Buying Into Labels

We Americans love good marketing…  Anyone over 35 years old remembers the first time we saw the grouchy old lady at the burger joint say, “Where’s the BEEF?”  Clever marketing sticks… as it is designed to do.  And we have been taught (quite without being aware of it) to hum along and enjoy the ride. 

Which is all mostly harmless and sometimes even downright funny.  Clever marketing is, well, CLEVER!  And sometimes highly entertaining… 

But at what point does the whole thing become absurd?  I think we’re there.  It seems that people have finally come to start believing, at least on some level, that the ditties contain some semblance of fact… and therein lies the danger.  The marketing has been done so well and so thoroughly, that we have stopped even pausing to consider that the words don’t actually MEAN anything.

I’m going to tell you a couple of stories.  All I can say to preface them is that as ridiculous as these sound, they are true stories, and they are not about stupid people – they are about regular people who have simply stopped thinking about it. 

My sister Emily has a flock of chickens, and she sells eggs from her home.  She has a hand painted sign at the top of the driveway – Fresh Eggs For Sale - $3.50/dozen.  She has regular customers, and also a lot of random folks just driving in.

One afternoon, she had a woman that she didn’t know stop in.  The chickens wander around the yard, and the woman had to stop several times just to drive in and not run over any of the hens.  She got out of the car and asked Emily, “Do you have eggs?”  Emily said yes and asked how many the woman would like.  “Oh, just a dozen.  Uhm, but do you have a dozen brown eggs?”  Emily has a mixed flock – her chickens lay brown, white, green, pink, and bluish eggs, but she had enough that she was able to put together a dozen of all brown ones. 

So she said sure, and asked the woman to wait while she ran inside and rearranged a dozen eggs, all brown.  As she was doing it, she became curious – Did the woman have a finicky child at home?  Why else would someone care what color the shells were?  So when she went back out to hand over the dozen brown eggs, she decided to ask why they all had to be brown.  The woman, standing there on the porch and surrounded at this point by Emily’s curious hens, said, (as though it should be entirely obvious) “Well, brown eggs are local.”

(Can you hear the jingle in your head?? …”Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh…”) Wow.  As though the Americana hens she had just tripped over were somehow not local???

Another afternoon, an older gentleman driving a big old Lincoln came down the drive.  Again, he had to go slowly to avoid running down the hens.  He parked and got out of the car, shuffling through the flock to get to the front door…Emily’s chickens are convinced that “people” equal “food treats”, and they cluster hopefully around every new arrival.  Emily had seen the man coming, and, worried he might stumble over the hens, met him at the door before he even knocked.  He said he was interested in a dozen eggs.  Emily said sure and went and fetched the eggs from her fridge.  The man took the eggs, but then just as he was giving her the money to pay for them, stopped.  He said, “Oh wait!  My wife wanted to be sure I asked - are the chickens free range?”  Again my poor sister almost choked, trying not to laugh, and thinking, “What exactly do you think you were tripping over as you walked through the yard to my front door?”

Again, Wow.  My sister swears that these were intelligent, normal people, and I believe her.  Intelligent, normal people want to believe that these catchy little labels mean that the food they are about to eat is fresh, safe, and humane, and that they if only they make sure to buy the right label, they can feel good about what they are eating.  Cage-free.  Certified Organic.  Free-Range.   They sound good.  They certainly sound like they mean something.

Unfortunately, these are industry terms now, and they don’t mean much of anything anymore.  These descriptions all started off meaning something – something that differentiated a product from what is produced on a huge scale in disgusting and often brutal conditions.  But with each new term that decent farmers come up with, it is only a matter of time before it is legally defined by big agriculture, and basically redefined to mean next to nothing.

Cage Free.  An intelligent and normal person would assume that this term means that the animal didn’t spend its life in a cage.  Right?  I mean Basic English would give you that general impression…  Under the legal definition, though, it simply means that the cage was 11 inches by 11 inches, instead of the industry standard of 7 by 7.

Certified Organic.  Sounds powerful and serious.  But all it means now is that the pesticides and fertilizers need to be derived from a “natural” source.  And if you think that makes the food safe and free of chemicals, please read the piece on Organic Pesticides.  Organic used to mean a whole lot, and to some good farmers, it still does.  But legally, and on a corporate scale, it no longer means much of anything at all.

Free-Range.  You picture chickens wandering around on open land, don’t you?  That’s what it should mean, and what it used to mean.  On the industrial farm, unfortunately, it isn’t cost-effective to allow chickens to roam about on pasture.  By the current legal definition, it simply means that they have to offer the chickens the option of movement and the option of fresh air at some point.  So they raise the chickens in huge masses – inside and in the dark – and at the point that they are quite sure not a single one would opt to wander through a little hatchway to a bright spot, they open the hatch to a tiny little patch of grass that a chicken has never – and will never – venture onto.

