Organics in the News

89% Of Children's Food Products Provide Poor Nutritional Quality, But 62% Of Them Still Make Health Claims

Nine out of ten regular food items aimed specifically at children have a poor nutritional content - because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium - according to a detailed study of 367 products published in the July issue of the UK-based journal Obesity Reviews.

Just under 70 per cent of the products studied - which specifically excluded confectionery, soft drinks and bakery items - derived a high proportion of calories from sugar. Approximately one in five (23 per cent) had high fat levels and 17 per cent had high sodium levels. Despite this, 62 per cent of the foods with poor nutritional quality (PNQ) made positive claims about their nutritional value on the front of the packet.

"Children's foods can now be found in virtually every section of the supermarket and are available for every eating experience" says Professor Charlene Elliott from the University of Calgary, Canada, and a Trustee of the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition.

"Parents may have questions about which packaged foods are good for their children. Yet certain nutritional claims may add to the confusion, as they can mislead people into thinking the whole product is nutritious."

Congress takes a shot at family farmers

Many parents were appalled when we saw on our television screens a video of workers abusing a downer cow with electric shocks because the cow was too sick to stand up. We were even more horrified to learn that meat from that cow had gone into lunches served by the federal School Lunch Program. The scandal at the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., has sparked interest in the current trend of securing local meat from sources that are grass-fed, organic and come from animals raised humanely. Our kids deserve the safest meat in their food. Sadly, Congress is now considering squashing such efforts to get local foods into the School Lunch Program.

In June, the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, at the behest of Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and David Obey (D-Wisc.), said it was considering a provision that would force schools to buy meat for the School Lunch program from sources enrolled in the federal government’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The NAIS is hugely controversial among family farmers like me. The U.S. government wants us to inventory, identify and track the movement of all agriculture related animals. Step one is a premise registration where a federal ID number is assigned to our farm. The second step involves tagging each of our animals with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. And finally, we must report to the government any planned movement of our animals.

The Organic Center Releases "Organic Essentials" Pocket Guide For Minimizing Pesticide Dietary Risks

Guide Helps Consumers Prioritize Organic Fruit and Vegetable Purchases

Do you know that the greatest risks from pesticides in the diet come from eating conventionally produced fruits and vegetables? A new complimentary pocket guide can help consumers avoid the highest-risk fresh produce during both the summer season and winter, when a significant share of fresh produce is imported.

Available for free download at The Organic Center's Web site, www.organic-center.org, the "Organic Essentials" pocket guide presents lists of conventional fruits and vegetables that the Center has determined pose the most significant pesticide-related risks and – therefore – are the most critical produce items for consumers to purchase as organic.

In the wallet-sized four-fold guide, "Organic Essentials" offers two lists covering domestically grown fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest pesticide dietary risks, while two other lists apply to imported produce that typically enters the U.S. market in the wintertime. 

How to shop for organic foods without breaking your budget

Most of us would love to have a fridge full of fresh organic produce and meats. But because pesticide and hormone-free products often have a premium price tag, going organic can seem like a luxury for anyone on a tight budget. So how do you make sure the green on your table doesn't drain the green from your wallet?

Another path to frugal but healthy shopping is to choose your battles carefully. If you can't afford to fill your entire shopping cart with organic food, you can still feel good about what you buy. Sarah Bratnober, communications director at the Organic Valley Family of Farms, advises following the 80/20 rule—80 percent of the benefits come from 20 percent of the purchases. Think about what your family eats the most of, then go from there. For example, if you have a choice between organic milk and organic mayonnaise, and your kids go through a gallon of milk in a week but only two tablespoons of mayo, go for the milk. Fruits and vegetables are also good choices, especially the ones your family eats lots of. And if you have the option, get into community-supported agriculture, where you own shares in a farm and get a share of whatever it produces.

Get fresh! America's first all-organic restaurant

I sprinkle my cereal with organically farmed blueberries, the spinach in my salad is nothing but organic, and the only meat that passes through my lips is antibiotic and hormone-free (yup, organic). I can proudly state that my fridge is often stocked with the makings of at least two divine repasts that are free from chemically treated ingredients, but yet the question always lingers: What happens when I dine out?

