What's up with organic?

[pdpatch]

The word "organic" when it applies to food products, is a "marketing term" that is controlled by the goverment. There is a list of certain chemicals that cannot be used any where is the production of your final food item.

Those items that you do use must come from a certified producer.

The use of most chemicals to control insects or weeds is not allowed. Some medicines used for poutry are not allowed. Animal protein from un-certified animals is not allowed, which eliminates most commercial bagged feed.

For the land your animals graze on it usually requires about 5 years of records showing you were in complince with the organic regulations.

Since it's a goverment controlled marketing term. It requires your farm/commercial place be inspected so that it meets the requirements.

The term "Organic" as it pertains to food products became controlled because it was abused. Also the term does not means the same thing in all fields.

We have to remember this is a marketing term not a chemistry term.

Tom

 

[TimG]

I found this at the Organic Trade Association website:

The philosophy of organic production is to provide conditions that meet the health needs and natural behavior of the animal. Thus, organic livestock are given access to the outdoors, fresh air, water, sunshine, grass and pasture, and are fed 100 percent organic feed. Any shelter provided must be designed to allow the animal comfort and the opportunity to exercise. Organic practices prohibit feeding animal parts of any kind to ruminants that, by nature, eat a vegetarian diet. Thus, no animal byproducts of any sort are incorporated in organic feed at any time.

Which seems to suggest that the prohibition of animal parts is limited to ruminants. Another site says

No Animal Byproducts: USDA Organic regulations forbid animal byproducts of any form in livestock feed, a practice suspected to be linked to Mad Cow Disease in beef.

Which seems to mean that pigs and chickens cannot be fed animal byproducts in feed.

Organic regulations also require that chickens have access to outside space and I can't see how they can be prevented from eating bugs and worms once they are out of the coop. Maybe the prohibition is to "animal byproducts" rather than "animals" or "animal meat".​

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
access to outside space means a hole in the wall, you know any hybrid chicken breed that will willingly go outside with out encouragement

 

[kinnip]

The folks at our local farmer's market like to port signs that read "chemical free". I'm thinkin', "Wow, how'd you manage that?" Talk about your magic beans. Some people just have no respect for the scientific vocabulary.

 

[Bossroo]

Way out West where wild as they come beef cattle and sheep are on the millions of acres of open range and are almost always sold for slaughter having been fed on grass only with no grain or meds or herbicides ever used as it is simply too expensive to import and be used to do so. My daughter's former boyfirend's family runs such a beef operation with somewhere like 3,000 head of beef ( not sure of the exact number, just them juessing) on about 100,000 acres. Would they be considered "organic" even thaugh they don't have the expensive government inpections even if one was even able to get an inspector to come out ?

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
Nope, they don't have the paperwork, all the red tape, and they haven't paid off the right people

 

[Bossroo]

Who said that Government regulators had any brains. There are now the descentant wolves in Oregon that are migrating in from the original released wolves in Yellowstone National park to reestablish the wolf into it's former range it now seams. I was talking to my neighbor early this morning. He said that one of his friends, who lives in Oregon and also raises sheep,told him that a chicken coop was brocken into ( five miles away from his friend's place) by having it's door ripped off and all of the chickens were killed. The owners said that they heard wolves howling that evening and that they found the bloody mess in the morning. There were lots of paw prints as big as a man's hand. The local sheriff said that it must have been dogs. The next night this man said that he heard wolves howling in the evening . The next morning he found 28 dead lambs of which only 2 were eaten. He found many HUGE paw prints. He called Fish and Game who come out to inspect the dammage. The officer told him that he could get a government permit to shoot the wolves with a RUBBER bullet but only if caught in the act, as they were an endangered species. Yea, right on.

 

[louis]

Quote:
WOW. That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've read. It seems like I'm hearing about more and more ridiculousness these days. I was going to say good thing I don't live in Oregon but I'm sure something like this will come about for Texas soon enough. As for the whole organic thing...um yea, forget it. I figured it for a racket anyways. I'll stick with the terms like "farm fresh" and let anyone curious come see how they live and ask if they would prefer one from the store raised in a 1 sq ft. cage instead. On a sidenote though, I did see a chicken labelled "organic" in my local grocery store -$4.49/pound!

 

[Bossroo]

At $4.49 a pound and they poop gold nuggets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Errr, lay golden eggs.

 

[DiVon80]

Quote:
Thats it! I agree! Less govt. the better. Feed them the best: Just remember what you put in the chickie comes out in the egg.