The National Organic Standards Board is reviewing requirements for livestock living conditions. They are thinking about requiring organic livestock (including beef cattle, dairy cattle and poultry) to be given access to pasture during the growing season.
Many consumers are not even aware that “organic” livestock are not already required to live outside on pasture in the summertime.
Many organic producers (especially poultry producers) are concerned that such a radical change in the standard will destroy the businesses they have struggled so many years to build.
The problem is that our labeling system is outdated. We have one catch-all standard, “organic,” that is pulled in different directions by different interest groups. The French are thirty years ahead of us in standards. They now have four major labeling programs that complement each other, reducing consumer confusion and allowing each producer to find its place on a spectrum of philosophies.
I think we should follow the French example. It is time we added a second label with teeth like the French “Label Rouge.” I’d love to hear what you think.
I’m in full agreement. Honesty and truth are essential. Unfortunately the food giants have too much influence in the USDA and seem to be able to get the ability to get advantageous wording that leads consumers to believe they’re getting more than they are.
I think the only way to move things ahead is to get more and more consumers learning the difference and seeing the advantages to the real thing and not something that purports to be that.
I know I personally have been spreading the word to people I know via conversations, Facebook posts etc.
I know one concern with people is price. I had trouble grasping the difference in the price of chicken which is where I see the largest difference in price compared to a grocery store. However, the difference in the bird is amazing. Taut skin, breast meat that is more flavorful and naturally more juicy. I’ve always brined chicken breasts before cooking. Now I will sometimes skip that step and still end up with a juicy piece of meat.
There is no going back. I haven’t bought meat for my family in a grocery store for over a year and they noticed and asked me about it.
I do confess that because I compete in chili cookoffs, I do buy that meat in the store because that is given away and it’s purely an economic thing due to the fact of going through about 12 pounds of meat per event plus the other costs. At some point I hope to bite the bullet and switch there as well.
Yes, I rambled a bit, but I think think the bottom line is that consumer demand for better products and better standards is the way to get things changed. Every time a consumer buys something, that’s a vote for everything that product stands for.
Sure, I’d be all for truth in labeling. It would be nice to know that the term, “Natural” on a product actually indicated “Natural.”
[…] have posted before about the controversy over the National Organic Standard strengthening its outdoor access […]