The latest popular terms are Grass Fed, Pasture Raised, and Humanely Raised.  So far, I believe these still mean basically what a normal person would assume they mean – the animals eat grass, they are allowed to roam freely on pasture, and they are not mistreated or abused… But by next week, I’m sure they won’t mean that much anymore, not if industrial agriculture realizes that the public is asking for them…

Consumers are trying.  We want to eat clean, healthy food.  We want to know that the animal that provided our dinner lived a humane life.  We try to buy the right things.  We ask for the labels that should, by all rights, mean what they sound like they mean.  But the slight of hand in our food system would put Harry Houdini himself to shame.  Industrial agriculture has a LOT to gain from telling us the lies we want to hear.  Each term they usurp and redefine (and gut, in my opinion) makes them a huge profit, and almost like magic, each one in turn is sucked dry of every drop of meaning it once possessed.

So, what are you supposed to do?  You want to eat good food.  You want to know that it is clean, free of poisons, and that it was raised properly.  If the food is from an animal (dairy, meat, or eggs), you want to know that the animal that provided your dinner was treated humanely, right?  I certainly do, and like most people, I assume that what I consider important, just about everyone considers important…

All you really need to do is this:  Don’t buy labels!  Get the facts about your food!  Get to know the people who raised it.  It’s not difficult – actually, you’ll probably have a really good time.  I mean, farmers are a very enjoyable group.  They have a sense of humor by definition.  (If they don’t, they won’t be farming for long.)  They also are intelligent, kind, and patient (more prerequisites for the job).  Your local farmers are some of the best people you are ever likely to meet.  And all you have to do to get the food you honestly want to eat is to get to know them a little. 

Check out your local farmers’ market and talk to the farmers.  Ask about how they raise your food.  They’ll tell you.  It’s that simple.  On most local farms, you’ll find some things you will NEVER find at the grocery store:  People who live where they farm, who eat the food that they raise and feed it to their own families, and people who personally care about the health and welfare of the land and of their livestock.  You will find good people and good food.  There are no jingles, it’s true, and there is maybe a shortage of fancy labels at the market too, but don’t we have enough of those anyway?

Organic Pesticides

Most people believe that "certified organic" is synonymous with "pesticide-free" or "chemical-free." It isn’t. Surprised? You’re not alone there – you’ve been very deliberately led to believe that "Certified Organic" means, "Clean," "Safe," and "Free of Poisons." It doesn’t necessarily mean any of these things.

As organically raised produce, dairy, and meats came into large demand about 20 years ago, corporate farms became concerned. They were losing market share to small, organic producers, and no amount of pooh-poohing organic practices – no amount of insistence that chemicals are perfectly safe in your food, nor even that organic produce was dangerous – seemed to be making any difference.

What to do? Well, the quickest way to allow these big corporate farms to become organic was to simply redefine the rules of what was permitted to carry the label, which is exactly what happened. (Kind of like lowering the poverty rate by changing the definition of "poor" to a lower income level…)

Organic producers are permitted to use pesticides, and many do. The permitted chemicals must be derived from natural sources, and guidelines state that most of them should only be used when other, non-chemical means of controlling pests are exhausted. Among the permitted pesticides are Copper compounds, Pyrethrums, and, believe it or not, Rotenone is making a comeback as well.

So you’re probably saying to yourself, well, if they’re "natural," they can’t be dangerous, right? Another common but woefully inaccurate assumption…

Take copper, for example. Copper is natural, but then, so is lead, so is mercury! And you don’t want a whole lot of any one of them in your food! Copper, as you know, is a metal. The human body needs very little of it to be healthy. In larger amounts, copper is highly toxic. * (see footnote)

Insects, being small to microscopic, need very low doses of copper to be poisoned, but here’s the rub – Copper dust washes away (or blows away) and needs to be reapplied over and over in order to remain at effective levels to kill or deter pests. And with each application, 3 things happen – the people applying the copper get it on their skin and in their eyes and lungs, the plants hold onto a little bit, and the surrounding soil absorbs the rest. Well, okay, 4 things happen– some little bugs are also poisoned.

Copper remains on the leaf of a treated plant for up to 2 weeks, and remains in the soil more or less forever. Each season when copper is applied, the levels in the soil increase. Future generations of crops will perhaps absorb some copper, but not enough to significantly reduce the measurable levels in the soil (and of course those plants then also have copper in their tissues). People applying the copper are exposed to the most dangerous levels of all – over and over again with each application.

So, but, now you’re probably thinking that the guidelines guarantee that organic farmers are following the recommendations – only using these chemicals when everything else has failed… maybe you even hope they are testing their soils for toxic levels of copper… you would certainly be right to hope so. But, these are only guidelines; they are not generally enforced. So once again, the frightening truth is that not all organic farms observe these guidelines. Some farmers, on large operations and small, pay not the slightest bit of attention to them.

Last year when the tomato blight affected Valley tomatoes again, many organic farms tilled the tomatoes under, rather than applying copper to the plants (and, inevitably, to farm workers and the soil). Some others were fortunate enough to avoid the blight, or harvest tomatoes in spite of some infected plants. Unfortunately, still others got out the copper and just started spraying. One popular organic farm attests that they sprayed copper every 3 days to keep the blight under control on their tomatoes.

