CNN Reports: Organic Food Not Healthier Than Regular Food
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CNN published this provocative headline yesterday on Jack Cafferty’s blog:
“What does it mean if organic food is no healthier than regular food?”
They weren’t the only ones to run this story. It’s been all over the news.
Here’s an excerpt from Jack Cafferty’s blog:
Organic food is no healthier or more nutritious than regular food. But it is more expensive.
That’s according to a study commissioned by the British government and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers looked at 50,000 studies conducted over 50 years — and found no significant differences in the foods. They focused on a wide range of crops and livestock raised and marketed under organic standards.
Sounds like an important study doesn’t it? 50,000 studies over 50 years… published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
What I love is the comments he’s been getting:
Lynne writes: It means you are ignoring the effects of pesticides on the land and on the animals, the runoff into our rivers and oceans, and the efforts of family farmers over the agribusiness corporations. I’d frankly rather pay more money to the small, responsible farmer. There are too few of them left in America.
Casey writes: I’ll always be willing to pay more for produce that isn’t treated with environment-harming chemicals and for meat that came from animals treated a little more humanely. Not everything is about us, Jack.
Susan writes: The adverse effects of pesticides on the human endocrine system are well documented. So while non-organic food may have the same nutritional value as organic food, it sure has lots and lots of ‘extras’! Pesticides and heavy metals, to name just a few. Just another study by Global Corporate America to reassure the public that our food and water supplies are safe. Couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sean writes: I’d like to know what the classification of health is. If it’s vitamins and minerals in food then no, I don’t believe “regular food” is any more healthy. However, if healthier is eating food without antibiotics, hormones and pesticides, then how can argue organic food is not healthier?
Benjamin writes: Consumers don’t buy organic to get better nutrition! I try to buy organic for certain types of produce knowing that I will be putting less pesticides into my body. Though maybe not more nutritional it IS healthier! Publicity of this study will only side track the public into thinking there is no difference at all.
I could go on — that’s just a tiny sampling of the comments. If you want to read more, or add your own, go check out the post.
I also wanted to share with you the abstract from the study that was done.
What’s curious to me is the way Jack Caffrerty phrased his question to his readers, “What does it mean if organic food is no healthier than regular food?” As though it’s a fact.
I’m glad to see people questioning what they see on the news and read in the paper. Let’s bring back critical thinking skills!
Argh — this is why I don’t watch the news. I can’t stand the illogical way “facts” are reported.
What Do You Think?
Do you buy organic? Why or why not? What do you think about the way the media reports the news? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the current status of our food system? Please share your comments below.
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31/07/2009 at 8:33 am Permalink
The study was deeply flawed – researchers failed to account for many factors. Researchers failed to look into antioxidant capacity of organic vs. conventional, for example. Moreover, the issue isn’t what does organic produce offer that conventional produce does not; rather, the issue should center on what conventional produce contains that organic produce does not – notably pesticide residues, nitrosamine and other gunk that is known to disrupt endocrine function and cause cancer. The organic center has a good response on the issue: FSA Study Response at TOC.
31/07/2009 at 9:23 am Permalink
The study was nutritionism at its worst.
31/07/2009 at 9:27 am Permalink
Thank you Ann Marie for posting this. The news articles on national news are unbelieveable. Maybe the nutrition is the same, all the same minerals and vitamins; but the fact that Organically Grown is minus the pesticides, herbicides, etc….they’ve overlooked all that in the study or maybe not since there is a push to undermine and remove the small farmers, the locally grown, the organic growers, the roadside stands, Farmers Markets!
31/07/2009 at 9:28 am Permalink
I buy organic produce when it’s on sale. I do buy organic raw milk, I will get a pig in December that’s organic, grass-fed and I’m on a waiting list for 1/4 of a cow that’s grass-fed (I’ll get the beef where I get my raw milk.) I will start getting raw cream tomorrow.
The news is simply produced for entertainment. I have no respect for our current news media and I watch little of the national news or local news.
I’m very pessimistic about our food supply. I’ve been buying vat pasteurized, organic, GRASS FED Farmers’ Creamery cream from the local health food store. I was trying to save some money purchasing this cream rather than buying from the farm where I get my raw milk. Big mistake! I decided to make butter from this cream. All three times I made butter it was the same pale yellow color same as the cheap butter from the local walmart. How frustrating. I went to Farmers’ Creamery website and read that they feed their cows soy and corn! They have written on their dairy products GRASS-FED! Apparently, these cows are fed soy and corn in winter and grass-fed all summer. I made my butter a few days ago, wouldn’t I see the beautiful, bright yellow (orangey) color like the Kerrygold brand if these cows were grass-fed during the summer?
I sent an email to Farmers’ Creamery about my frustration and got back a long response. Here’s some of what was said, ” When cows are not grass-fed this is what they are fed: silage, baleage, haylage, corn, soybeans, dry hay, minerals.”The primary organic grain in the area is corn and the primary organic protein is extruded soybeans. Extruded soybeans have some of the oil removed and they are heat treated to keep them from going rancid and it also makes them more digestible for the cows” The reponse went on to say that there is no standard for using the word GRASS-FED on products. Apparently, you can pasture your cows a couple weeks out of the year and call them grass-fed!
Know your farmer. This is my new motto when it comes to buying meat and dairy.
