Fri, 15 Aug 2003

The Organic Rant

We raise "organic" beef, lamb and chicken ... but I can't say that, because we are non-certified. We never will be certified. IMHO the whole "organic certification" process is a joke: the reason we cannot be certified organic is because we're next to corn fields whose owners use Roundup, fertilizers, perticides, etc. One good rain and we get some run off thru the drainage ditch along the road. Not enough to be measurable, and not into the pasture but "on our pasture frontage", and hence enough to keep us from getting "certified".

Larger producers get past this requirement by paying large sums to lawyers.

Also, we have used treated lumber for fence posts and barn/stall fixtures. That's a no-no, as the animals could "crib" (chew) the wood and get arsenic into their blood stream. Never mind the fact that the wood we use is NOT treated with arsenic or any heavy metal - that's what the USDA manual says "lumber treated in a fashion to prevent decay"...

Be aware that some of the beef on the market being sold as "organic, grass fed" beef is really just feedlot beef minus the corn. They just finish with massive amounts of alfalfa hay. Gotta get that "organic" label, you know, so we can sucker consumers with higher prices for basically the same shit they've been buying.

In fact, some "organic" beef on the market now is just straight up feed lot beef - finished with "organic" corn. Probably the same "organic" corn Taco Bell used a couple of years ago that was shown to have GM components.... but hey, it's "organic", says so right on the label!

Our chickens are free-range, grass fed and naturally raised. However, according to the USDA, they're not "organic". Tyson, OTOH, can claim organic status on some birds despite the fact that these poor critters are stuffed into a large barn, fed nothing but crushed corn and soybean meal. They're "free-range" chickens, according to the USDA, because Tyson installed a small door at one end of the barn "allowing" the chickens (all 25,000 of them) access to a 10 x 10 yard.

If I keep dealing with these bureaucratic bozos the only thing that I'll get certified as is "insane"....

Our chickens are processed by an Amish family in Connorsville, Indiana. You can't get much more "organic" than that, but again, they're not certified. Perdue is .... and I wouldn't put a piece of their chicken in my dogs mouth, much less mine!

Basically, being certified "organic" is a gimmick for the large corporations to be able to stick a "green" label on the same shit they've been pushing for years ... I'll grant you that some of the stuff is better, especially the lack of added BGH (hormones scare the shit outta me), but basically, it's same-o, same-o.

I could probably get organic certification for our veggies - much easier with a large garden plot than a 20 acre pasture, and a much more active community supporting organic veggies, esp. in CA. But even were I to pay the fees and jump the hoops, I'll bet the USDA would demand I keep my "contaminated" chickens out of my garden! Nuts!

Do I sound like I'm a bit put out by the USDA? Naw, I love hideous government bureaucracies that stifle small business and choke the life of the economy!

/Agriculture | 0 writebacks | permanent link

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