by Cade Goodspeed:
As a frequent organic food eater i have always associated organic food as the be all and end best food for you that is free from the food systems corrupt ways. Such as feeding animals grain and using inhumane methods. But I came to realize that according to the USDA (United states department of agriculture, which labels and makes the standards for America’s foods.) There are not as many requirements as I would like.
First of all, what is organic and, how do we know it actually is organic? According to the USDA quote, “Look at the label. If you see the USDA organic seal, the product is certified organic and has 95 percent or more organic content. For multi-ingredient products such as bread or soup, if the label claims that it is made with specified organic ingredients, you can be confident that those specific ingredients have been certified organic.”
The USDA also has the responsibility to oversee and monitor farms and food companies to ensure their product meets the requirements or standards that are requested. Quote“The National Organic Program regulates all organic crops, livestock, and agricultural products certified to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic standards. Organic certification agencies inspect and verify that organic farmers, ranchers, distributors, processors, and traders are complying with the USDA organic regulations. USDA conducts audits and ensures that the more than 90 organic certification agencies operating around the world are properly certifying organic products. In addition, USDA conducts investigations and conducts enforcement activities to ensure all products labeled as organic meet the USDA organic regulations. In order to sell, label, or represent their products as organic, operations must follow all of the specifications set out by the USDA organic regulations.” (Note, both excerpts where taken from the actual USDA's descriptions of their policies.)
After finding this information it has become apparent that USDA does not care what goes into your body and more or less wont care. And the reasoning behind this I think is money. Look at a company like Monsanto. They have a lot of political power. Most of their lawyers have had very high political positions. And I feel that has an affect on how unregulated the production of organic food are. Its almost as if once every so often someone stops by and says "Hey fill this out then you'll be fine." It's disgusting to think the people that determine how safe our foods are basically sitting back and not caring. Unless some dies then it gets changed. But its not just the death of a person that should change the quality of food it should be how it affects us nutritionally!
Labeling the upbringing of animals
by Lexi Forkas.
When you drive by a farm you usually see cows roaming the fields, chomping on some grass. You may think that's how all the cows and other farm animals live, but that's not always the case. Many farmers don't necessarily care mostly about the well being of the animals, but of the price and quantity of product they're potentially selling. They want the animals to produce as much as they can, and maybe even bulk up a little. By adding hormones and pesticides to the foods they ingest, in the end we eat the cow that eats the corn that has pesticides sprayed all over it. Not only is that bad for the cow as well as it's bad for us, but it's also really bad for the environment. Not all farmers are 'bad' though, there are a few different ways to raise animals:
Free range animals are animals who are provided with a shelter, unlimited access to food, water, and the outdoors. This may sound like the healthy way to raise animals, but that doesn't necessarily limit the use of pesticides and hormones on the grass.
Some things you may or may not know about food labeling:
Cage free animals are animals that are free to roam an enclosed area, but they have a limited access to food and water. Which means they only get fed at certain times of the day, but can walk freely.
Natural fed animal's food must be minimally processed and it can’t contain any artificial ingredients. There really is no standard definition for the word 'natural.' Minimally processed means the food is still being processed in some ways with chemicals and pesticides- whats natural about that?
*There are no standards or regulations for the labeling of natural foods if they don't contain meat or eggs.
Grass fed animals get most of their nutrients from grass but that doesn't limit the use of antibiotics, hormones or pesticides.
Organic animals may be fed grain or grass, with no added hormones or pesticides.
Pasture raised has no federal definition.
Humane has no federal definition.
(From USDA national organic program)
by Schuyler Lyons
In case you haven't heard of Monsanto corp. Here's a brief overview (If you already know all this feel free to skip down to the next paragraph) Monsanto was officially funded in 1901 but never got into the heavy agricultural business until around 1997. Right about the same time the "Flavr Savr" tomato came out. Since then Monsanto has skyrocketed to becoming a corporate giant, and just like most corporate giants, now all they could care about is how much money they're making (With an average profit of $680 million a year, and still growing,) Monsanto products have also been getting progressively more risky and dangerous to consume as the years have passed.
GMO crops (Genetically Modified Organisms) first came into the commercial market in 1994 with the Calgene "Flavr Savr" tomato. Which was specifically designed to take longer to ripen then other tomatoes. Since then the market has grown near exponentially, with more and more products made every year. The market is in fact so large that "real food" is becoming more and more scarce, and very few foods are created outside of a sterilized chem lab. Some may argue that GMO's are completely safe too, but if any research is done it's quite clear that the "food" we're eating is directly responsible for a plethora of health problems. A prime example of this is Bt Corn (Made by Monsanto.) This corn was engineered to kill the insects that would normally feast on the crops, and the corn does kill them. In fact it does such a good job that the EPA has it classified as it's own insecticide. What's even better is that any farm animals you feed with this corn will have the same chemicals in them, and when these animals are eaten, the chemicals will end up in whoever eats them. Now according to Monsanto, their products are safe for human consumption, but with a quick internet search thousands of studies will come up showing the dangers of genetically modified food. (Click here for more.)
Hence why the rampant use of the "Natural" label on foods, however even that isn't safe to eat. During April of 2012 Vermont attempted to pass a bill requiring that all foods created partially or completely with GMO's to be labelled on the packaging of said food, and it would prevent Monsanto from using words like "all natural" and "naturally grown" to describe their products. At that point Monsanto corp. threatened to sue the entire state if the bill was passed. Since when has a single company had the right to sue a state over the proper labeling of a product?! Which means that effectively Monsanto can bully pretty much anyone or anything they feel they need to, having filed almost a 150 claims against small time organic farmers since getting into the GMO business in 1997. Not only that but Monsanto has been steadily buying out organic farmers and seed distributors, currently they have a mass agricultural monopoly.
The more and more companies Monsanto buys into, the less and less healthy our food is becoming. As more of our food becomes genetically modified and unnatural. When will we, as a people, make the choice betwixt health or wealth...?