If I lived deep in the country, miles away from civilization, dining out wouldn't even be an option, but I live in New York City, where apartments are small, kitchens are smaller and counter space is a perk reserved for the rich and famous (OK & or the very lucky). A few nights of cooking must be balanced with a few nights out, and if I could have it my way, those nights would be memorable and organic.

Until recently, it wasn't difficult to find a restaurant that featured a handful of organic ingredients, but a menu that boasted 100 percent organic ingredients simply didn't exist. (Really, it didn't exist). Then January 9, 2008, rolled around and marked a day in dining history when Gusto Organics, the first USDA-approved, 100 percent organic restaurant opened its doors.

Wisconsin flooding may mean pricier organic foods

Richard de Wilde was still reeling from the more than $600,000 in damage August floods did to his organic farm when new storms dumped rocks, gravel and silt on some acres, washed away fences and contaminated other fields with runoff.

De Wilde, 59, said he's never experienced anything like the two floods in the past 10 months. After the latest round cost him an estimated $250,000, he's rethinking how he plants his 120 acres in Viroqua.

"I decided not to farm a few acres of land that I've farmed for I guess 25 years," he said. "They are the most prone to rocks washed onto it or flooded by the river. I just can't bear to see it happen again."

Only California has more organic farms than Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. De Wilde has one of the largest organic farms in the state.

Organic farmer walks the talk

Alfredo Micena has taken the challenge, which has brought life to his lectures on organic farming to nongovernment organizations and fellow farmers in a 3,000-square-meter diversified farm in Barangay Sapa in Naic, Cavite.

He grows vegetables, root crops, fruit-bearing trees, grains, chickens, ducks, goats and carabaos – all organically – in the farm. Another 50-sqm lot is allotted to a fishpond.

Micena, 50, does not own the property but cultivates it under the “buwisan” (leasehold) system. He gives three cavans of rice to the owner every harvest from his produce of 18 cavans in a 300-sqm field. If irrigation water supply is good, he harvests twice a year.

Organics gain ground in foodservice

With food, fuel, labor and other costs on the rise, some operators are taking a second look at going organic.

That doesn't mean consumer demand has diminished, however.

Interest from operators looking to open organic restaurants continues to grow steadily, said Kevin Moll, chief executive officer of National Restaurant Consultants Inc., Denver.

"I'm going to guess that because of the organic-driving market, we have maybe 25% to 30% of our clients are now opening or involved in organic restaurants," he said. "That's almost a 40% increase over our organic clients from last year."

Whether or not that translates to more sales of organic produce to foodservice is unclear, said Lloyd Ligier, vice president of business development for Pro*Act, Monterey, Calif.

"Even though consumers may be demanding organics, operators are thinking 'I need to weigh the cost differential before I jump into this,'" he said. "People are rethinking organics. That's not to say they're getting away from them."

USDA axes national survey charting pesticide use

Consumers and farmers will soon be on their own when it comes to finding out which pesticides are being sprayed on everything from corn to apples.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it plans to do away with publishing its national survey tracking pesticide use, despite opposition from prominent scientists, the nation's largest farming organizations and environmental groups.

"If you don't know what's being used, then you don't know what to look for," said Charles Benbrook, chief scientist at The Organic Center, a nonprofit in Enterprise, Ore. "In the absence of information, people can be lulled into thinking that there are no problems with the use of pesticides on food in this country."

Since 1990, farmers and consumer advocates have relied on the agency's detailed annual report to learn which states apply the most pesticides and where bug and weed killers are most heavily sprayed to help cotton, grapes and oranges grow.

UNH Receives $380,000 Grant to Study Organic Dairy as Closed Ecosystem

DURHAM, N.H. - University of New Hampshire researchers have received a significant grant to study UNH's organic dairy research farm as a sustainable closed agroecosystem, exploring viable strategies for becoming energy independent. The $380,000 three-year grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) program, aims to explore whether closing energy and nutrient cycles could help small family dairy farms in the Northeast survive economic vulnerabilities.