The bottom line is that NOT ALL ORGANIC PRODUCE IS EQUAL, not even here in the Valley. Not all certified organic food is clean, or free from toxic substances. Organic is only a label, and it tells you a lot less about what you are eating than it should. There are some organic farmers (many of them in this Valley) who don’t use poisons at all – naturally derived or otherwise - to raise food. There are also fair numbers of them who follow the recommendations conscientiously and use very small (and for the most part, harmless) amounts of pesticides, and only when other means have truly been exhausted.

How are you supposed to know which farm uses which practices and pesticides?

As long as you are buying locally raised food, this one has a simple answer: ASK! Ask your farmers about their growing practices. Ask whether they use pesticides of any sort and what/how often/how much they apply. Make your decisions based on information, not on labeling. (You are still safe in the case of “Pesticide-Free” produce, which is required, as the label implies, to be entirely free of pesticides.) You have a right and a responsibility to get honest information about the food you eat – don’t hesitate to ask the necessary questions!

If you are buying food from distant farms, organic or otherwise, the truth is that you just don’t know – you simply can’t know – what you’re really eating. So buy local, know your farmer, and don’t be afraid to ask about growing practices!

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* Footnote – This page contains the specific symptoms & pathologies of copper toxicity in humans from Cornell University’s Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management. If you have any interest in organic pesticides, their uses and risks, this site is well worth reading.


Cornell University’s Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management - Copper Compounds

To Wash or Not To Wash

Should you wash fresh eggs?

There seems to be a lot of debate on the topic lately.  I've had several folks ask me recently whether I wash my eggs and why.  The assumption seems to be that "good" eggs wouldn't require washing; there seems to be a vague sentiment that washing is strictly for commercial eggs produced under filthy conditions.  This is an understandable perception, but it's not necessarily true.

I do wash my eggs.  I use cool water, a drop of dish soap, and a little scrubby pad, and gently clean the entire surface of the shell.  Usually, the eggs look no different after washing than they did before washing - they rarely have any visible dirt on them.  It's not about making "pretty" eggs; it's strictly about making sure the eggs are safe to eat.

Why would an unwashed egg be unsafe?  Well, it's because a perfectly healthy hen can carry Salmonella and other potentially harmful bacteria in her digestive tract.  For the chicken, this causes no trouble at all.  But as everyone knows, people exposed to Salmonella can get very sick. You might think that if you keep a nice clean coop and nice clean nesting boxes, the eggs should be safe to eat without washing (especially since no one eats the shell anyway).  In most cases, this is true.  It is not always true, however.

And here is why:  Chickens have what's called a "vent."  This vent is the single "exit" from a bird's body.  Both eggs and excrement pass through the vent.  Which means that an egg is potentially exposed to bird waste (and thus, the bacteria in the bird's digestive system) before it ever even sees the light of day!  The egg may look perfectly clean, but is it?

To me, the obvious choice is to take no chances.

We all know that commercial eggs are washed.  They have to be.  But once you wash an egg, you have probably removed some of the protective coating on the surface of the egg, particularly if you use a chemical and or mechanical wash.  The coating is nature's way of preventing a growing chick from drying out during incubation.  But chick or no chick, loss of that coating also means that the egg won't store very long.

Commercially produced eggs have to have an incredibly long shelf life - I've heard estimates that the average age of an egg on the grocery store shelf is measured in months before you even buy it!  If you want an egg to still be even remotely edible at that age, you have to keep it from drying out.

So what to do if you are a commercial producer and you don't want your washed eggs to go bad before they are sold, perhaps months later?  You treat them.  You roll them around in a starchy substance after washing to compensate for the loss of the natural coating the egg once had.  With treatment, the egg will hold onto its moisture content and store for long periods of time.

I'm not saying there is anything inherently evil about the starch used to treat eggs.  For most people, it makes no difference whether it's on an egg shell or not.  But let's back up a moment to the larger question:  

Why would you want to eat an egg that has sat in a refrigerator for months on end? 

Even with washing, treating, and refrigeration, eggs that have been stored for long periods of time are watery and flavorless.  I'd be willing to bet that they've lost a fair portion of their nutritional value by the time you buy them too.  Even if it's safe to eat eggs that have been stored a long time, it's not going to be a culinary experience of any greatness...

The real trouble with commercial eggs isn't the washing.  It isn't even the starch treatment.  It's the age!

If you buy your eggs, I recommend buying them fresh from a local producer, and to ask whether and how they are washed.

If you are raising your own birds, I would definitely encourage you to wash your eggs. 

Here are some other recommendations for producing great eggs:

• For washing, use cool water, not hot water.  Hot water can open the pores in the shell and potentially allow bacteria to penetrate the egg.
• If you use soap, choose a natural, food-safe detergent, preferably phosphate-free and biodegradable.
• Be gentle with the protective coating.  If you are washing by hand, you can generally leave that coating unharmed and your eggs will maintain their moisture and flavor better.
• Wash as soon as possible after collecting the eggs.  There is no point in allowing any bacteria that may be present to sit around on the shells.
• Keep your chickens healthy - provide good food, clean water, and plenty of space for them to run around
• Keep your coops, yards, and nesting areas clean