The Greenwashing of the Organic Food Movement

100 hundred years ago, there was no such thing as organic because most all farms and food were organic. It wasn’t until World War II when experiments with industrial fertilizers and GMO-foods hit the scene to “feed our troops”.

It was unpatriotic to NOT use chemical fertilizers as the pharmaceutical companies argued that we should do everything in our power to support the Allies in winning the war against Nazi Germany (who ironically was using the same industrial nitrogen to build bombs and kill prisoners and the same technology Firestone used later to deforest Vietnam for rubber harvesting). As a matter of fact, in the UK, a farmer could have his farm taken away by the government if he refused to used chemical fertilizers.

Click Here to Listen to:
Phoenix’ interview with Holistic Hilda on Greenwashing

The Organic Movement

The organic movement began in the early 1900s as a positive response to the emerging use of chemical fertilizers. Farm workers were getting sick from the chemicals applied in the fields.

In the summer of 1924 Rudolph Steiner presented what has been called the first organic agriculture course to a group of over one hundred farmers and others at Koberwitz, now Kobierzyce, Poland. Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture, published in 1924, led to the popularization of biodynamic agriculture, probably the first comprehensive organic farming system. Later Walter James, Lady Balfour, and the Rodale Institute did experiments with organic versus non-organic practices in the UK and US. Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring exposed the toxic effects of DDT and other herbicides and pesticides. 

What diseases are associated with chemicals on our farms and in our food?

1. Cancer: Exposure to certain chemicals in food, such as aflatoxins (mycotoxins), dioxins, benzene (formed from sodium benzoate reaction), and glyphosate has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. 

2. Developmental and Reproductive Outcomes: Pesticides like organophosphate pesticides and chemicals like BPA, phthalates, and PBDEs have been associated with developmental and reproductive harm, including birth defects and hormone disruption. 

3. Neurological Outcomes: Exposure to chemicals like lead, mercury, and PCBs has been linked to neurological damage and developmental delays. 

4. Food-borne Illnesses: Contamination of food with chemicals like antibiotics and hormones in meat and dairy products, can lead to food-borne illnesses, including diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. 

Key Chemicals of Concern: 

• Methylmercury
• PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) 
• PBDEs (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) 
• BPA (Bisphenol A)
• Phthalates 
• Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) 
• Perchlorate 
• Organophosphate pesticides 
• Dioxins 10.Benzene 11.Glyphosphates  

What is GRAS Exemption Status? 

PHR food additives, also known as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) food additives, are substances that are added to food products to enhance their taste, texture, or appearance. 

Some examples of PHR food additives include: 

1. Acidity regulators: These additives help to adjust the pH level of food products, such as citric acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid.
2. Antioxidants: These additives help to prevent the spoilage of food products by preventing the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms, such as BHA, BHT, and TBHQ.
3. Emulsifiers: These additives help to mix and blend different ingredients together, such as lecithin and mono- and diglycerides
4. Flavor enhancers: These additives help to enhance the taste of food products, such as MSG and yeast extract.
5. Preservatives: These additives help to prevent the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms in food products, such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.
6. Stabilizers: These additives help to maintain the texture and consistency of food products, such as carrageenan and guar gum.
7. Sweeteners: These additives help to sweeten food products, such as aspartame and sucralose. 

An ingredient with a GRAS designation is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food additive tolerance requirements. 

Did you say EXEMPTED? Yes. EXEMPTED.

The Beyond Organic Movement

As farming has been slowly identifying and reducing these harmful chemicals from our foods, big companies have produced confusing misnomers to convince us that their food is organic.

Labels that get manipulated are “All Natural”, “Organic”, “Free-Range”, “Grass-fed”, “Pasture- raised”, and “Raw”. Other farming protocols that have come under scrutiny, besides herbicides, pesticides, corn syrup, unhealthy habitats, and GMOs, are antibiotics, growth hormones, vaccines, butcher cleaning protocols, and packaging materials.

Watch this interview with Joe Rogan:
Will Harris - White Oak Farms - Greenwashing at Whole Foods 

Is Your Meat Truly Grass Fed?

