GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

Food Labels Decoded, Biodynamic

9/30/2013

Biodynamic

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Most of us never saw this label, but this label is old! Named after the Greek goddess of grain and fertility. United States establishment in 1928, the Demeter certification program is the first label to stand for ecological steps taken when producing organic foods. Today Demeter International is the largest organization to provide certification for biodynamic agriculture.

The real start to this label was in Berlin, Germany, one year earlier in 1927 and awarded a Trademark in 1928. However in 1941 Demeter no longer existed due to the Nazi Government terminating the Union for Biodynamic Agriculture. Reestablished after the Second World War and now known as Demeter International since 1997, the label is on each continent of Earth.

Old Label

Certification is not easy to obtain and must be renewed annually. However, the certification verifies the fulfillment of many standards that guarantees this farmer using the Demeter label is producing high quality food products for the consumers. The reward is justification for receiving a higher price on the food certified with the “Demeter” label.

Biodynamic farmers foster a sustainable environment by working a biodiversity and ecosystem preservation with on-site composting, crop rotation, soil husbandry, livestock integration, no genetically engineered organisms and having a farm that is a "living holistic organism".

Not bad for an old label named after a Greek goddess, not bad at all.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Food Labels Decoded, Animal Welfare Institute

9/26/2013

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Animal Welfare Institute

GMOs, Going Green, AWI, Food labels, Animal Welfare Institute, Going True Green, GTG, Bill Lauto, substain living, food supply, Food labels decoded

AWI's Label

This is the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) label. Guidelines from the AWI to administer this label are very stringent. This label is also seen the least because only independent family farms receive permission to apply the label to their meat being sold. Most people consider this symbol to represent the market's most humanely treated farm animals.

With this label you know that the animals are not kept in cages, crates, sow crates or on tethers. Genetic engineering, hormones to produce unnatural growth and weight gain are not allowed. Antibiotics to compensate for unsanitary living conditions, feed that has genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or supplements or animal products, are prohibited. Animals will not experience hot branding, tail-docking, debeaking or detusking of breeding male pigs.

Basically, this label states the above as well as the fact that animals are allowed to live a natural life. There are no overcrowded facilities and the animals can move about freely. Abundant water must always be available, along with continuous access to the outdoors and shelter. All farmers agree to comply with all visits by the AWI or any of the AWI's agents.

Open Pasture

Free to Cluck

Roaming Free

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Food Labels Decoded, American Humane Certified

9/23/2013

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American Humane Certified or Free Farmed

American Humane Label

Have you seen this label on your food?

What this label tells you is that the producer must be 100 percent in compliance to be certified. However, a violation or two when the first inspection is done will not automatically disqualify the producer. Depending on the issues, the producer or farmer will be allowed to correct all violations to comply.

What you need to know is what does the label stand for as far as "being in" compliance.
A summary of the answer is: Farm animals with this label are raised free from stress and have facilities that allow the animals to live life normally.

So you may depend on the fact that all these animals have access to adequate food and water. They will have non-crowded spaces and the freedom to move about. Cages, crates, tethers or any other form of confinement are not allowed. Also no hormones or therapeutic antibiotics can be used and the animals are allowed to behave naturally.
However, freedom to move about and not be in crowded spaces, does not mean the producer or farmer has to provide the animals with outdoor spaces.

The following can be allowed with this label:

Sow in farrowing crate

Sow crates or gestation crates that are made of metal wire and used with intensive pig farming. A female pig may be kept in a gestation crate during pregnancy. Outgrowing the crate causes the sows to sleep on their chests because there is no room to turn around. Only a few days before birth will the sow be moved to a farrowing crate that provides space to lie down and nurse the piglets. The big debate about the crates has the producers stating they are necessary because sows who occupy the same living space will fight and animal advocates claiming this to be the most inhumane feature to intensive animal agriculture.

Tail-docking

Tail-docking may be done to make the animal's tail short and reduce the build up of feces. This also prevents the tossing of feces when a full tail is used to swat flies. However, when not done correctly, problems such as rectal prolapse and ill thrift may occur.

Debeaking may be done and this is when one half of the beak is removed or trimmed. This is seen by some as a preventive measure to avoid injury when feather pecking occurs. Feather pecking is a behavior problem seen frequently among domestic egg producing hens. This is also seen as a preventive measure to vent pecking that frequently occurs immediately after an egg has been laid. The cloaca often remains partly everted and this will expose the mucosa red from the physical trauma of bleeding if the tissue is torn by the hen laying an oversized egg. Vent pecking causes pain to the bird being pecked and torn skin will only increase the chance of disease or cannibalistic actions leading to death.

Hen debeaked

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Food Labels Decoded, Allergen

9/17/2013

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ALLERGEN LABELING

When I was a young, I had friends who were allergic to strawberries or shell fish. I myself was allergic to pollen from certain flowers and weeds, but my knowledge of allergens and allergies was still very obscure. Labels on food products to help notify people of potential allergic reactions were also obscure even though in 1938 the US FDA did require foods that had two or more ingredients to host a label listing each attribute by its common name.

Going True Green, going green, food labels, food labels decoded, Food allergies, FALCPA, peanut allergy, allergen labeling, fish allergy, Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, epipen, epipens

Allergen info on pretzel nuggets

Today the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004 and revised in 2006, mandates that all items for sale that contain any of the eight major food allergen groups be clearly identified on a label and in plain English. Items such as dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat (gluten), tree nuts like walnuts or cashews and peanuts.

