Food Labels Series Recap

I have learned a LOT about food during my research on food labeling, which could probably go on forever! It really reemphasized what I already knew, see Food Inc., and reminded me that although I take care of my body physically, what I put in my body is just as important. You may say, Yes, but where do you get all of this pastured, grass-fed, organic, good for you food?? It may be easier than you think!

This is our buddy Lance from the Triangle Farmers Market. His family owns Richardson Farms and they sell grass-fed beef, pastured chickens and eggs and all kinds of pastured pork products. You can buy one thing at a time or buy in bulk. You can even fill out an order form and he will have it ready for you at one of the Farmer's markets they go to!

Family fun at the Triangle!

Even if you can't make it to one of the farmer's markets, there are lots of places around town that you can get this kind of stuff like Natural Grocer on Guadalupe or order online and have it shipped strait to your home.

Food Labels Series

Part 3: Poultry and Egg Labeling

• "Pastured" =
  

1. I think that pastured is a new term used to try to get away from the other labels of "free-range" and "cage free" because these terms are used so loosely in large scale companies.

2. Out in the pasture/field to scratch the ground and eat the grass and bugs.

3. Laying hens are put in mobile egg laying coops that are rotated to different areas to get fresh grass.

4. Eggs have more Vitamin A, E, Beta Carotene, Omega 3's and less cholesterol and saturated fat.
   

"Egg Mobile" from Richardson Farms near Austin

You may come to Richardson Farms to visit and select your meat or see us at the various Farmers Markets we attend weekly!

We currently attend the following Farmers Markets:

Wednesdays: Austin Farmer's Market - Triangle (4 - 8pm)

Saturdays: SFC's Farmers Market at Sunset Valley (9 - 1pm), and the Barton Creek Farmer's Market (9-1pm).

• "Organic" =

1. The hens or their feed cannot be treated with antibiotics, hormones, pesticides or herbicides.
2. Cage free in a barn or a warehouse.
3. Have to have access to the outdoors, but the USDA does not specify the quality or size of the outside range or the duration of time the are allowed to be outside.

*Hormones are not allowed in raising poultry or hogs, therefore when "hormone free" is put on the package it is just a way to make you think it is somehow a healthier choice.

• "Free-Range" =

1. Have to have access to the outdoors, but the USDA does not specify the quality or size of the outside range or the duration of time the are allowed to be outside.
2. No regulations on environmental quality, the number of birds or how much space per bird.
3. From what I have read most of these chickens are raised conventionally: cramped living spaces, fed industrial feed without live protein or grass and bred to grow bigger and faster which discourages them from moving around too much anyway.

• "Cage-Free"=

1. Conventionally raised except they are not put into cages, which is much better than a caged bird, but they still don't have access to the outdoors and are very crowded in most cases.

Cage Free Chickens

• Conventional Chickens =
  

1. Some of the most intensely confined animals in Ag.
2. No access to the outdoors.
3. Fed industrial feed.
4. Bred to get bigger faster.
   

The next few paragraphs come from an article that I found. Sadly, I believe that most of what it claims is true. To read the rest of the article click here.

More than 90% of chickens and eggs are produced on factory farms in the USA. Chickens are either penned up in tiny cages, unable to move (this is common for egg-laying hens) or are placed in huge pens with thousands of other chickens. Regardless of their cage, factory-farmed chickens have little to no room to move, and dead and dying birds can be found throughout the pens or cages. The chickens also have to face intense heat.

Chickens are fed an unnatural diet that contains poultry and other animal products. Their feed contains bones, feathers, blood, offal, manure, grease, fishmeal, and diseased animal parts. Chicken feed contains things that have been banned for cows and humans, and include diseased rendered animals, roadkill and waste. Most producers of poultry feed, such as Perdue, refuse to reveal the composition of the feed.

Broiler chickens (common meat chickens) grow very quickly, thanks to advances in breeding. These chickens are no longer the natural birds we once chased after on family farms: they are hybrids made from various types of chickens genetically bread for fatter breasts and resistance to disease. While it used to take 90 days for a chicken to make its weight for slaughter, chickens of today are ready in a mere 35 days. Not only is the time to grow a chicken reduced by more than half, but the amount of food they require has also been lessened, thanks to genetic engineering. In the 1950Õs chickens were fed three pounds of grain, but now they need only 1.7 pounds of feed for every pound of meat! These changes produce overgrown, unhealthy chickens, as they are forced to put on too much body weight in too short of an amount of time for their skeleton to support the weight. Because the skeletal system grows at its natural pace, it becomes soft and malleable under the enormous pressure put on it by the chickens size.

Food Labels Series

Part 2: Beef Labeling

• "Grass-Fed Beef" =
  

1. Animals live their whole lives in the pasture grazing usually on a rotating schedule.
   
2. Although the USDA does have "grass fed marketing claims standards" it does not state if the beef are or aren't allowed to be given growth hormones or antibiotics. I think that this is probably because that would be pretty much an oxymoron when it comes to how these cattle are raised. Also, because they are fed what they are supposed to eat they do not need antibiotics to keep them well.
3. From US Wellness Meats, "Our meat is a rich source of this healthy fat because our animals spend their lives eating the green forage plants that are naturally rich in omega-3s themselves. Just by eating their natural diet, our cattle absorb these valuable fats and then pass the nutrition on to you. The result is beef that has nearly 60% more omega-3s than beef from cows that have been raised on a low-omega-3 grain diet."
4. Rich in Vitamins A, E and conjugated linoleic acid or CLA.

• "Organic Beef" =

1. Access to pasture, clean living standards and generally good living conditions.
2. No use of hormones, antibiotics or parasiticides.
3. Organic beef are fed, "agricultural products, including pasture and forage, that are organically produced and, if applicable, organically handled", which can include grains such as corn, milo, wheat and soybean meal.
4. High omega 6 to 3 ratio 20:1, not good!
   

• "Natural Beef" =
  

1. Products that contain no artificial ingredients, added color and are minimally processed after slaughter.
   
2. The product can contain no preservatives.
3. Fed a diet of grains = High omega 6 to 3 ratio 20:1, not good!
4. The USDA has NO specific restriction on management practices during the life of the animal.Therefore, they may or may not use hormones or antibiotics, and live in high density feed lots. I would be willing to bet that most do employ these tactics because of their cost efficiency.
   

• "Never-Ever Beef" =

1. No Antibiotics allowed.
   
2. No Hormones allowed.
   
3. No Animal By-products allowed.
   
4. Treated cattle must be uniquely identified.
5. Grain fed = High omega 6 to 3 ratio 20:1, not good!
6. Mostly finished on grain in high density feed lots.

• "Beef" =

1. Live in high density feed lots.
2. Grain fed.
   
3. Fed a steady drip of antibiotics to fight of disease because of their living conditions and their unnatural diet.
4. Given growth hormones to speed the time to slaughter.
5. Use of additives and preservatives while processing.
   
6. 20:1 omega 6 to 3!
   

From PubMed.gov: Excessive amounts of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and a very high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as is found in today's Western diets, promote the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 PUFA (a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio) exert suppressive effects.