Some 'grass fed’ beef comes from cattle raised in grass feedlots, where they are confined in pens and fed grass pellets. Also, “grass -fed” labeling can include finishing cattle on grain -- “Grain Finished” which allows the farmer to add a bunch of weight onto their cattle just before slaughter to get the maximum exchange for their animal. 

What Does Free-Range Mean? 

We would hope that this looks like animals prancing across the countryside like out of a fairy tale. Unfortunately, however, many large-scale egg producers claim their hens are raised on free-range pasture, when in fact the only "pasture" the chickens have access to is a concrete slab that most can’t get to anyway due to the sheer number of chickens in the flock. “Cage-Free” can easily be Greenwashed as well to look like no cages, but still livestock penned up shoulder to shoulder with a tiny door off in the far distant that chickens many never find in their lifetime. 

Is My Meat Really Raised in the U.S.A.?  

Organic standards allow for meat to be raised in other countries and processed, packaged and labeled “Made in the USA”. This means that your grass fed meats are likely grown in Australia, New Zealand or Uruguay supporting their farmers and uses tons of carbon to transport them across the ocean to your table. This also creates a financial burden on farmers who now need to compete against cheap prices in foreign countries who do not pay a living wage to their employees. It’s no wonder US farms are going out of business. But, not US Food companies like Cargill. 

Are Chemicals Used in the Butchering Process? 

USDA and State approved meat processing facilitates must follow guidelines that include cleaning meat to kill bacteria. But, what does this do to your meat and your health? Yes, your meat gets sprayed down with hot water between 130-180 degrees and then sprayed down with chemical cleaners.

The most popular are: 

1. Chlorine
2. Ammonia
3. Carbon Monoxide
4. Other: cetylpyridinium with propylene glycol, aqueous solution of sodium octanoate, potassium octanoate, or octanoic acid and either glycerin and/or propylene glycol and/or a Polysorbate surface active agent
5. Bacteriophages 

WATCH THIS VIDEO: Meat Washing Procedure Department of Food Safety University of Pennsylvania 

Booklet of Meat Washing Procedure Department of Food Safety University of Pennsylvania

Niche Meat Processing Network- Meat Processing Rules & Regulations

Does the hot water and chemicals affect the meat?

Cargill calls it “Finely Textured Beef” – rather than Lactic Acid treated “Toxic Pink Slim”. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather eat clean meat raised in a clean environment than eat meat scalded with hot water and saturated in chemicals. 

What about Poultry? 

USDA requires meat to be chilled below 34F within an hour of the animal being slaughtered. Then, there are two common methods of cleaning: 1) chilled water bath and 2) chilled air blast. 

A chilled water bath is chlorinated water that is chlorinated higher than you would a swimming pool to prevent bacterial growth. Chilled water method causes water infusion into the meat which causes the weight of the meat to increase versus dried air which caused the weight to decrease so you can make more money off your bathed birds. 

USDA mandates that all poultry must be disinfected during processing with paracetic acid, acidified sodium chlorite, or cecure as the post-chill dip and write the HACCP plan so the birds are dripping in the antimicrobial at the actual point of testing. 

Many use sodium hypochlorite (Clorox) since it’s cheap, works quickly and is highly effective. Municipal water suppliers use sodium hypochlorite to chlorinate drinking water at the rate of 1 - 2 PPM. Poultry processors use a solution containing 40 - 50 PPM to clean their cavities and edible organs after gutting to remove bacteria that escaped their digestive tract. Their chilled water baths contain 5 PPM of SH in slightly acidic water (6.5 PH) which improves its potency at lower temperatures. One tablespoon of

Clorox mixed with a gallon of water which will provide 50 - 200 PPM. 

FYI, the UK isn’t buying our chlorinated chicken. 

Do Fish Get “Cleaned”?

