Wednesday, December 28, 2005

2005 had its share of changes in the food industry

2005 had its share of changes in the food industry:

"COOL, or country of origin labeling, became mandatory at seafood counters. The mandate gives consumers at-a-glance information about imported and domestic sources as well as whether fish has been 'previously frozen' or has 'color added.' The information includes whether the fish is wild-caught or farm-raised.

COOL is scheduled to apply to all produce in 2006."

Organic Valley Culminates 2005 with Launch of 'Generation Organic'

Organic Valley Culminates 2005 with Launch of 'Generation Organic': "Commits to Save the American Family Farmer, an Endangered Species
Sets Sales Record of $245 Million

LAFARGE, Wis., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- 'Generation Organic,' a campaign to
save the family farmer from extinction by bringing new farmers into organic
agriculture, was announced today by Organic Valley Family of Farms, America's
largest cooperative of organic farmers and one of the country's leading
national organic brands.
'Generation Organic is the 'Endangered Species Protection Act' for the
American family farmer. U.S. farmers have disappeared from the land at the
rate of "

Better Beef

Better Beef:

"Grass-fed meat offers richer flavor and more nutrition.

Beef from a cow raised on pasture is even healthier for you than a chicken breast � the white meat that health authorities are so quick to recommend."

Monday, December 26, 2005

Francis Thicke: How Now, Industrial Cow?

Francis Thicke: How Now, Industrial Cow?:

"Pasture dairies make sense financially. Milk production per cow is less, but milk production per acre, when acres used to grow feed crops are included, is comparable. Studies at the University of Wisconsin show that grazing dairies are as profitable, or more profitable, than industrial dairies.

What's more, cows on pasture are healthier and live longer than those on a high-corn diet, which is not their natural food. And research is beginning to suggest that milk from grazing cows is more healthful because it has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, beta carotene and conjugated linoleic acids -- substances that may be useful in helping to prevent heart disease or certain cancers.

Given all these benefits, it is time we get serious about focusing our agricultural research, education and government policy on farming that uses ecology as its guide. And we should begin requiring industrial agriculture to pay for the environmental costs that it imposes on our planet -- costs now borne by society as a whole or charged to future generations."

Bob Scowcroft: Bush's Squeeze on Organic Farmers

Bob Scowcroft: Bush's Squeeze on Organic Farmers:

"The Organic Farming Research Foundation has determined that certified-organic land-grant university research acreage has grown from 151 acres in 2001 to just over 496 acres_this out of a massive 886,000 acres now dedicated to agricultural research.

Five years ago, OFRF published a report identifying the number of organic research projects funded by the USDA. After running 75 key words through the USDA's 30,000 agricultural research projects database, OFRF discovered 34 explicitly organic projects. That translates to barely over one-tenth of 1 percent of our publicly funded agricultural research projects specifically dedicated to organic production practices."

Joshua Frank: Organic Inconsistencies

Joshua Frank: Organic Inconsistencies:

"As the organic food industry has matured, USDA standards have waned. Consumers can no longer be confidant that their foods meet organic standards, even if USDA gives it is green mark of approval. "

Ellinghuysen.com - 12/15/05 - Report: Organic Food Will Become Mainstream By 2025

Ellinghuysen.com - 12/15/05 - Report: Organic Food Will Become Mainstream By 2025:

"Strong government support will help boost the organics market, said the study, which also predicted that one challenge due to be faced by the industry will be consumer confusion about definitions around the organic labels. "

U.S. Consumers Shun Organic Foods Because Of Price

U.S. Consumers Shun Organic Foods Because Of Price: "December 13, 2005
U.S. consumers are among the least likely shoppers from around the world to regularly purchase organic food and beverage products, according to a new online global survey from ACNielsen.

When asked about their purchasing of organic alternatives from 11 food and beverage categories, just six to 15 percent of U.S. consumers said they purchase such products regularly � well short of the average among consumers from all 38 markets included in the study.

Across all regions, the main reason for purchasing organic food and beverages is that consumers believe such products are healthier. The secondary reason cited by consumers in all regions except Europe is the perceived health benefits for the shoppers� children. In Europe, more people cited benefits for the environment as their secondary reason to purchase organics.

For those who never buy organic food or beverage products, which includes 40 to 72 percent of U.S. consumers, depending on the category, the main deterrent is price."

_______________

I'm one of the people in the second catagory. I've started buying organic food for my family, and am finding the meats taste better. Organic carrots are sweeter...there really is a noticeable difference (positive) in most everything I've tried, and I thought there wouldn't be.

And I find I am more aware of our food, since I paid a premium for it. for instance, I save peelings of carrots, celery and onions to use in stocks that I make from the organic chicken bones.

