This is appalling...

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I always buy organic milk, eggs and meat. To me it is worth it, and they just taste better!

    No, no , no!!! A hen who has laid an organic egg hasn't necessarily lived a good or healthy life, she's just been fed "organic" feed. The eggs need to be organic AND free range.

    In the US, organic chicken is free range. Certified organic means animals are fed organic feed, allowed access to the outdoors and not given antibiotics or growth hormones. The 'free range' label only means that birds have access to the outdoors, but regulations do not say how often and for how long.
    I'm confused, where in the legislation is this? I did a quick search, but didn't find it. I thought organic only meant pesticide and hormone free.

    http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Meat_&_Poultry_Labeling_Terms/index.asp#4

    FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:
    Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

    This is all that's required for poultry to be labeled "Free Range" in the US.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I always buy organic milk, eggs and meat. To me it is worth it, and they just taste better!

    No, no , no!!! A hen who has laid an organic egg hasn't necessarily lived a good or healthy life, she's just been fed "organic" feed. The eggs need to be organic AND free range.

    In the US, organic chicken is free range. Certified organic means animals are fed organic feed, allowed access to the outdoors and not given antibiotics or growth hormones. The 'free range' label only means that birds have access to the outdoors, but regulations do not say how often and for how long.

    Organic is not free range. Animals that are raised "organic" can be given certain antibiotics for therapeutic reasons. Animals must be provided some access to the outdoors, but this can be incredibly limited access and still qualify as "organic." It's more about the feed, growth hormones, and limiting antibiotics than about access to the outdoors. There are no US regulations for "free range."

    Um, yeah, that's what I said. Organic is free range, because they must have access to the outside, which is the only US regulation for free range. But there is no regulation on how long for either. If you care about the animals you really want to find "Animal Welfare Approved" meats, which specifies:
    -- Animals have access to the outdoors.
    -- No cages or crates are used.
    -- Growth hormones and sub-therapeutic antibiotics (antibiotics used to prevent disease rather than cure disease) are not allowed.
    -- Some surgical mutilations are prohibited, such as beak trimming and wing clipping. Others, such as castration, are allowed.

    But good luck finding it.

    Organic does not equal free range. Free range is an unregulated term in the US, with the exception of USDA description of free-range for broiler hens, which does include access to outdoors, though there is no specified standard for what that even means. So, organic eggs, organic beef, organic milk, organic pork, organic buffalo, etc, does not equal free range (even though they are supposed to have some sort of temporally and physically limited access to the outdoors), and even if it did that is an unregulated term anyway so can mean a wide variety of things. It's misleading to say that organic equals free range when "free range" does not have a nationally accepted definition and is not regulated.

    With regards to US labeling and access to outside, orgainic and free range labels mean exactly the same thing. Organic has other regulations that have nothing to do with outside access.
  • andreacord
    andreacord Posts: 928
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    I'm a college student so I can't really afford Organic products, at least not all of them. In the proper season though I do shop for veggies locally at a farmer's market. Once I can afford it I'll probably at least buy free range products, and I drink almond milk too. Sorry if this offends, but I eat healthy as a college student, so to me food is food. It's better than ramen noodles and KD like some other students.
  • DoingItNow2012
    DoingItNow2012 Posts: 424 Member
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  • luvwindycity
    luvwindycity Posts: 15 Member
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    There is a very interesting website called Millions Against Monsanto (also a Facebook page). Most countries refuse to use their seeds and products but used here in the US. All the hormones in our foods is one of the main reasons little girls are getting breasts and their periods at the age of 10.
    IF I can get it and IF I can afford it I try to use organic as much as possible.
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 Member
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    There's a lot more reasons why Monsanto is evil, beyond genetically modified seeds and hormones.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    There's a lot more reasons why Monsanto is evil, beyond genetically modified seeds and hormones.

    Yes there are. I won't get into it on this site any longer. Too many people begin to think you are a conspiracy theorist and I am not going down that road again.

    This is my second account after I had to delete my former account............
  • bprague
    bprague Posts: 564 Member
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    I always buy organic milk, eggs and meat. To me it is worth it, and they just taste better!

    No, no , no!!! A hen who has laid an organic egg hasn't necessarily lived a good or healthy life, she's just been fed "organic" feed. The eggs need to be organic AND free range.

