What is an "organic" chicken?

[speckledhen]

Hate to burst anyone's bubble, but there are a certain number of INorganic compounds that can be in products labeled "organic" and they can still be labeled that way. The USDA is quite the liar and re-definer of words. Take a look at www.nonais.org to see all the shenanigans the USDA is up to. It'll make you not so confident in your "organic" products.
Here is one such article from the aforementioned site:

USDA Stealing the Term ‘Grass Fed’
Action Item, News, Commentary — walterj 4:36 am
AMS NEWS RELEASE

AMS No. 178-07
Billy Cox (202) 720-8998
[email protected]
Jimmie Turner (202) 720-8998
[email protected]

USDA ESTABLISHES GRASS (FORAGE) FED MARKETING CLAIM STANDARD

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2007 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued a voluntary standard for grass (forage) fed marketing claims. The standard will be published as a Notice in the Federal Register and is titled the U.S. Standard for Livestock and Meat Marketing Claim, Grass (Forage) Fed Claim for Ruminant Livestock and the Meat Products Derived from Such Livestock. …
-USDA Press Release

Wonderful. Once again the USDA is out to subvert the meaning of our language and hand over the food market to big corporate interests. They are going to take over the term grass fed just like they took over the term organic so that big business can benefit and those of use who have been doing it for years will be shoved out the back door.

On the face of it it looks like they’re going to be helpful and define grass fed so that the term isn’t abused by corps that aren’t actually doing grass feeding to their livestock. The reality is that once they have control they’ll change, dilute and pollute the term by letting animals kept in confinement operations but fed a partial grass diet be defined as grass fed so as to further confuse consumers and steal away the remaining minimal portion of the market that small farmers have.

Voluntary will become mandatory. Soon you will not be able to use the term grass fed unless you signup with the USDA and pay them their bribe price. The fees will be set high enough to exclude the vast majority of small farmers who are already practicing pastured grass fed raising of livestock.

It started this way with organic standards. Then they locked out those of us who really do organic. Then they allowed non-organic practices to be used by Big Ag but still be labeled certified ‘USDA Certified Organic’.
This is about big monied lobbyists manipulating regulations, laws and definitions to benefit their corporate masters so they can corner the market and force out the competition from small farmers.

One more way our government ‘helps’ us. Anything to do with the government is not voluntary for long. Eventually the busy bodies mandate it because they ‘know what is best for you’. The last thing we need is more government regulation. I strongly suggest everyone check out a truly voluntary, farmer based, program for Certified Naturally Grown at http://NaturallyGrown.org

The solution is for consumers to buy locally from farmers they know and trust. But there’s no money in that for the high paid lobbyists and big corporations. Note that the USDA spends billions of dollars subsidizing Big Ag but only a few million dollars promoting local small farm to consumer programs like “Community Food Projects” which has been cut from the recent farm bill. Given that the “Community Food Projects” is a $5 million item and the federal budget is $2,387 billion this is like the a miser worrying over the loss of 0.0002 cents. That’s 1.6 cents for every man, woman and child. Yet at the same time they’re worrying about a dropping a penny to the poor they’re giving away nearly $13 billion of subsidies to Big Ag.

It’s time to end farm subsidies and stop having Nanny state government micro-manage our lives.

… The standard will be published in the Oct. 16, 2007, Federal Register. Copies of the proposal and more information are available by accessing the Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/stand/claim.htm; from Martin E. O’Connor, AMS Livestock and Seed Programs, Room 2607–S, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-0254; or by calling (202) 720-4486.

Also, check out this article from 1998 about the meaninglessness of the term "organic" under new USDA rules: http://www.afn.org/~iguana/archives/1998_04/19980410.html​

 

[digitS']

Cynthia, the link for afn.org is fairly old and didn't work for me so I wasn't able to read what was said in 1998 about the designation "organic."

The 1st link (nonais.org) is concerned with the livestock identification issue and not organic standards.

The argument walterj is making in your quote is somewhat similar to the "freedom to farm" arguments that we've heard - regulation should be voluntary or nonexistence. And yet, I can't help but think that walterj would see "freedom to farm" as another give-away to corporate agriculture.

I was involved in agriculture prior to national organic standards and very concerned about the legislation when it came along. I'm also concerned about corporate take-over of our food production. However, leaving the word "organic" to simply mean whatever anyone wants to claim it means didn't make a whole lot of sense to me either.

As producers and consumers, we have an interest in honest representation of food products. Certainly as citizens, we have responsibility for the actions our government takes as well.