PS – I will post the email from Farmers’ Creamery if you want. There’s more that I found interesting but I’m not sure anyone else wants to read it.
31/07/2009 at 9:28 am Permalink
I try to buy organic as much as possible for all the obvious reasons. But cost aside, there are other frustrating factors. For instance, peaches are on the “dirty dozen” list and my available organic ones are awful. I paid a fortune and they never ripened and were mealy and dry. Money in the garbage. When I buy organic raspberries, they get moldy within mere hours, more waste.
Recently I visited a local farmer’s market in an attempt to support the small farmers of NY/NJ. I asked a lot of questions. All the blueberries, strawberries and cherries had “fungicide”. Is there no way to grow these items without pesticides? Is fungicide better than what they use on factory farms? Does this mean the cherries in my health food store that are labeled “organic” have fungicide too? And the NJ peaches were absolutely delicious (they gave samples) but the people working there weren’t sure about pesticides or didn’t want to answer my questions.
My point – I don’t know what I’m doing. I want to support small farmers and I want to eat in the healthiest way possible but I don’t have the agricultural education to really understand. Summer to me used to mean enjoying ripe, juicy fruit which I LOVE but now am confused/afraid to eat any of it.
31/07/2009 at 9:33 am Permalink
I forgot to mention that I don’t understand why Farmers’ Creamery has to feed their cows soy or corn during the winter. I get my raw dairy from a farm that doesn’t feed their cows soy or corn ever! My farmers are members of the Weston A Price foundation and the wife speaks at engagements on behalf of the foundation.
31/07/2009 at 9:38 am Permalink
I don’t need a study to let me know that the food I buy from sustainable farmers is more nutritious. Unfortunately, organic standards are minimal. We eat 100% pastured, grass fed meats, for example. If I compared a factory farmed animal fed conventional corn with a factory farmed animal fed organic feed, I would not see much difference, even though one meets organic standards. I do eat sustainable food (not necessarily organic) for better nutrition. It is also local and fresh food that has not had time to lose important nutrients. But I also eat this food to support the local economy, protect the environment, reduce my carbon footprint, save small farms, and because it tastes so much better!
31/07/2009 at 9:39 am Permalink
Wow, Tina, how interesting.
Please post the email they sent you.
I found their website hilarious:
http://www.farmersallnaturalcreamery.com/
Just LOOK at it! All those cows grazing on pasture. They even have grass as a website background!
Meanwhile they are feeding the cows extruded soybeans. Not only is it soy but it is extruded.
31/07/2009 at 9:40 am Permalink
Tina – Yes, in winter it is traditional to feed cows hay.
31/07/2009 at 9:44 am Permalink
SCB -
Where are you buying your fruit? At the health food store or at the farmer’s market.
I think the best option is to try to find fruit that is local — from local farms. Oftentimes the “Big Organic” produce you find in the HFS (as described in detail in Michael Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”) is terrible.
Personally I think we’ve all been spoiled on Big Ag. I heard some lady giving a lecture recently and she was saying if it weren’t for modern agricultural technology, they wouldn’t be able to get oranges in Scandinavia, where she lived. Well, why should oranges be commonplace in Scandinavia? They are not native. They don’t grow in cold climates. You should have to travel to Spain or other hot climate countries get them, or pay a lot more for imported.
31/07/2009 at 9:48 am Permalink
I agree, Tina, this does underscore that we need to know our farmers. It doesn’t matter if the label says “grass-fed” or “organic” — we need to know the farmer and find out exactly how they are producing our food.
31/07/2009 at 9:50 am Permalink
SCB – I forgot to mention… at our farmer’s markets here in LA, we have some vendors who are organic (certified) and many who are not — but don’t spray. Then there are others who do spray. You always have to ask.
I just ask, “Do you spray?” Because I don’t really care if they are “certified organic”. Many farmers don’t want to be certified because of all the hoops and extra fees.
31/07/2009 at 9:53 am Permalink
Nice! It’s like saying abused children are no more likely to be unhappy adults than children with happy childhoods, so abuse away!
31/07/2009 at 9:59 am Permalink
Thanks for this post. I’m with the others – I would rather pay more than eat pesticides!
31/07/2009 at 10:03 am Permalink
cheeseslave – I’m with you, who cares if they’re organic if they’re responsibly (small) farmed. Here’s my dilemma:
Let’s take fresh cherries – the “organic” cherries at the HFS are expensive ($9.99/lb), the “local” cherries from the farmer’s market are more affordable but are treated with fungicide (is it safe? doesn’t sound good) and the cherries at the Korean market are cheap ($2.99/lb) but non-organic. If I’m dying for yummy summer cherries (I am!!) – which of the 3 should I buy?
31/07/2009 at 10:08 am Permalink
Ann Marie,
Here’s the email I sent to Farmers’ Creamery:
I have been buying your milk and cream for over a year now. Your milk was recommended by a Weston A Price member as the best alternative for our family since we were on a waiting list for raw milk. Your milk tasted delightful. I finally got raw milk but kept using your cream.
Recently, I decided to make my butter from your cream. What could be better? Grass-fed, organic butter from an Amish farm? I’ve made butter three times. Yesterday, I finally realized that your cream (and diary) WAS NOT GRASS-Fed. All three times I’ve made butter, my butter has been pale yellow. The same color as the cheap butter I got from the regular grocery store. I then went to your website and read that you feed your cows soy and corn! Sparingly? Really? If these cows graze during the summer and I bought my cream yesterday, should I not have the bright, beautiful colored butter like the kind you get from grass-fed animals?
