Don't Be Misled by Marketing!
I've learned that it's important to become an informed organic consumer. I bought an Odwalla drink one day, thinking "Yay! I'm supporting a new, small company!", only to find through Julie's chart that Coca-Cola owns it. Your purchase affects much more than you realize. It will make a difference to everything from the land to the grocery store where you buy the food. You could be supporting a company that claims that their cows are free-range (with unlimited access) when really they are grass-fed (in a “managed” pasture—only being let out to graze at certain times).There are lots of articles online about consumers being misled by marketing—and unfortunately this can still occur even if you are an informed consumer. Large-scale companies and even the USDA have been known to mislead even the most informed consumers. (Scary!) Here are a few examples:
Here is some organic food terminology:- USDA Organic
- This is the government’s label for a product containing at least 95% organic ingredients (stands for U.S. Department of Agriculture)
- Over 70% organic
- This label may read as “made with organic tomatoes and spices” on the front
- Under 70% organic
- This label may read as Organic tomatoes and spices but contain a larger amount of non-organic ingredients.
- Organic, not certified
- This label is made for producers who receive less than $5,000 for their products. They still follow USDA guidelines but do not get the privilege of the seal.
- Natural
- Natural products do not contain artificial flavors or preservatives. This definition has often been blurred—the word “natural” seems to be stuck on anything these days!
- Free-Range
- Livestock are raised with direct access to outdoors
- Grass-Fed
- Livestock are raised in a “managed pasture” where they eat grass instead of the corn & grain, which is harmful to their digestive systems. Sometimes “grass-fed” means that the cows are given grass to eat only a couple of weeks before being milked.
- Biodynamic
- Completely organic but certified by Stellar*
*There are more certifiers to trust than just the USDA label. To learn which ones to trust, look at the web resources below!
Perry, Luddene, and Schultz, Dan. A Field Guide to Buying Organic. Bantam Dell, New York, NY, 2005, p. 16-21
Label Resources:
http://www.eco-labels.org/home.cfm If you are ever unsure about a label, this is a great website to find your information. You can type in the label, the type of food, or the certifier that will take you to the label you weren’t sure about (the category list helps). The label Report Card is also really great—it will tell you how meaningful it is, if it’s publicly available, etc. The site also contains the latest stories about food standards.
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/07-20/food-labels-article.htm This website has an article about the large variety of food labels—most of them I had never seen before! It shows you the large varieties of food today.
http://www.innvista.com/health/foods/organics/labeling.htm I’m not sure how reliable this website is, but it offers interesting ways to double-check your food. An example would be by looking at the number of your organic produce. It also details the difference between “100% organic”, “certified organic”, and “made with organic ingredients”.
http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html This is a great ranking of organic dairy companies. Dairy is a very tricky industry to rely on because definitions are often blurred to benefit the companies’ interests rather than the consumers.