Steve

 

[hcammack]

I think the USDA lets factory "organic farms" get away with allot of stuff and it has made it nearly impossible for smaller farmers who treat their animals better to become certified organic.

Henry

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Just my 2 cents -- grass fed is an inferior designation to free range. Isn't hay grass? Dried grass that is? So you could be feeding hay to a caged animal and call it grass fed and by anyone's interpretation that would be fair, yes? But free range means it is moving around and foraging on fresh grass (weeds, etc.).

Back to the original topic though -- I agree that unless you are purchasing certified organic feed, you shouldn't call your chickens organic.

That said, I've read that organic free-range animals are sometimes exposed to higher chemical burdens, often because the pastures have been polluted with dioxins and PCBs. We really can't escape the pollution anymore. It's everywhere.

 

[seedcorn]

Take Jim's advice. Tell your own story of how you are running your operation, let the buyer make up their mind if they want to do business with you.

labels are for economists/businesses. Tell the truth, let quality speak.....

 

[digitS']

Quote:
I think you are exactly right, Henry.

We can't always talk to our food producers. When was the last time you found a farmer behind the checkout stand in a supermarket?

We need to keep the pressure on the USDA to make sure the small farmer is part of the equation. And, we need to buy local as best we can so as to have as great an effect as possible with our consumer dollars. (my 2 cents

Steve

 

[greyfields]

Everyone here can become certified organic. In my State, the fees for inspection are income based, so it doesn't hurt small farmers. Even if you are not certified, if you find yourself following organic practices you are going to see HIGHER PROFIT MARGINS because your input costs go way down. You also will learn to better manage your entire farm system to minimze costs.

The first step is to get your pastures certified. This means in the past 3 years, you have not applied any substances which are not on the approved list. Also, all seeds for cover crops, grass or forage must be organic.

Once you get your pastures certified, you can then move into organic chicken production. From the 1st day of life, they must get certified organic feeds. There are also husbandry standards, such as no beak trimming and they must have access to the ground (there are a few more, can't think of them). Also, they cannot come into contact with any prohibited materials. So if you have pressure treated timbers on your chicken tractors, replace them with recycled plastic. It will last longer and slides better on the field anyhow.

As far as health, no medicated feeds obviously. No dewormers. No coccidiostats. And do as I do. Throw as much of your garden scraps in with the chickens and watch them be healthy with minimal inputs. The downside of organic is the feed is up to 200% the cost of normal food. But, being certified organic is a powerful tool and you can charge more to offset the cost.

As a safe hedge, I would recommend everyone donwload the approved material list and use only products on the list. It's cheap insurance that could save you 3 years of your life down the road. I'm in the position where the owners before me did use substances. So, I have another 18 months to wait. Or I could lie. But, that's not what being organic is about to me. I do have some pasture area I can get certified, which I am working on. One thing I have to figure out is if I need to pull out all the pressure treated/wood treated posts and replace with something inert.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Hey greyfields -- great information!

While I don't know for sure, I would imagine it would be best to pull the pressure treated posts. I would imagine the soil around them would be somewhat contaminated but there isn't much you can do at this point. Removing them may spare further contamination. I know that around our place we have a cat that likes to try to scratch on such posts.

 

[speckledhen]

Dont know why the link wouldn't work for you. Nonais is concerned with many food issues, not just livestock, so there are many articles and pages that touch on the term "organic". Here is the article:

USDA moves to make organic food labels meaningless
Steve Schell
April 1998

At one point considered just a fad among home gardeners and earth-friendly progressives, organic farming has turned into big business. As more and more people have begun to realize that small, family-owned farms were giving way to huge corporate farms using all manner of pesticides and chemicals in the growing and processing stages, they have begun to search for healthy alternatives. Sales of organic foods have been growing at a rate of about 20 percent each year, according to the Organic Farmers Marketing Association. Those of us who buy organic foods have taken "organic" to mean grown free of pesticides, chemicals, bioengineering methods, or irradiation, and in the case of meat, raised without the use of drugs, fed organic feed, and treated in a humane fashion. All that could change under new rules proposed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

If the USDA has its way, it will be nearly impossible to tell what foods are truly organic. In a move many see as "selling out" to conventional big-business corporate farms, the USDA's new rules for certifying organic foods spell out what methods are acceptable, what substances are allowed, and what labeling is allowed and prohibited (Recall the uproar over Bovine Growth Hormone, the substance injected into cows to increase milk production. Federal rules were issued that prohibited dairies from labeling milk as "BGH-free").