It should be against the law to have the words GRASS-FED on your products when you’re clearly feeding your animals soy and corn! And, not only that, your milk is $.31 cheaper per half gallon then my raw, GRASS-FED, organic milk!
What’s really terrible is that all of us drinking and eating your dairy products really believe (believed in my case) that the cows were grass-fed.
I would have never figured it out if I haven’t made butter.
I am going to post to forums and blogs about your milk and I will talk with my health food store that carries your products (they stock their shelves with your cream because I asked them to.) I’m assuming that there is no law about using the word GRASS-FED on products. You can get away with grazing your animals a couple weeks a year and call it grass fed!
31/07/2009 at 10:11 am Permalink
And here is the response from Farmers’ Creamery:
Hello Tina,
Thanks for you comments, we appreciate the concerns you raise. I do have some thoughts about what you wrote.
1. The term “grass-fed” is a non-regulated term. I do agree that it can mean many things to many different people. The reason we put it on the label is because we believe our product is best represented by that and other terms (such as vat-pasteurized, organic, etc). Now, you may disagree because your understanding is grass-fed means 100% grass-fed. This is a term that is used by folks who want to insure that everyone knows no grain is fed whatsoever. We don’t make that claim, and we state it on our website. I assure you that as I write this every Amish dairy farmer that supplies milk to our creamery has their cows out on grass. It’s a beautiful day, the weather has been nice, and they are making the most affordable and most plentiful milk possible, which is cows grazing on relatively free grass during one of the coolest summer months here in Iowa (July mind you) in a long time. Also, we ship milk year round, whereas 100% grass-fed dairies are typically seasonal – hence the attempt at differentiation.
2. Now, to shed further light on our farmers. There is not a standard Amish dairy farm model that is replicated by our farmers. For every farm, the land, buildings, labor force, number of cows, access to tillable cropland, working capital, pasture and general approach all differ. We have several 100% grass-fed dairies, and a continuum of varying feed programs that include varying amounts of silage, baleage, haylage, corn, soybeans, dry hay, minerals, etc. One thing that is consistent with dairy farms across the board is that corn and soybeans are expensive, growing green grass is relatively inexpensive. On farms who are using grain, grain is typically fed to heavily lactating mothers BUT it is a usual practice to feed a lot of silage and good dry hay in hopes that it can approximate a large part of the ration at a more affordable rate. In the summer months more forage is fed, and for some that’s the only thing they get.
3. We had our milk tested over the course of a year for CLA content. We found that our co-mingled milk had one of the highest CLA content of all non-100% grass-fed dairies in the nation. As I’m sure you know, CLA content is a measurement of forage intake. This test was conducted by the Iowa State University, and the samples from all our farms were sent directly to a testing lab there at ISU. As we expected, some farms were off the charts in terms of CLA, and some were less depending on their program.
4. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but there are large corporate organic dairy farms out west in the desert that are “certified organic”. By regulation, organic dairies must give their cows access to grass – and for sure when a dairy has 5000 cows in the desert there isn’t usually lots of grass available. This gives the organic label a bad name, and we are trying to counteract that by stating on our label the term “grass-fed”, which doesn’t mean 100% grass-fed, but reassures our customers that yes, we are organic, yes, our cows have access to grass, and yes, those cows have a large part of their diet be from forage or pasture from a annual basis.
5. Our terms on our label are scrutinized by every regulatory agency possible. Believe me, we’ve had this go-around with many many folks and what I just wrote we tell them. We attempt as best as possible to describe our product the best way we can, and until the term “grass-fed” is regulated we don’t have the perfect world. I would direct your attention to a company is that is 100% grass-fed and on the web: http://www.pasturelandcoop.com.
Again, thanks for your submission. I can understand your disappointment in wanting 100% grass-fed organic milk and thinking that you have been misled. I respectfully disagree with you on the misleading part, but am willing to dialogue as best as I can to clear things up.
Lastly, I’m sure you realize we try to offer the consumer the most pure milk and cream possible by leaving it in a non-homogenized state and pasteurizing it at the lowest temperature allowed by law. Similarly we leave stabilizers out of our cottage cheese and sour cream to make it as clean and real as possible. Another goal of our dairy is to create a viable/sustainable way of life for our farms. Our Amish community has more farmers still farming than is true in other Amish communities in the country. We try to partner with, educate, as well as learn from our farms. We pay them on an incentive pay scale for higher quality milk. We make every attempt we can to make the most authentic foods we can, we strive to educate customers of foods before they became industrialized, we also aim to make knowledgeable customers such as yourself happy with our foods. I genuinely appreciate your communication with us.
Phil
____________
Phil Forbes
Plant Manager
Farmer’s All Natural Creamery
1010
31/07/2009 at 10:46 am Permalink
Tina – I kind of like this Phil guy. First of all, he wrote back to you which says a lot (in my opinion). Second of all, he’s in business to sell stuff and “grass-fed” sounds better than “grass-fed when we can”. I get illegal raw milk delivery (I call it Top Secret Farm and I have no idea where it is) and the delivery person told me they only grass feed in the summer, then dried hay in the winter…because the grass is dead. Makes sense. If I had Phil’s non-homogenized, low heat pasteurized milk in my market I’d buy every carton. My highly unreliable raw milk delivery is unfortunately supplanted by disgusting ultrapasteurized supermarket stuff.
