Unfortunately when a particular group “hijacks” a word we end up with strange results. Take, for example, McDonalds Foods attempt to copyright the Mcdonald name despite it being the existing family name for many people throughout the world – strange isn’t it? (Fortunately they failed in that quest). The same applies to “organic”, this word has been adapted by the movement to mean something different from its original meaning.
The word should mean “materials either of plant or animal origin which were once part of a living organism or produced by a living organism” but now some people want organic to mean “food that is produced according to certain standards and is certified organic”.
The problem is that our products are all organic (i.e. of plant or animal origin) but I need to jump through a bunch of hoops and pay huge amounts on money for some organisation to certify this as true. Sorry folks it wouldn’t have grown if it wasn’t of plant or animal origin!
I understand that we as consumers are paying more attention to what goes into producing our food. We want to be sure that only natural ingredients have been used in production, and that’s a good thing, but its not the full story.
Organic certification only certifies that the inputs (feed ingredients, fertilisers, seeds, etc.) are natural (i.e. organic) but has nothing to say about how it was produced. So chicken (or milk, beef, pork, or [insert your product of choice here]) may well be raised under totally inhumane conditions but if it has received organically certified inputs it still qualifies as organic. (No folks – organic has nothing to do with free range – its only chemical free!)
At LeoKop Farm we’re producing our chickens, beef, and lamb off natural feeds in the most humane way possible. We’ll only produce products that we’ll eat ourselves, and you’re welcome to try them for yourselves!
[The definitions of the word "organic" come from Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia - at www.wikipedia.org]
every food that we eat should come from Organic Farming. i really get scared about those toxins coming from chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. I only eat foods which are certified that they are organically grown