The USDA has an advisory panel called the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The NOSB recommended against most of these proposed changes but the USDA went ahead with publishing the proposal anyway. As always with rule proposals or changes, the USDA solicited public comment regarding the changes, and, for the first time, allowed comments through its website (www.ams.usda.gov/nop). The response so far has been overwhelming.

Overwhelming in volume as well as content. The responses, totaling over 18,000 on the web so far, have been in opposition to the new rules. Robert Anderson, chair of the NOSB, said, "we were told this morning the response is unanimously opposed to the rules--these rules need to be rewritten." Anderson made his comments during a break at a public hearing at Rutgers University on Tuesday, April 7. Hundreds of consumer and farmer protesters showed up at that hearing to loudly voice their displeasure with the USDA's actions. Among the proposals set forth by the agribusiness-friendly USDA are:

1. A redefinition of "organic" to include the use of sludge, bioengineered organisms, and irradiation.
2. A change in the qualifying requirements and increase in the cost of registering as an organic farmer.
3. A change in the allowable composition of livestock feed from 100% organic ingredients to allow 20% non-organic substances. Additionally, confinement and drug use would be allowed in the raising of farm animals. 4. A prohibition on alternative labeling, such as "produced without synthetic pesticides or chemicals" So if you choose to produce your products under stricter conditions than the USDA proposes, you will not be able to label it as such.

A close look at the proposed rule reveals many vague directives, such as the following, found under section 205.15: "The following living conditions shall be adequately provided, as appropriate to the species, to promote livestock health: (1) Protection from the elements; (2) Space for movement(5) Access to food and clean water" Adequate? We already know what the big corporate farms consider as adequate in terms of living space. Space for movement? How much? For how long? Read a bit further and you come to this gem: "If necessary, livestock may be maintained under conditions that restrict the available space for movement or their access to the outside." Who determines if it is necessary? Big business who wants to house as many animals as possible in as little space as possible in order to maximize profit. It almost appears as though the big chicken factories with 5 chickens in one cage, with their beaks cut off to keep them from pecking one another will qualify as an organic operation, at least as far as this portion of the rules is concerned.

The organic market is not small potatoes anymore. This is why big business wants in. If organic sales are climbing, this spells potential trouble for products produced by conventional means. And, following standard practice in Washington, big business is courting the agency who can help them the most, the USDA. The USDA rolled over, and came up with (or allowed chemical companies to write) a set of rules that are vague, overly permissive, and fundamentally flawed. This is the government playing with food safety, and ultimately, your health.

It appears as though there is a groundswell of opposition to these ridiculous rules. You can help keep the momentum going in favor of the consumer by letting the USDA know how you feel about it. Comments are being accepted until April 30 on this issue so there's a little time for you to research it if you want. The entire proposal is on the web at the above-mentioned site and there are a host of related sites that you can find on a good search engine. To contact the USDA: write Eileen Stommes, Deputy Administrator, USDA-AMS-TM-NOP, Room 4007-So., Ag Stop 0275, PO Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090. Fax your concerns to 202-690-4632. Visit www.iquest.net/ofma. Organic Farmers Marketing Association, or http://www.saveorganic.org/home.shtml, the Campaign to Keep "Organic" Organic for more information. The second site has a form you can fill out to add your name to the huge list of consumers who disagree with this attempt by the government to water down the standards for organic food production​

 

[greyfields]

There is nothing meaningless to organic certification under current law. Trust me. It's regulated and they mean business. If you get caught flaunting the rules, you get the death sentence. It's no small thing.

RE: Grass Fed

I'm grass based on lamb and beef. I cut my own hay. As current rules stand, 90% of a cows feed must be grass, grass hay, milk and forage. I supplement with alfalfa hay in the winter, careful not to exceed 10% of their diet. I'm not sure if Alfalfa qualifies as forage grass or not. But, since the lambs are born in spring and slaughtered in Fall, it doesn't really apply to them.... only to the beef cattle which are killed at the end of their second summer.

And clarifying one thing about dairies and organic milk. The cows must be on grass I believe 28 / 30 days per month. Not have access to grass, but be on it. A very large dairy in Colorado got the death sentence because they were esentially running a feedlot using hay.

While I agree with everyone there is some (I think too much) wiggle room in labeling requirements for "free range", "natural", and "grass fed" there is absolutely NO abiguity in the USDA Organic label. The best thing for any of us to do is know our customers by first name and explain our growing practices to them. I find to most my customers we exceed their expectations, even though we only make a label claim of "natural" for our beef, lamb and pork. The big issue in my climate is I really must deworn, which isn't allowed under organic but is under "natural". It doesn't cost me money really, since I'm selling directly retail to my customers.