31/07/2009 at 10:57 am Permalink
I do pretty much buy almost exclusively organic fruit and mostly organic vegetables (I know my vegetable farmer and she tries to limit the amount of chemicals). I buy all our meat now from a local farmer who feeds organic grain/grass fed and pasture raised animals. I stick with organics to limit the amount of chemicals and processing of the foods we eat as well as to support local farming. Also, I’ve had a lot of physical problems over the last few years that I know is mostly from my diet. I’ve found as my household has eliminated chemically treated foods and such that we feel better as a whole. I feel even more convicted about this topic after just recently seeing Food Inc. I also grow a lot of veggies organically in my backyard and hope to include more fruits over the next few years as my plants mature.
Btw, I really, really enjoy your blog. Take care!
31/07/2009 at 11:06 am Permalink
Did you see the breastfeeding article this morning as well?
Make sure you breastfeed for 6 months, for strong immunity, BUT! make sure you vaccinate for strong immunity.
Gobbledygoop!!
Good thing some of us are not dumb!
Paula
31/07/2009 at 11:32 am Permalink
Sounds to me like the processor quoted above gets milk from traditionally raised cows. I don’t actually understand why anyone is upset over this. The cows can only pasture about 6 months out of the year in Iowa (I think that’s where they are from) and the other six months they have to have forage that is preserved, either as hay or silage.
As for the corn and soybeans, if you want to get decent production out of a cow, you have to feed them grain unless they are getting just the best lush grass possible. That’s great when they can get it, but obviously it can’t be available all the time. Farmers have to make a living, and if they marketed milk that came from a cow eating grass and only hay or silage in the winter (i.e., ‘grass fed’) then they couldn’t make a living from it. It’s economics. How many people are going to be willing to pay half again or twice as much more for what is being expressed here as the only valid ‘grass fed’ milk? And I’m not talking half again or twice as much again as for regular supermarket milk, I’m talking about the milk from this particular processor mentioned here. I don’t know what the price on it is, but expect it’s higher than regular milk. How is a farm family going to be in business if they have to price their product too high because that’s what they’d have to do to cover their costs and have enough left over for their livlihood? Feeding grain boosts production in dairy cows. It gets enough more milk out of the cows that the farmers can make money doing it. Otherwise they are out of business.
And, btw, you have to feed soybeans that are roasted because they have anti-nutrient enzymes in them otherwise. You couldn’t give them to an animal and have them do well if you tried to feed them raw. It’s either roasted or not feed them at all.
If you want to think back to the 1940s-50s-60s and use that as your criteria for how cows that have a good lifestyle (pasture in summer, hay/silage in winter) and are treated as individuals, that have a small measure of grain in front of them twice a day at milking, then that’s the farm like your grandparents or great grandgrandparents had. And this Farmer’s Creamery is probably about as close to it as most you’ll find from the description the guy wrote in his email.
31/07/2009 at 11:33 am Permalink
SCB – I agree that Phil seems like a decent person and I appreciated that he took the time to write me.
What I don’t like is that he thinks his costumers are stupid.
He does not have to feed his cows soy or corn. He can feed them hay in the winter. I grew up in Michigan and this is what my grandfather did. He baled hay in the summer/fall and stored it in his barn.
I think it’s completely and utterly misleading to put grass-fed on any label when the animals are not 100% grass-fed. What about those who buy grass-fed meats and dairy who are actually allergic to corn and soy? It’s misleading to them.
I go out of my way and spend much money to keep my kids from eating corn and soy and it pisses me off that I was mislead. It wasn’t until I went to their website that I figured out the truth. Do I have to google every food item that I buy?
31/07/2009 at 11:45 am Permalink
Phil does seem nice, and his letter is awfully nice.
I looked it up and Farmer’s All Natural Creamery received a 4-cow (out of 5) rating on the Cornucopia Institute’s Dairy Scorecard. A score of 1135 out of 1200.
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/FarmID_102.html
They got 95 points out of 100 for “good pasture compliance” — which means the cows are on pasture a lot.
They also received 90 points out of 100 for the longevity and health of the cows. That means those cows can’t be eating much grain. Factory farm cows only live 4-5 years compared to pastured cows’ life span of 20-25 years.
Not sure why the butter was so pale but here’s an idea… it could be that they freeze their cream. I know I freeze mine. If they’re shipping around the country, that may be the case. Or maybe the batch of cream you got was from one of their lactating cows that was getting a lot of grain at the time (incidentally I really disagree with that idea of feeding lactating cows corn and soy — doesn’t make sense).
Anyway, I trust the Cornucopia Institute — I think they are extremely reliable and have very high standards.
31/07/2009 at 11:49 am Permalink
Tina –
I agree, it is so frustrating to have to google everything!
I found some local farmers here in California that I like and trust and now that is who we are buying nearly all of our meat, eggs and dairy from. I’m buying a second freezer this month so I can buy 1/2 of a cow and a whole pig from 2 local grass-fed farms (excited about that!). I really think this is what it comes down to — you really have to know the farmer.
Of course that said, I’m SUPER grateful for non-profit organizations like The Cornucopia Institute and the Weston A. Price Foundation. They really do so much work to keep us all informed.