I feel I pay more attention to eating as well. And we are eating salads every night now that I'm paying more for the greens, lol! So yes, organic is more expensive, but worth it to this mom, in more ways that one!

Tracy~

Friday, December 23, 2005

Google Groups : misc.consumers

This is a concern of mine. I'm going to look into just how we here in the US can know that what we are buying is truly organic.

Google Groups : misc.consumers

"Britain's organic food revolution was facing its first serious test
last night after an Observer investigation revealed disturbing levels
of fraud within the industry.


Farmers, retailers and food inspectors have disclosed a catalogue of
malpractice, including producers falsely passing off food as organic
and retailers failing to gain accreditation from independent
inspectors. The findings raise concerns that consumers paying high
premiums for organic food are being ripped off. "


Google Groups : Certified Organic Group

Google Groups : Certified Organic Group

Excessive use of antibiotics by meat producers, 8 times more than in
human medicine, contributes to alarming increase in antibiotic
resistance


WASHINGTON - Every year in the United States 25 million pounds of
valuable antibiotics -- roughly 70 percent of total US antibiotic
production -- are fed to chickens, pigs, and cows for nontherapeutic
purposes like growth promotion, according to a new report from the
Union of Concerned Scientists. This finding -- 40 percent greater than the
estimate of the livestock industry for all animal uses -- is the first
transparent estimate of the quantities of antibiotics used in meat

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Guide to Pesticides in Produce - Natural Life Magazine January/February 2004

Guide to Pesticides in Produce - Natural Life Magazine January/February 2004: "Guide to Pesticides in Produce

The Washington D.C.-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) has analyzed over 100,000 U.S. government pesticide test results and found 192 different pesticides on 46 popular fresh fruits and vegetables. At the same time, they have created a new Shopper�s Guide to Pesticides in Produce so that consumers can shop their way to reduced pesticide exposure.

Stonyfield Farm, the world�s largest organic yogurt manufacturer, created the convenient wallet-size Guide to deliver this information to consumers. Downloadable from both www.foodnews.org and www.stonyfield.com, the Guide lists the 12 produce items that are consistently most- and least-contaminated with pesticides.

Consumers who are concerned about eating pesticides can either buy organic produce or use the Shopper�s Guide to choose conventional foods that contain the least pesticide residues. Using this tool can reduce the number of pesticides in produce a person eats by up to 90 percent. "

Saturday, December 17, 2005

When is organic not really organic? | mountvernonnews.com

When is organic not really organic? | mountvernonnews.com:

"The current standard is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "USDA Organic" seal. Foods bearing this seal must be 95 percent organic and contain 100 percent natural ingredients to be considered organic.

Earlier this year, a federal appeals court ruled that even small amounts of non-organic ingredients such as vitamins, spices, citric acid and carbonation, do not belong in food labeled organic.

The original suit was brought by a Maine organic blueberry farmer. He sued the federal government in 2002 for allowing products containing what are considered synthetic product to be sold as organic. "

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Organic Watch: Countering the Corporate Attack on Organic -- The corporate takeover of the organic food industry

Organic Watch: Countering the Corporate Attack on Organic -- The corporate takeover of the organic food industry: "Countering the Corporate Attack on Organics and
Fighting for the Family Farmer

Now that the organic industry has grown to over $12 billion in annual sales, agribusiness and biotechnology giants evidently view organics as a viable threat. Over the past few years they have launched a sophisticated and well-funded corporate attack aimed at discrediting organic food and farming practices.

Although their activities do not seem to have put a dent in sales growth, or consumer support of organic agriculture, nonetheless, their activities, including lawsuits and intimidation from government officials , have organic marketers and consumers rightfully concerned.

Attacks on organics have come from right-wing think tanks, lawsuits from Monsanto, threatening letters from the FDA, and have been facilitated by journalists who are either complacent about or outright hostile to organic agriculture. Some of these attacks have included: "

Legacy of farming methods comes home to roost - Opinion - smh.com.au

I'm doing research for a website on organic food that I'll be building next year. What I'm learning is mind-boggling. Notice the highlighted sentence below on the grain it takes to feed the birds, and how we use more grain than we get back in meat.

Legacy of farming methods comes home to roost - Opinion - smh.com.au:

It isn't called 'factory farming' merely because those sheds look like factories. Everything about the production method is geared towards turning live animals into machines for converting grain into meat or eggs at the lowest possible cost.

