I've written before about milk -- about the risks of bovine hormones that boost production and the absurdity of our laws that require milk to be pasteurized (and the common misconception that "raw" milk is unsafe). You can usually find milk that is "homone free" or "rBGH" free and that's a good start. Additionally, organic milk has become widely available and will continue to be more available and more affordable (for better or worse is a whole other topic). Organic milk must come from "organic cows" just as with organic beef. This requires certification and compliance with USDA rules. Organic cows cannot be injected with hormones, and cannot be given antibiotics except sometimes in limited situations where the health of the animal is truly at issue (this is a point that has developed some controversy as without some flexibility a cow would either have to be left to suffer and die as an "organic cow" or given the necessary drugs and then perhaps sold to a factor farm now that it lost its organic status or separated from the organic herd for at least a year).
Additionally, organic cows must have access to pasture. They truly need to be able to walk around and eat grass when possible. This can be difficult depending on the season and geography, and certainly favors smaller farms as requirements of rotational grazing, herding, etc. clearly become more problematic when you go from 300 cows to 1,000 to 5,000. The good news is cows like to graze. It's in their nature. Farmers report that cows run to the pasture enthusiasm (for a cow) -- not unlike a dog that gets excited to go outside. And as I've discussed so many times, grass is what a cow is meant to eat. When you feed an animal its natural diet it will be healthier (thus the significantly reduced need for banned antibiotics, etc.) and it will produce healthier food for humans. Organic milk has been found to produce as much as 500x more beneficial fatty acids (particularly conjugated linoleic acid or CLA), anticarcinogens and vitamin E as conventional milk where cows are fed a "grain diet" (corn). Other benefits include 75% more vitamin A and 2-3x more antioxidants. And of course there are no traces of those hormones and antibiotics, which are significantly more dangerous to children than adults.
There are many concerns as the industry develops. The nation's largest producer of organic milk is Aurora Organic Dairy. They have been a center of controversy from the start, as chronicled in Samuel Fromartz's book Organic, Inc. And they remain representative of the problems in this industry. Aurora Dairy is huge. Unlike most organic dairy farms, they operate on a huge scale and use industrial-scale dairies more like massive conventional dairy farms. They are one of the primary suppliers to Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway and Costco, among others. Unfortunately, they have always had a problem with the grazing requirements. In 2007 the USDA found them to have "willfully" violated numerous USDA organic regulations. Earlier this month they made negative headlines again when The Cornucopia Institute filed a formal complaint with the USDA that Aurora was failing to comply with USDA organic guidelines in at least one dairy.
While perhaps technically in compliance, you may also want to avoid the largest brands in general. Horizon is owned by Dean Foods, and has been found to also represent much of what is wrong in the direction of organic milk today. They pioneered ultrapasteurization that heats milk to even higher levels to increase shelf life for distant transportation, but exacerbates the problems of pasteurization. Also at the bottom of organic milk surveys are most store brands (with the notable exception of Whole Foods 365, which has been deemed "excellent").
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wal-Mart organics
Some of the concepts I struggle with when it comes to organic and healthy food include that it's inherently pretentious. There is a sense that rich people sit around wondering where there food comes from while poorer people don't have the time, money or options in the areas they live to have such luxuries. Then there is the all or nothing idea. A world with McDonalds bothers me daily but it's not going anywhere. Should its efforts to improve the treatment of animals from which it sources its meat be praised? That's a topic for another day.
Wal-Mart -- yes, the company that is most commonly associated as the evil empire of corporate America -- quickly became a major player in organic foods. As of this summer it's been selling organic products at some stores for three years. Walk into a Wal-Mart today and you'll find organic produce, milk, cheese, yogurt, packaged goods, and even organic cotton clothes and mattresses. They are in the game. This is pretty amazing as for the first time organic foods are being made available and affordable to America's working class. (Estimates suggest that Wal-Mart customers earn an average of $35,000.) To anyone who thinks the world should be eating organic this is a massive victory. But few are cheering. How much of the hesitancy and pessimism is due to this being the evil empire and how much of it is true cause for concern?
The main issues here are the source and the price. Much of Wal-Mart's organic produce comes from large industrialized farms in third-world countries, primarily China. This isn't necessarily that novel though when you realize that Silk Soymilk and other brands of organic foods source their organic ingredients from the same place (Silk sources it's organic soybeans from third-world countries). And I don't kid myself that the cucumber or tomato I bought at Whole Foods didn't come from Chile. The problem here is scale and a general race to the bottom. When Wal-Mart gets involved we know one thing for sure -- price is king. If anyone anywhere in the world can sell a cheaper organic product (no matter how they treat their workers, how they treat there animals, etc.), Wal-Mart would likely be interested. This is the antithesis of the organic movement, which relies on a general approach for sustainability -- for workers, animals, land and communities.
In the end, I think that this is a good thing when I consider that now a lower-income mother can choose to feed her child organic yogurt or choose to eat organic vegetables when she is pregnant. And the small farms in American and elsewhere will still be there to supply Whole Foods and Green Grocer and so forth. Most people believe in organic foods because they care about their health, the environment, and the treatment of the animal. This is a victory for the health of Wal-Mart shoppers -- not much more and not much less.
Finally, there are accussations that Wal-Mart misleads its customers into thinking that a variety of non-organic items are indeed organic through its signage. This has yet to be fully investigated.
Wal-Mart -- yes, the company that is most commonly associated as the evil empire of corporate America -- quickly became a major player in organic foods. As of this summer it's been selling organic products at some stores for three years. Walk into a Wal-Mart today and you'll find organic produce, milk, cheese, yogurt, packaged goods, and even organic cotton clothes and mattresses. They are in the game. This is pretty amazing as for the first time organic foods are being made available and affordable to America's working class. (Estimates suggest that Wal-Mart customers earn an average of $35,000.) To anyone who thinks the world should be eating organic this is a massive victory. But few are cheering. How much of the hesitancy and pessimism is due to this being the evil empire and how much of it is true cause for concern?
The main issues here are the source and the price. Much of Wal-Mart's organic produce comes from large industrialized farms in third-world countries, primarily China. This isn't necessarily that novel though when you realize that Silk Soymilk and other brands of organic foods source their organic ingredients from the same place (Silk sources it's organic soybeans from third-world countries). And I don't kid myself that the cucumber or tomato I bought at Whole Foods didn't come from Chile. The problem here is scale and a general race to the bottom. When Wal-Mart gets involved we know one thing for sure -- price is king. If anyone anywhere in the world can sell a cheaper organic product (no matter how they treat their workers, how they treat there animals, etc.), Wal-Mart would likely be interested. This is the antithesis of the organic movement, which relies on a general approach for sustainability -- for workers, animals, land and communities.
In the end, I think that this is a good thing when I consider that now a lower-income mother can choose to feed her child organic yogurt or choose to eat organic vegetables when she is pregnant. And the small farms in American and elsewhere will still be there to supply Whole Foods and Green Grocer and so forth. Most people believe in organic foods because they care about their health, the environment, and the treatment of the animal. This is a victory for the health of Wal-Mart shoppers -- not much more and not much less.
Finally, there are accussations that Wal-Mart misleads its customers into thinking that a variety of non-organic items are indeed organic through its signage. This has yet to be fully investigated.
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