31/07/2009 at 11:50 am Permalink
Paula – You made me laugh! I just love your attitude.
By the way, I was just thinking about you yesterday. I was wearing the lovely apron you sent me. Thanks again for such a thoughtful gesture. I hope I get to meet you one day and thank you in person!
31/07/2009 at 11:58 am Permalink
SCB -
Re: your cherry dilemma…
It depends upon how sick or healthy you are, how much disposable income you have, and how willing you are to travel.
If I really wanted cherries, I’d spend the $10 and get the organic. I really don’t like to eat cherries that have been sprayed because I can usually taste it.
That said, I don’t usually buy organic wine so maybe I’m just a big fat hypocrite! What’s the difference, right?
If you can’t taste it and it doesn’t bother you too much, you could just buy the local cherries. I probably would. We have unsprayed cherries in abundance here at our local farmer’s markets when they are in season.
One thing Nina Planck said in her book “Real Food” that I really agree with — she said that when it comes to organic, she tries to buy meat/dairy/eggs organic and doesn’t worry as much about produce. Because she says the pesticides are more concentrated in the animal fat — that is where the body stores toxins is in the fat.
Something to think about…
31/07/2009 at 11:59 am Permalink
Oh, you should also check out this site:
http://www.pickyourown.org/
If you find a local U Pick farm, you could go pick your own cherries. They list on that site if they have been sprayed — and you could call the farms and find out more about their growing procedures.
31/07/2009 at 12:11 pm Permalink
Ann Marie,
Thank you for looking up information at the Cornucopia Institute. I’ve never heard of it. I feel much better about Farmers’ Creamery. I was really upset.
I will email Phil and let him know about your blog and this particular post.
I’m still quite frustrated about the corn and soy being fed to these animals no matter how little they’re gettting. I’ve made the butter twice this month and made it once earlier this spring and all were the same color. When I email Phil, I will ask about whether it’s frozen at any time. Why does being frozen make a difference with the color?
I am getting my raw milk, meat, eggs and now cream from local farmers. It’s sure worth the cost:)
31/07/2009 at 12:16 pm Permalink
Tina –
I just thought maybe they might have milked the cows during the winter months and then frozen the cream. I doubt they freeze it though. It’s more likely that you have been getting milk/cream from cows that are being fed more grain. Like the lactating cows he wrote about. That’s the only thing I can figure…
31/07/2009 at 12:17 pm Permalink
BTW, I bought a frozen cow’s heart last weekend for the first time. I’m not quite sure how to cook it. Any ideas?
31/07/2009 at 12:26 pm Permalink
Good comment, Jennifer.
I disagree with you on a couple of points:
Farmers have to make a living, and if they marketed milk that came from a cow eating grass and only hay or silage in the winter (i.e., ‘grass fed’) then they couldn’t make a living from it.
This may be true for the convential “Big Ag” system but many farmers who are raising cows on grass only and selling directly to the public are making a good living.
Joel Salatin is not a dairy farmer but did you know his 100% grass-based Polyface farm brings in over $1 million per year? I just saw him say that on an interview.
The CA dairy I buy my milk from has all their cows on pasture year round. They are not fed grain — just grass and hay. They sell their milk for anywhere from $10-20 per gallon. And they are doing a booming business. Of course, it’s raw milk, and 100% grass-fed — and people (including myself) are willing to pay more for it.
More and more farmers around the country are finding out that they can earn more by selling direct to the customer instead of selling to cooperatives or corporations. And they can make more if they go back to 100% grass-fed.
And, btw, you have to feed soybeans that are roasted because they have anti-nutrient enzymes in them otherwise. You couldn’t give them to an animal and have them do well if you tried to feed them raw. It’s either roasted or not feed them at all.
True about the anti-nutrients but roasting doesn’t adequately reduce anti-nutrients. You have to naturally ferment soybeans over a period of months or years to adequately reduce anti-nutrients.
Further, these soybeans we are talking about are not “roasted” — they are extruded. Sally Fallon-Morell, Pres. of the WAPF has written extensively on the dangers of eating extruded cereal grains.
If you want to think back to the 1940s-50s-60s and use that as your criteria for how cows that have a good lifestyle (pasture in summer, hay/silage in winter) and are treated as individuals, that have a small measure of grain in front of them twice a day at milking, then that’s the farm like your grandparents or great grandgrandparents had. And this Farmer’s Creamery is probably about as close to it as most you’ll find from the description the guy wrote in his email.
I think you’re right. They did get a high score on the Dairy Score Card. The extruded soy they’re being fed is probably very minimal — I am guessing of course but I think if they were eating a lot of it, they would not have scored so high.
31/07/2009 at 12:29 pm Permalink
Tina –
I’ve got one sitting in my freezer too!
What I like to do with beef heart is defrost it, grind it up, and then freeze it again into smaller portions (either in butcher paper or plastic freezer bags).
Then whenever I make anything with ground beef, I mix in a little beef heart to make it more nutritious. I use about 1/4 to 1/2 lb beef heart to 1 lb beef.