Another unrecognizable chemical is sodium tripolyphosphate, used as an "anti-coagulant for use in recovered livestock blood which is subsequently used in food products," says FSIS. According to Food and Water Watch, seafood like scallops, shrimp, hake, sole or imitation crab meat may be soaked in sodium tripolyphosphate to make it appear firmer, smoother and glossier. Sodium tripolyphosphate, "a suspected neurotoxin, as well as a registered pesticide and known air contaminant in the state of California," says Food and Water Watch, which also can make seafood weigh more. To avoid sodium tripolyphosphate, buy fish labeled as “dry,” and avoid seafood marked as “wet.” 

What about Honey Bees?

Yes. Even honey bees can receive pesticides to kill mites and be fed processed sugar to get them through the winter. Beekeepers need to not heat the honey above 93 degrees to be truly RAW. And, yes, even Queen bees can be vaccinated. 

Why Do Farmers Use Chemicals?

Farming is a difficult vocation to make a living these days. With government subsidies for following the rules created by government collaboration with Big Pharma, it’s even more difficult for organic farmers. When it takes a month longer to raise chickens on any other protein source than soy and when cows can’t possibly achieve weights on grass like they can with hormones and GMO-soy, I understand why farmers are temped to make the trade. 

It also has been a political knee-jerk reaction. You just mention the the word “organic” and conservative farmers think your a hippie and don’t know a damn thing about farming. And, snobby organic hippie farmers, can’t pull their heads out of the clouds and face the “on the ground “ challenges of farming. In my opinion, both sides need to have some humility, and curiosity to keep working on solutions to make farming more profitable and sustainable and recognize that it’s the corporate giants, like Monsanto, Bayer, and Cargill and their executives that are keeping us afraid of nature, telling us that science is smarter than nature, capitalizing on their war against nature, making us afraid of nature, keeping us divided, keep us dependent on their chemicals to save us from big bad nature, capitalizing on our disease, and making it difficult for our children to receive our God-given birthright of optimal health. 

How can I know if my food is TRULY organic? 

The best way is to know your farmer, visit the farm, and ask good questions.

What Are Some Good Watchdog Organizations?

American Grassfed Association 

Since, the USDA has dropped their definition, AGA’s standards and certification has been recognized as the leading definition and standard for grass fed meat and dairy production by multiple industry leading organizations. 

Cornucopia 

Research brands and investigate the industry to identify and elevate authentic organic foods and farmers, while we scrutinize the USDA National Organic Program’s enforcement and application of the organic law. 

Rodale Institute 

Conducts independent research to uncover and share regenerative organic farming practices that restore soil health, fight climate change, and fix the food system. 

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements 

Facilitating the transition of farmers to organic agriculture, raise awareness of the need for sustainable production and consumption, and advocate for a policy environment conducive to agro-ecological farming practices and sustainable development. 

What about Farm Bill 2023 (H.R. 2814/S907)? 

It’s just a smoke screen. While it removes the authority of the USDA to oversee butchering practices, it still only covers in state commerce and delegates the over site to the state department's of agriculture which can many times like in the State of Pennsylvania be more overbearing than the USDA. If it passes, it certainly will create more obstacles for Amos Miller.

Burke’s Garden Farm and Alpine Heritage Creamery are both “Beyond Organic”.

Our A2/A2 cheese happens to be certified organic, but the way we choose to farm is led by our hearts and our beliefs.

The thing is, we’d rather spend our time farming instead of spending our time filling out paperwork and paying extra money for a “label.”

We would rather put our energy into creating real relationships with our customers and educating folks on what we do and why we do it. Besides, as we have discussed an organic label or USDA label may mask true organic practices. 

Check out Cornucopia - Alpine Heritage Creamery to see our rating on our raw A2/A2 cheeses. 

Burke’s Garden Farm is fairly new and has not yet been evaluated. I hope to submit the farm to Cornucopia’s test soon. 

In the meantime, I can tell you, ALL of our animals are managed with rotational grazing methods on 900 acres of pasture 365 days of the year to give the animals maximum nutrients and fertilize and regenerate our pastures.

No exceptions.

Our beef, our pigs, our sheep, our goats, our turkeys are outdoors getting fresh grass, grubs, sunshine, fresh air, and fresh water from the creeks and springs in a high-elevation circular valley surrounded by mountains, protected from city or industrial pollution.

