Jodi and I. We swapped lots of new baby stories. Mine was 5 months and hers was about 4 weeks. |
Last month, I was asked to speak to the Kansas Nutrition
Council on Food Labeling. My friend, Jodi Oleen from the Kansas Pork
Association invited me, and it was lots of fun to go visit with the
nutritionists and dieticians for a day. I also enjoyed a quick trip back to
Manhattan, KS, where I went to graduate school.
The first label I spoke about was Organic.
In the US, foods labeled ‘Organic’ are regulated under the National Organic Program which is part of the Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA.
Just a few of the regulations for organic farming include:
My talk was about the labels that we see on meat, milk, and
egg packages and while I was working on it, I thought that this would make a
great blog series. So, that’s what I decided to do.
Jodi took this one of me giving my talk. I like to break the ice with pictures of Vallie in a hair net |
When you get to a grocery store, the labels you see can be
so overwhelming. It’s so hard to know what they all mean. You have so many
concerns when you are buying food. You want to consider your family’s health,
the environment, the animals’ wellbeing, and you only have so much money to
spend.
All the labels at the meat counter can be so overwhelming when all you want to do is find healthy food for your family that you can afford. |
The first label I spoke about was Organic.
In the US, foods labeled ‘Organic’ are regulated under the National Organic Program which is part of the Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA.
To be labeled with the USDA Organic label, meat, milk and
eggs must be produced from animals that were raised following strict rules on
farms that are subject to audits by the NOP.
Just a few of the regulations for organic farming include:
·
Animals must be fed only Organic feed
·
Animals are only allowed to graze Organic
pasture
·
Animals must be allowed to graze 120 days of the
year (and they must eat the grass when grazing, not just hang out in the field)
·
They may not be continually confined indoors
·
They are not allowed to be given any growth
promoting hormones or antibiotics
·
Healthy animals MAY be given vaccines to prevent
illness
These are by no means ALL the rules when it comes to raising
organic livestock, but these are the main points. When I have questions about
Organic farming I consult Emily
Zweber at Zweber farms. Their family
has an Organic Dairy in Minnesota, and she writes a great blog about her life
as an Organic dairy farmer. She has a whole series about the Myths associated with Organic
farming.
In order to use the official
Organic label, a food must be made from 95% or greater organic ingredients.
If a food has greater than 70% organic ingredients, the label can state that it
is made with ‘Organic ingredients.’ If it is less than 70% organic, the organic
ingredients are just listed on the ingredient statement.
Organic is not the same as Natural. I’m going
to cover the Natural label in the next post in this series, so STAY TUNED!
Although, I’ve blogged about the difference
between Natural, Organic, Grass fed, and others, I am planning to repeat
some of that information in this labeling series and expand on it. Please let
me know if you have any questions about meat labels and I’ll do my best to
answer them.
Very nice article Janeal!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting with us and thank you for recapping the session here! Labels can be so confusing and cutting through the buzz words and down to what is really in our food is so important. Hope you visit us again soon!
ReplyDeleteJaneal, it was so nice to meet you! Thank you, again, for visiting us in Kansas and for this informative session!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you were in Manhattan and didn't even call me......so sad...
ReplyDeleteGreat post and explanation of organic!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I could help out!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Janeal. :)
ReplyDelete