31/07/2009 at 12:34 pm Permalink
Very interesting comments going on in this post! I enjoyed reading about the Farmers Creamery Dilemma
31/07/2009 at 12:43 pm Permalink
Thanks cheeseslave, this blog is so great and I love reading everyone’s opinions and ideas. Organic cherries $10/lb here I come. I wish I could U-Pick but as a NYC girl with no car, it’s rather inconvenient
And lastly to Tina – I keep thinking about the fact that a WAPF member recommended that milk to you. From the literature I’ve received and the shopping guide I always have in my bag, I wouldn’t argue with anything they say! In fact, I bought Kerrygold butter because of it (gold foil? Imported from Ireland? – assuming it’s the kind you bought)…and mine is pale yellow.
The food I’m eating now is heads and shoulders better than before, I’m going to try and not obsess too much (love the Nina Planck quote cheeselave provided about produce – thanks!) but agree that if there are kids and/or allergies involved, the constant googling, etc is a necessary pain.
31/07/2009 at 12:51 pm Permalink
SCB -
LOL about the Googling — so true!
You know, I’ve been working online for years and even wrote a cookbook which required a TON of online research… but never in my whole life have I had to Google as much as I have since I became a mother.
31/07/2009 at 1:35 pm Permalink
SCB
You say your Kerrygold butter is pale yellow? That’s really good to know! I just went and looked at my Kerrygold butter and it’s a beautiful orangey color….BUT it’s the butter in the silver package…AND it’s cultured! Could that be it? Could it be as simple as culturing my cream overnight? Wow! That’s exciting. So, tomorrow I’m going to get my raw cream for the first time. I’m going to make butter with it. Then I’m going to culture Farmers’ Creamery cream overnight and make butter with it. Then I’m going to compare them all including the cheap stuff from walmart!
Yes, a Weston Price member, Jen Allbritton, recommended that I use Farmers’ Creamery milk until I could get raw milk. She’s on Weston A Price website and writes about children’s health. I emailed her and then spoke with her on the phone (she and I both live in Colorado.) Since she lives not far from me, she knew what milk was available at our local health food store. She recommended Farmers’ Creamery because it is vat pasteurized rather than ultrapasteurized and the cows were grass-fed. I’m not sure that she knew/knows that these animals are fed soy and corn because their label said grass-fed, organic, vat pasturized. She may not have looked at their website. And when I started using Farmers’ Creamery products, I did look at their website and there was nothing about soy and corn that I remember. I think they have updated their website since.
It’s just the best I could do until I got raw milk. Farmers’ Creamery milk WAS never a replacement for RAW MILK.
Jen Allbritton
31/07/2009 at 1:40 pm Permalink
Jen Allbritton DID NOT write the last post. Rather than try and retype her name, I just copied it – you know cut and paste and for whatever reason it showed up at the end of my post. Not sure what happened…
31/07/2009 at 1:43 pm Permalink
Ann Marie,
That’s a good idea with the heart. That’s what I’ll do!
Thanks!
31/07/2009 at 1:55 pm Permalink
Ann Marie,
You wrote a cookbook? Where can I buy it?
31/07/2009 at 2:00 pm Permalink
I do buy the majority of our food organic. In some cases can taste the difference in the food from non-organic/conventional.
I do not believe the studies that claim this is “not more nutritious” than conventional. Follow the money. Who funded most of these studies?
Not only do conventional foods have more pesticides & often are irradiated & have other issues, i believe the way conventional farming is done depletes the food of nutrients. Frankly, studies reported on CNN carry no weight for me.
If i’m wrong, then i’ve simply spent more money on food, but if i’m right then NOT eating organic is contributing to poor health for me & bad, bad things for our environment.
I try not to “freak” & get too unbalanced when i occasionally have to eat non-organic items, but i do not want it to be a major part of my diet. I do believe much is being done that reduces the organic label so that it is not as trustworthy as i would like it to be, but in general i feel safer eating organic.
31/07/2009 at 2:21 pm Permalink
I read about this report yesterday and was immediately skeptical of the findings. It turns out that another organization called The Organic Center published today their response to the FSA study. I have provided a link here: http://www.organic-center.org/science.nutri.php?action=view&report_id=157
This is a very interesting read as it addresses some of the issues I was wondering about with the London study – primarily a) their consideration of polyphenols and antioxidants and b) their source material. I hope you get a chance to check out the response as it illustrates just how misleading these scientific studies can be!
– RFM
31/07/2009 at 2:30 pm Permalink
Hi Tina – yes, Kerrygold sweet cream salted – in the gold package. And then I googled. HA, this is what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives. The Kerrygold website didn’t offer much, but on The Nourishing Gourmet there is a quote from Molly from Kerrygold:
>>>Milk is entirely from grass-fed cows (from Ireland’s green lush pastures) and only summer milk is used to produce Kerrygold butter.
Kerrygold produces two different types of butter for the US: a salted sweeet cream butter (gold foil) and unsalted lactic/cultured butter (sliver foil). <<<
31/07/2009 at 3:45 pm Permalink
Glad to see some people still have some critical thinking skills. And I don’t entirely believe that all organic food has the same nutritional content as conventional. Is this just in relation to produce? Or is this animals included?
31/07/2009 at 4:10 pm Permalink
The argument, like many on the mainstream media, is a straw-man. Which unfortunately, uneducated consumers will buy into. People do not buy organic food for its nutritional value, specifically. (Although Rodale, who has made it their business to carefully study the nutritional differences for decades now, knows that there is a nutritional difference!)
