Organic feed for Broilers

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Taken out of the context of the NOP regulations that's a bit misleading. 100% Organic foods are usually labeled as such while those that fall under the 95% rule can only be labeled "Organic", while both can use the same USDA certified seal.

The 5% allowed non-organic ingredients are heavily restricted. There is a list of non-organic ingredients that are allowed because they are indispensable to certain food preparation processes and there are no organic alternatives; such as sulfur dioxide to wine, emulsifiers such as lecithin, gums that can only be extracted by non-organic processes, etc. It is not an arbitrary 5% of this or that. A non-organic ingredient cannot be used if there is an organic alternative.

 

[seramas]

Peruvian,

I’m very aware of the categories of organic foods. If you can find the standards for organic foods from 50 years ago you'll be amazed how they keep lowering standards, increasing levels of tolerance of non-organic chemicals and creating new categories to accommodate these changes. They keep adding chemicals to the list you can use while growing your organic products.

I'm not against organic; I'm against slowly removing standards for organic. Soon there will be very little difference between organic and non-organic.

This is the same government that aired on TV that DDT was very safe and showed a commercial of people setting in beach chairs and laying on blankets on Miami Beach, Florida being fogged with it.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
There were no set standards 50 years ago, "organic" was whatever you or some arbitrary group wanted it to be.

It goes both ways, certain practices of yesteryear that were considered organic are now banned in organic production; the use of tobacco dust as an insecticide, the use of arsenic and strychnine for pest control. While these are natural substances you really don't want them in contact with your organic produce.

The so-called "natural" practices of yesteryear aren't that holy. While my great-grandfather may not have used synthetic fertilizers or pesticides on his crops a lot of the farm practices of the past left a lot to be desired; using kerosene or used motor oil to paint roosts, dousing animal pens in petrol products to kill roundworm, or dumping used oil and coolant into the ground. Even before the mass use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides there were chemicals of some form or another that have been used around the farm since the industrial revolution. I have to believe that the modern organic farmer does it much better than those spoken of in the past.

There are actually few non-organic substances that are permitted in growing organic products. Many of them are sanitizing chemicals, or are necessary for rodent control, or to prevent unchecked spread of crop diseases, once again only as necessary and only if there are no organic alternatives. Even then the use of these non-organic substances is limited to certain practices.

 

[pbuckler]

Regardless of what anyone says, the organic movement is upon us. For those of us that have taken the time to understand how important our food is I congratulate you. It is just a matter of time before "organic" is the standard. I encourage everyone to watch any of the food documentaries that show us where our food comes from. I know it is a cliche but we really are what we eat.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
There were no set standards 50 years ago, "organic" was whatever you or some arbitrary group wanted it to be.

It goes both ways, certain practices of yesteryear that were considered organic are now banned in organic production; the use of tobacco dust as an insecticide, the use of arsenic and strychnine for pest control. While these are natural substances you really don't want them in contact with your organic produce.

The so-called "natural" practices of yesteryear aren't that holy. While my great-grandfather may not have used synthetic fertilizers or pesticides on his crops a lot of the farm practices of the past left a lot to be desired; using kerosene or used motor oil to paint roosts, dousing animal pens in petrol products to kill roundworm, or dumping used oil and coolant into the ground. Even before the mass use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides there were chemicals of some form or another that have been used around the farm since the industrial revolution. I have to believe that the modern organic farmer does it much better than those spoken of in the past.

There are actually few non-organic substances that are permitted in growing organic products. Many of them are sanitizing chemicals, or are necessary for rodent control, or to prevent unchecked spread of crop diseases, once again only as necessary and only if there are no organic alternatives. Even then the use of these non-organic substances is limited to certain practices.

Well said...

I doubt organics will ever become a standard...

 

[Puck-Puck]

Jaku, I'm responding to post #40 in this thread, which is yours. I generally agree with what you're saying, including the idea that organically grown food is still susceptible to lingering DDT from 30 years ago, and that we're going to die of something some day anyhow, no matter how pure an organic bubble we may try to put ourselves in. Nonetheless, these are the points I wish to address, from a different angle.

For many of us, the point of growing things organically is not strictly for our own health, but to stop putting potentially harmful chemicals in the ground in the first place, so subsequent generations of humans and animals won't have to deal with them. It's about making the change now to benefit the future.

For sure, no matter what our species, we're all going to die of something, some day. It's natural law. I'm not personally worried about getting sick from lingering chemicals, per se, but I am concerned about other species taking a hit from such causes that nature never designed.

I appreciate your good points, but think we need to look at them with a view beyond the personal and the present, to get the most out of them.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
thank you. i thought i was being this clear, but apparently i wasn't.

edited because jaku figured out his oops...

 

[laurenandtoby]

Sorry for the long-winded soap box moment, but it's something that is very important to me. The more people willing to pay the little extra up front will mean that more of us can keep doing what we do, which means the prices will come down and actually give us a chance to compete with BIG AGRIBUSINESS. I won't think badly of you if you don't agree with me, I just hope you see the value in what I've said.

I just want to say THANK YOU to atlargeintheworld for what you have done with your own farm. We are horse people mostly, with some chickens and also some beef cattle. We don't feed organic feed or hay to our horses, mainly because we can't get it. But we do feed local hay and raw oats, and try to keep their diet as simple as possible.

Our cows are on pasture that could be certified organic because we have never put any chemical fertilizers or pesticides on it. But we do feed them hay in the winter months (in North Florida, the winter is short, but feeding is necessary) so our cows would not be "certified" as organic. They could be called pasture-fed or all-natural, which is what a lot of cattle farmers are doing these days.

Our chickens, which we have kept for years for eggs only, mostly for our family and to give away to friends, also are not strictly organic, but we only feed them less than a coffee can of scratch grain a day and then they free-range for the majority of what they eat. So even though they aren't organic, the hens have a mostly very natural diet and we can DEFINITELY taste the difference in their eggs vs. store-bought.

We buy almost nothing but organic produce at the food market. Having planted small organic farms in the past, we totally appreciate and value the incredible challenge of sticking with strictly organic practices. It is very hard, very time consuming and very costly. We are MORE THAN HAPPY TO PAY DOUBLE FOR ORGANIC PRODUCE and meat products because we believe in supporting the organic farmers and we believe that ultimately there will be a payoff with our own health.

On the small grower level, I think that if we were to demand more organic feed for our chickens, the producers would have to come up with more choice.

As atlargeintheworld noted, it is not just about taste, or cost, or ultimately even our own health, it's really about keeping agriculture sustainable in an increasingly imperiled world.

Just our 2 cents worth.

L & T
PS Have you all seen the movie "Food, Inc."?? It is absolutely required viewing and the organic farmers in the movie are true heroes.​

 

[bibliophile birds]

well thanks laurenandtoby! it's always nice to feel like your efforts are appreciated.

but mostly

! it's not always this heated around here, i promise!

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I have seen the movie Food INC.... great movie.

Inspiring to say the least.


It shines a light on a lot of things but I wish they would have went more in detail on what to do about changing, along with going more in depth about the farms that support sustainable agriculture.