    In the US, organic chicken is free range. Certified organic means animals are fed organic feed, allowed access to the outdoors and not given antibiotics or growth hormones. The 'free range' label only means that birds have access to the outdoors, but regulations do not say how often and for how long.
    I'm confused, where in the legislation is this? I did a quick search, but didn't find it. I thought organic only meant pesticide and hormone free.

    http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Meat_&_Poultry_Labeling_Terms/index.asp#4

    FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:
    Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

    This is all that's required for poultry to be labeled "Free Range" in the US.

    I wasn't asking about free range. I was asking about the stipulations for organic: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004446&acct=nopgeninfo

    And no where does it state that US chickens that are labeled as organic are also free range unless otherwise noted. That's my point.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I wasn't asking about free range. I was asking about the stipulations for organic: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004446&acct=nopgeninfo

    And no where does it state that US chickens that are labeled as organic are also free range unless otherwise noted. That's my point.

    Sorry, you have to follow a couple of links to get here:
    http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=OrganicStandardsLinkNOPNationalList&rightNav1=OrganicStandardsLinkNOPNationalList&topNav=&leftNav=&page=NOPOrganicStandards&resultType=&acct=nopgeninfo

    Organic livestock. The USDA organic seal verifies that producers met animal health and welfare standards, did not use antibiotics or growth hormones, used 100% organic feed, and provided animals with access to the outdoors.
  • CNG223
    CNG223 Posts: 127 Member
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  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    I wasn't asking about free range. I was asking about the stipulations for organic: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004446&acct=nopgeninfo

    And no where does it state that US chickens that are labeled as organic are also free range unless otherwise noted. That's my point.

    Sorry, you have to follow a couple of links to get here:
    http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=OrganicStandardsLinkNOPNationalList&rightNav1=OrganicStandardsLinkNOPNationalList&topNav=&leftNav=&page=NOPOrganicStandards&resultType=&acct=nopgeninfo

    Organic livestock. The USDA organic seal verifies that producers met animal health and welfare standards, did not use antibiotics or growth hormones, used 100% organic feed, and provided animals with access to the outdoors.

    To the OP in this quote, I agree - the labeling of broiler hens as "organic" does not equal "free range," that would be an additional label (and the only farmed animal that the USDA will approve that label for). Producers have to apply for the separate "free range" label alongside the organic label, according to the USDA:

    FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:
    Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

    And to clarify on the USDA's description of organic as well - it says "The USDA organic seal verifies that producers met animal health and welfare standards," but there are actually no animal welfare standards for farmed animals at the federal level other than the Humane Slaughter Act. The USDA's statement is very misleading in its wording and could lead consumers to believe that when the USDA has approved the "organic" label that the animals have also been raised according to certain welfare standards, but there are none.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    Fair and Balanced... Faux News!

    Monsanto is evil. Everyone knows it or should know it. They are ruining our environment and our food supply, plus they are too involved in the government.
    This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:noway: :grumble: :explode: :angry: :mad: :sad:
  • rugbyphreak
    rugbyphreak Posts: 509 Member
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    i grew up on a dairy farm and trust me, their was nothing wrong with the way we treated our cows. they were spoiled rotten. until i was 14, i never even knew people pasteurized milk and i'm still alive, so that just goes to show that our government is adding steps in the natural process to drive up the price.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,365 Member
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    I think everyone has a right to know what they are consuming. This is about Fox News covering up a story that effects us all. I am appalled for many reasons and shocked that this video has existed since June of 2011 and this is the first time I am seeing it. If you think this kind of cover up is the exception, think again.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6oq7X5G2f0

    We are the consumers, therefore, we are the ones with the power. If you can't afford to go completely organic try just making one grocery trip a month organic or half a grocery trip. You can also cut back on dairy or eliminate it. Trying almond, coconut, soy or rice milk is just one way. I know I am willing to sacrifice the amount of new clothing, shoes, trips to the salon, etc. so that I can afford more organic food. This may seem hopeless but we've got to at least try people!!!

    What do you all think? How many of you buy organic or local organic at that? How many of you at least buy organic milk?

    Much of what I buy is organic.

    I also avoid SOY like the plague, because it's toxic. Fermented soy (Soy sauce, Miso, and tempeh, etc.) is fine, but most of the soy in this country is not fermented. I do everything i can to keep it out of my body.
  • Fitwam
    Fitwam Posts: 275 Member
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