People buy organic for all the environmental reasons. And hopefully, they are buying local too, for one thing we know is true: Local, fresh-picked produce is more nutritious than non-local, shipped produce any day.
31/07/2009 at 9:23 pm Permalink
I am relatively new to this whole organic, grass fed, real food thing, and so I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for your comments. I feel I learned a lot more today. I read an interesting blog post earlier entitled “Are You Organic”, it’s from a farmer’s perspective and thought I’d also share it here with you – http://goldilocksfindsmanhattan.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-you-organic.html
As to the comments on beef heart. My late father was born in Italy and as a tradition cooked beef heart, beef lung, tongue, sweetbreads, and even stomach (tripe) – which made delicious soup! Sadly, my mother put an end to all that once she learned about the “high cholesterol” and “high fat” content inherent in beef heart and lungs.
My father, although he suffered from asthma later in life, was a healthy man, who worked very hard and managed to stay fit his entire life eating the way he did.
01/08/2009 at 3:16 am Permalink
On farmers making a living: our local dairy farmer provides 100% grass-fed milk. He says that his cows make 1-2 gallons per day per cow on grass. His neighbor farmer feeds grain, and gets 5-10 gallons per day per cow. We pay $13/gallon for the raw, grass-fed milk. He’s trying to convert his neighbor to grass-fed, so the neighbor is trying out 50/50 milk (half grass-fed, half grain). He’s charging $6/gallon. His milk doesn’t taste nearly as good! But we are all hoping he will see the market and convert, because the demand is much greater than the supply. My point is that these guys can make and charge whatever they want to make it work for them: people are willing to pay for it, if they think it is of value. We buy our $13/gal raw milk, and eat beans for a few meals to pay for it!
01/08/2009 at 6:25 am Permalink
Great discussion on the range of choices available. I always feel like one has to pick one’s battles, and eating healthier is a journey, not an absolute. The more we learn, the more we can afford to purchase or create ourselves, the better we do.
One thing I notice is no mention of the ties of BigAgra to the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be policing them. Take some of the latest Obama appointees:
Michael Taylor, America’s Food Safety Czar
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/youre-appointing-who-plea_b_243810.html
and Tom Vilsack to USDA chief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMWAzH9P728
My guess is the Great Britain has the same inbred culture in government. Follow the money…
01/08/2009 at 7:02 am Permalink
Well they left out several of the newest reseaches from Europe
- one showing that organic milk ( grass fed here in EU) contained far more omega 3 and other good stuff than regular milk
and others on veggies and fruit showing higher levels of vitamins …
Well I choose organic for all the stuff that I dont want ; pesticides additives etc.
01/08/2009 at 7:22 am Permalink
So organic food might not be more nutritious. Is that really the reason we buy organic and local? Not for me. To me organic, local food means community. It means I know that Farmer Carl invited me down to help plant this year’s onion crop by hand. It means I know where the compost he grows with comes from; Carl makes it himself. No one gathers around Dole or Chiquita around here. Many gather for local farmers markets and CSAs. Organic local food has life nutrients that big food doesn’t. Organic local food creates health benefits you can’t measure with blood draws and pie charts. Organic local food is good.
01/08/2009 at 7:51 am Permalink
I am so glad you picked up and ran with this. The most disappointing moment of my day was seeing the original article quoted on WebMD. People aren’t being given the information they need to make wise choices. Websites with great influence need to use the greatest caution. Very disappointing.
01/08/2009 at 1:18 pm Permalink
SCB-
I live in NYC as well! What borough do you live in? I live in Queens and shop weekly at the Union Square farmers market and Whole Foods.
I was just in Whole Foods today and they have their Organic cherries on sale this week for $2.99/lb. I actually have a big bowl of them sitting right next to me. I actually haven’t bought cherries at all this year because the organic ones are expensive (I think the usual Whole Foods price is $4.99/lb) as are the “lightly sprayed” ones at the farmers market (Usually about $7 a container…)
Where do you usually shop? I had been buying beef and chicken from Dan Gibson’s farm Grazin’ Angus Acres. They have really great stuff. I just started purchasing my meat from greenzabiha.com. My fiancee is Muslim and until recently it was nearly impossible to find organic, grass fed meat that was also Halal (similar to Kosher). Green Zabiha sources their beef from Joel Salatin’s farm. They ship by 2 day Fed Ex to NYC for a very reasonable price.
For milk I buy from Milk Thistle Farm at the Union Sq. market. It is lightly pasteurized and non-homogenized and 100% grass fed. I had been getting raw milk from a coop but their pickup times don’t fit in my schedule at all
Anyway, sorry to have rambled!
01/08/2009 at 9:43 pm Permalink
hi!
I was wondering if you could post your recipe for lacto-fermented ketchup?
Thanks!
02/08/2009 at 4:44 am Permalink
Hi Cecily – I live in Brooklyn. They’ve been threatening a Whole Foods for years…but no luck yet. We have a Trader Joe’s but I must not understand that place, I never buy anything except raw nuts.
BTW, the day cheeseslave told me to buy the $9.99/lb organic cherries they went down to $7.99! Pondering paid off.
I could take a train to the Union Square Market but I wouldn’t be able to buy much, that’s a long carry back. We have a tiny Farmer’s Market in Carroll Gardens (today!) and they have the Milk Thistle Farm milk, it’s good, but not as good as raw.(nutrient wise) I also ran across Evan’s Farmhouse Creamery milk at a local cheese shop – $6 for 1/2 gallon – has anyone tried this product?