One type of Allergen Labeling is shown on the left.

EpiPen

Unfortunately about 12 million Americans have a food allergy. That is about 1 out of every 25 people in America according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Also of the 12 million Americans with food allergies, about 3 million are children. Emergency Rooms in the United States receive about 30,000 visits per year that deal with allergic reactions to food. Despite all the labels on foods that can cause life threatening reactions, the labels alone are not a solution and people should still carry an epinephrine autoinjector (EpiPen) when advised to do so by a doctor.

NEXT LABEL: American Humane Certified or Free Farmed
Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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Food Labels Decoded, Introduction

9/12/2013

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INTRODUCTION

cup cake, cup cakes, sustainable food, going true green, essential foods, eating healthy

Cup cakes are essential for many people

If you desire to live a true green life, then on your journey that has you going true green, a realization must occur about our fundamental and essential levels of existence. Our basic needs to exist must be addressed with intellectual assessments. What we eat is part of going true green and inherent to all of us. Sustainability practices include what we eat. For me, as I learn more details each year, I want to grow more of my own food and buy less. However, we all continue to go food shopping and struggle to avoid that impulse purchase of those... You know, little chocolate cakes stuffed and topped with cream.

A survey conducted in the U.S. showed that 25% of food shoppers make their purchases based on health, environmental concerns and social justice. An earlier posting on my blog talked about LOHAS, the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. The title was Speaking Greenish: Part Seven and published on May 28, 2013. With this 25% of food shoppers buying based on health and sustainability, companies found these results to be profitable with almost 3 billion in sales for this market.

However the shopper is going NUTS trying to understand food labels just to buy healthy and support a sustainable environment. Most people will invest a limited amount of time to get beyond the confusion of all the labels, but without real government guidelines and laws, consumers find themselves in a quandary.

Our goal at GTG is to help clear the confusion with explanations of these important labels. Each week a new posting will be presented and when completed, our Category called Food Labels Decoded, can be used anytime as a reference tool. There are several different labels on the market, here are a few examples:

Allergen Labeling, Biodynamic, Cage-Free, Farm Raised, Heart Healthy, Hormone-Free Meat or rBGH-Free Dairy, Natural, All Natural, 100% Natural, Organic, 100% Organic, Rainforest Alliance, Shade Grown, UTZ Certified, 100% Vegetarian Ingredients, Wild Caught.

In the end, the solution is not with companies working to produce more food with GMOs on less farms to feed the masses, but with more people being allowed to grow their own 100% Organic food, unrestricted by legal battles!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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The Great Can Opener Race

9/3/2013

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ELECTRIC

VS

MANUAL

"I tell you folks, a major crowd has gathered at this GTG Blog posting page for the big race...

The sleek all powerful ELECTRIC can opener VS the old, its too much work, MANUAL can opener.

... Annnnnd the race is on!"

Jack scrambles to the bottom kitchen cabinet to get his electric can opener.
Maria opens the utility draw next to the kitchen sink.
Jack is moving his Juicer out of the way!
Maria takes out her manual can opener!

"What a race, what a race I tell ya!"

Jack reaches all the way to the back and grabs his electric can opener.
Maria takes the can of corn and puts her manual can opener on the edge.
Jack puts his electric can opener on the counter above him!
Maria is turning her manual can opener.

"Maria has the lead!"

Jack plugs in his electric can opener!
Maria puts the lid from the can into the recycling bin.
Maria smiles! Jack Loses!

"Oooh what a race! Manual wins!"

That was a bit of fun when imagining the announcer's high-octane voice, but let us look at all the facts for this: First, even if Jack didn't have to dig out his electric can opener, Maria would still have won or tied. When opening one, two or three cans, there isn't much difference in time. Also it is true that an electric can opener uses very little electricity.

BUT PLEASE REALIZE THE BIG PICTURE.
- Did you ever RECYCLE an electric can opener?
- A broken Manual can opener has a higher chance of being recycled.
- Think of all the resources consumed and energy produced to make electric can openers.
- Then there is the electric bill, no matter how small the consumption, electrical energy adds up!
For example: If your electric can opener uses 175 watts for only one hour per month that will cost .38 per year on the electric bill for people living in the areas of America's highest charging utilities. Now take this cost and all the non-renewable fuels such as oil, gas, and coal that are used to make that electricity. Then add that up for everyone in America buying and using an electric can opener.
The number is not very little at all for the REAL COST to us and for fuel consumed.

Now wait a minute... don't stop reading this post yet!
Yes, there are a few more facts to realize:

Ask yourself this question - Do you only own an electric can opener or do you also have a manual can opener?

Well your answer might be an eye-opener...

- We don't bring an electric can opener with us when camping out with any Scout Troop or a family reunion at the beach or park. Have you ever see an electric can opener used at a Tailgate party before the big game?
No, we all bring the manual can opener.

- When a big storm hits and knocks out the utilities for three days, we are opening cans with the manual can opener.

There are only two reasons for using an electric can opener:

1.) When a person has difficulties because of arthritis or another challenge.
2.) When we are opening several cans for a large dinner party and because of reason number one, this will be difficult.

There is also one big long-term health reason not to buy products in cans:
1.) BPA is in cans. We just might be better off buying our food products in glass jars or waxed lined cardboard containers. (For more info on BPAs, visit our Going True Green page)

RECYCLE THE ELECTRIC CAN OPENER, USE THE MANUAL and save money, save energy, save Earth!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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