Our pastured chickens get the same amazing grass, water, and view however, they are in mobile chicken tractors which protect from predators eating them before we do. And, our baby chicks are raised in indoor brooders until they are old enough to survive the inclement outdoor weather. 

• Our animals eat NO chemicalized or GMO feeds.
• Our animals receive NO Vaccinations
• Our animals receive NO Antibiotics
• Our animals receive NO Growth Hormones
• Our dairy cows, beef cows, sheep, and goats eat only grass from our pristine, chemical-free pastures and haylage in the winter time grown on our farm. (We use a handful of grain to get our most stubborn goats to go where we want)
• All our dairy cows are tested A2/A2 Beta-Casein
• All our cheeses are made with NO GMO-Pfizer rennets. Click Here to read more
• All our cheeses are raw, never exceeding 102 degrees.
• Most of our cheeses are certified organic. 

Click here to read more about Our farms, Our Philosophy, Our Protocols, and see Photos of our animals 

The areas that we get lower scores (which doesn’t impact our overall 5-star score) from Cornucopia is that we have 2 different lines of products that we sell to different audiences. They would prefer to see just one premium line, understandably.

Because going beyond is more expensive to produce, some of our customers prefer to save some money by purchasing our other products. And, we are clear about this in our promotional material and on our farms to ensure you get the quality that you are requesting. 

What changes have we made over the years to go Beyond Organic? 

Simply Grassfed continues to evolve and grow as we learn more about producing healthy animals and healthy food. 

• We now only clean our beef with apple cider vinegar
• We now clean our pastured pork with NOTHING and feed only soy-free feed We now offer a soy-free line of Freedom Ranger chickens
• We now offer a line of soy-free turkey
• We now ship our products in biodegradable or recyclable cardboard insulated boxes
• We offer a no-salt cheddar cheese and a Kosher cheddar 

What areas can we grow? 

I, personally, would like to see us experiment with:  

• Using air chilling for our poultry
• Vacuum packaging with hemp instead of plastic
• Eliminating all chemical cleaners and replace with apple cider vinegar Culturing our own cheese rennet
• Creating a sugar-free beef stick Making more flavors of no-salt cheese
• Many of these are a dance with the USDA as they control what we can do and cannot do for interstate commerce.
   

Here’s some strange requirements that they imposed on us recently: 

We cannot label our Pepper Jack, Pepper Jack any longer. The USDA now has legal descriptions of cheeses and Pepper Jack must be pasteurized. The same goes for Mozzarella. Some of you may notice we will be changing the name on our Pepper Jack to Paradise Pepper and Mozzarella to Medarella. 

This is some of the red tape we must endure to maintain a USDA certification, which seems to be a smoke screen from focusing what’s really important for healthy cheese which intelligent consumers want raw. 

In Conclusion 

Be diligent about your questioning, know your farmer, demand clean food for your family, and be willing to pay for it. 

We are not perfect at Simply Grassfed. We do believe transparency is the best policy. As we continue to learn and grow, and will do our best to be honest and produce the healthiest food and healthiest farms made in the USA. 

We are always open to feedback and maybe one day we won’t need to label food “Organic” or “Beyond Organic”, because only “Beyond Organic” will be the norm again like it was 100 years ago. 

And, our children and our planet will be healthy again like it was 100 years ago. If you ever have any questions at all, please feel free to ask. 

Phoenix
Simply Grassfed Connecting Food and Health
 

References:

5 Dangerous Substances the Food Industry is Pumping into your Meat-Alternet/Salon
How to Know if your Chicken’s are bathed in Chlorine – Miller’s BioFarm?
Is This the End of Good Beef Products? - Joseph Mercola
We Want Real Food, by Graham Harvey
Most Grass Fed Beef is Imported, The Gazette
U.S.D.A. Country of Origin Labeling
War on Global Agriculture – Global Research
Look to the Land (1940), Walter James
Haughley Experiment, Lady Balfour, 1939-1980, Organic fed animals required from 12-15% less input of food, were healthier, and lived longer than their conventional counterparts.
An Agricultural Testament, Sir Albert Howard
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson (DDT)