And lastly, I haven’t eaten meat for 2.5 years, until last Saturday when I had half a piece of bacon. Haha. I think I need the nutrients but will only eat it if it’s been responsibly grown/slaughtered. I’ve struggled with this issue simply because I love animals so much. I’m going to check out Green Zahiba, thank you!
Great post and discussion! I wish this blog had the box you could check to be alerted when someone posts a comment so I don’t miss anything.
SCB
02/08/2009 at 5:50 am Permalink
Hi, Anna,
I will try to post that soon.
02/08/2009 at 5:58 am Permalink
Cecily – thanks for sharing!
SCB – Evan’s Farmhouse Creamery gets 5 cows on the Dairy Scorecard — the highest rating. Is their milk raw or pasteurized?
By the way, here is the chart:
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html
Hmmm I thought it did have a box to check if you want to be updated via email. Does it not? If not, I’ll see if there’s a way to add that.
02/08/2009 at 6:17 am Permalink
SCB –
I just added the plugin that allows you to check a box so you get informed up comments.
Sorry I didn’t have that before — I honestly thought I did. Thanks for alerting me!
02/08/2009 at 8:57 am Permalink
And lets not forget there are ample studies showing that there is more nutritional value and yes, as pointed out earlier, higher antioxidants in organics. Healthy soil begets healthy food, that’s logic 101 for you not to mention the care we take of our world that way.
As for cherries and things, shop in season and wait until it peaks for best prices, right now you CAN find organic cherries at $2.99/lb or get involved in a co-op or buying club and get them direct – they are fresher that way too.
I’m a strong organic supporter for planet and people but don’t just do organic when it comes to meat and dairy and eggs – pastured always best there but I do try to steer clear if they feed cory & soy (especially nonorganic and therefore GMO) but it is very hard in the U.S. to eat real food, that’s a pity, something so basic should be readily accessible and affordable for all of us.
02/08/2009 at 9:16 am Permalink
that organic foods study has been in the papers here in the UK…it even made headlines on thursday! I, like everyone else, see the bigger picture with organic foods, and would pay more for organic as it is sustainable, environmentally friendly, and the animal welfare standards are high…that being said I think supermarket organic is not vastly superior to supermarket conventional especially if its been flown half way round the world…i prefer supporting local farmers..
When i read the article in the newspaper a couple of things jumped out…firstly the researchers only picked 55 (or so) of the 5000 studies to actually include in their research as only these ‘matched their criteria’…plus they found over 30% (i forget the exact figure) more beta carotenes in organic food but dismissed it as as it was an avaerage figure and the actual figures had too much variation…
the study is a joke. merely 2 years ago there was another huge study showing organic foods were better – http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2753446.ece
So you really cannot trust these ‘scientific studies’ as the results are never consistent. its common sense that responsibly grown organic food is better for us, animals and the earth.
02/08/2009 at 9:55 am Permalink
Hi cheeseslave – thanks for that link, Evans looks like a great product. The milk is non-homogenized and low heat pasteurized. I haven’t tried it yet as I’m still getting through some Milk Thistle Farm milk (I wonder why they aren’t listed on Cornucopia?) and hoping for some raw milk next weekend.
Thanks for adding the followup comment button! Awesome.
02/08/2009 at 11:05 am Permalink
Biodynamic farming is the best. I would feel better about buying organic fruits and vegetables from a farm that used biodynamic farming practices.
My limited understanding of organic fruits and vegetables is that there can’t be any pesticides sprayed and no GMO seeds can be used. Is that correct? Is there any concern for how good the soil is with organic fruits and veggies?
I get so confused…I really do. I just learned that organic eggs and meat in my health food store simply means the animals were fed ORGANIC soy and corn and not allowed to graze.
.
03/08/2009 at 6:20 am Permalink
Beyond Pesticides (http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=2190) put up a great rebuttal today to the original study.
03/08/2009 at 1:59 pm Permalink
It’s like comparing a slap across the face to a kiss. Sure, they have the same nutritional value. But, come ON.
01/02/2010 at 8:36 pm Permalink
Hi Ann Marie – I know this is an older post, but I wanted to put a link to an article I wrote back in August of last year about the American Dietetic Association and their stance on organic food. I thought it was particularly relevant, and also maddening, when you think about just how much they are tied to the conventional and industrial food system:
http://www.agriculturesociety.com/?p=1368
I also had a very frustrating conversation at the YMCA where I used to work with the health and fitness director, who explained to me about all her degrees in animal biology and animal farming, and how she grew up on a farm and would have known about the importance of cows being fed grass as being more nutritious if it actually were. She also vehemently took the same stance as much of the news media, the ADA, and many other health “experts” that organic food is not more nutritious nor superior to its conventional counterparts.
I know it’s everywhere, but I think it just reinforces how we must work that much harder to counteract all of these influences and get the word out to as many people as possible.
Raine Saunders´s last blog ..Simply Scrumptious Turkey Fried Rice
21/02/2010 at 12:32 pm Permalink
It is a really helpful information about organic foods. I live in a village and organic foods are very important for us,
there is also a very useful guide that i got great informatin about organic foods:
http://agricultureguide.org/