Walk into such a shed and you will find up to 30,000 chickens. The National Chicken Council, the trade association for the US chicken industry, recommends a stocking density of 85 square inches (548 square centimetres) a bird - less than a standard sheet of typing paper.

snip

Environmentalists say that this production method is unsustainable. It relies on the use of fossil fuel energy to light and ventilate the sheds, and to transport the grain eaten by the chickens. When this grain, which humans could eat, is fed to chickens, they use some of it to create bones, feathers and other body parts that we cannot eat. So we get less food back than we put into the birds - and less protein, too - while disposing of the concentrated chicken manure causes serious pollution to rivers and ground water.

snip

It's short article, worth a read.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Loss of genetic diversity makes the food supply even more vulnerable to pests and disease

Audubon at Home: "A mere 10 to 15 species of plants and 8 species of livestock now account for 90 percent of the world's food production. This loss of genetic diversity makes the food supply even more vulnerable to pests and disease. "

I'm working at better understanding the issue of the organic vs "regular" food supply. This statement hit home for me...What are we as a species doing? Not thinking ahead, that seems painfully obvious!

U.S. organic products retail sales are expected to top $21 billion by 2007


All Things Organic� - North America's Only All Organic Conference and Trade Show:

"U.S. sales of organic food and nonfood products during 2003 totaled approximately $10.8 billion, according to the Organic Trade Association�s 2004 Manufacturer Survey released in May 2004. According to survey results, sales of organic foods were approximately $10.38 billion in 2003, up 20.4 percent from the previous year.


Meanwhile, 'non-food' organic products, such as personal care products, nutritional supplements, organic fiber, household cleaners, flowers and pet food, grew by 19.8 percent, to reach $440 million in sales.

U.S. organic food sales have grown between 17 and 21 percent each year since 1997, to nearly triple in sales, while total U.S. food sales over this time period grew in the range of only 2 to 4 percent a year. According to findings from the Organic Trade Association�s 2004 Manufacturer Survey, organic food sales now represent approximately 2 percent of U.S. food sales.

U.S. organic products retail sales are expected to top $21 billion by 2007, based on growth projections from the Organic Trade Association�s 2004 Manufacturer Survey.

Sixty-six percent of U.S. consumers report they use organic products at least occasionally, according to The Hartman Group�s report, Organic Food & Beverage Trends 2004: Lifestyles, Language and Category Adoption released in August 2004. More than 40 percent of those consumers (or 27 percent of the total population) report using organic products regularly. "

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Eating out organic, a new challenge for natural food connoisseurs

CNN.com In-Depth Specials - Eating out organic, a new challenge for natural food connoisseurs:

"Many equate organic with vegetarian, but that is far too limited a definition, according to chef Nora Pouillon, owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington D.C. The well-known establishment with a four-star Mobil rating is the only one in the United States with organic certification.
'I think some people might think it is a vegetarian restaurant,' Pouillon says.

'You know, misinformation is the biggest thing. People really don't understand what organic means. Many feel that organic means vegetarian food -- tasteless, flavorless food that is not very good. The advantage to this is that everybody is very happily surprised.' "

The Rise Of Organic Food - Forbes.com

The Rise Of Organic Food - Forbes.com: "Sales of organic food products in the United States have soared to nearly $14 billion from less than $1 billion in the last 14 years, and are expected to rise to $17 billion in the next two years. Whether motivated by food safety scares, health issues or diet concerns, consumers have begun to look for alternative products. "

Friday, December 09, 2005

It would be great if all school kids had the same choice as they do here:

Hellenic News of America: "While fried chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers still reign supreme in most cafeterias, a small but growing number of schools are turning to organic food as a way to improve children's health and fight obesity."

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Ugh! This is so disgusting!

Sewage sludge legal to use as fertilizer on crops: "It's an outrage: the EPA says farmers can spread human waste sludge on their crops, regardless of what's in the sludge."
This blew my mind! I use orange zest in recipes alot...I just bought some organic veggie wash from Vermont Soap Works. I wonder if it removes this dye?

Looking for organic vitamins? Grocery store foods are fast becoming a poor source of nutrition:

"Grocery stores, it seems, put far more emphasis on visual appearance than nutritional value. This isn't surprising, since consumers typically select produce based almost entirely on appearance. Oranges from Florida, for example, are frequently dipped in a red dye that gives them a deeper, more saturated orange color preferred by consumers. The only problem is that this orange dye has been banned by the FDA for use in foods due to its proven cancer-causing ability. But the Florida orange industry gets away with using the dye by claiming it's only used outside the orange, not inside. With that strange caveat, the FDA allows its use. "
I said to my husband, "organic gas". His reply? "I've got some of that." Too funny, lol!!! Anyhoo, here's the story. Whaddaya think?

California To Sell Organic Gas: "Organic products have become big business for many companies, but California will be the first state to produce and offer organic gasoline for sale.
by George Wolfe
SAN FRANCISCO � California is known for many alternative things that cause the rolling of eyes, but its sponsorship of an organic gasoline program is actually turning heads."