4 basic components in Part 1 of an organic program - here's where the real question in terms of poultry production comes in... what antibiotic agents might be acceptable - what about growth hormones - and what happens to the "few" (defined as less than 5% of the flock) that need "something" administered to them to help them along. Simple - the probability is they end up in someones pot under the pretense that they are produced in a manner that they are not.
Now - my answer is - buy your produce, poultry and other meat products locally from a farmer you get to know or from a source you are comfortable trusting - not simply accept that a label will provide you the piece of mind you would like.
(This is not a condemnation of those large breeding farms that produce 1000's of "Certified Organic" chickens every 7 weeks - I am trying to produce chickens for customers this year at a reasonable price - and boy ohh boy are the margins slim... so in volumes like that - large producers are likely making less than a $1 a bird. So of course they are going to have to medicate, maybe, say 5% of the flock... and then well - they all look the same...)
Number 3 and 4 in the organic listings guidelines are slightly less deceptive than #2 - mainly because there is no promise and the guidelines prevent consumers from being misled.
The point of all this is the USDA has put forth a set of guidelines that help inform consumers and provided factual guidance - but still leave enough room to maneuver for producers to adjust and react to the variability of raising live products so they can remain profitable should there be an unexpected "issue" that needs to be attended to in non-organic ways - which still maintaining their expensive organic certification. The practice of farming is not easy - doing so within restrictive guidelines is harder yet.
Bottom line - if you really want to provide truly organic food for your own table - then you have to grow it from scratch yourself (and don't waste money on seeds labeled organic). The next best thing to that is find a face that produces your food, get to know them, learn if they are honest or not, see where the food is grown and lives, and then buy only the things you are comfortable with. Sure - that's a bit more of a time commitment than pulling up to the local supermarket and grabbing a bag of something with a USDA seal on it - but I guess the question is how sincere are YOU in obtaining 100% organic products.
tagged commentary, farming in Farm Life
commentary, farming in Farm Life
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[...] the next posting will walk through the load of manure that these regulations actually amount to. (concluded in part 2) March 3rd, 2009 | Tags: commentary, farming | Category: Farm [...]