Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Kendall and Rebecca discuss the complexities of agricultural product labels, focusing on terms like "organic," "all natural," and "no hormones added." They also address the nuances of "local" and "native" labels, emphasizing consumer education and the significance of informed purchasing decisions. Resources for further learning are provided, including the Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers and the University of Nebraska's meat labeling series.
Show notes:
Show notes:
Legal Guide for NH Agricultural Producers - https://extension.unh.edu/resource/legal-guide-new-hampshire-agricultural-producers
UNH Dairy Research TMR (Total Mix Ratio) -
USDA National Organic Standards Board - https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/nosb
NOFA – Northeast Organic Farming Association - https://nofa.org/
MOFGA – Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association - https://www.mofga.org/
University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension, 3-part series on meat labeling - https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/beef/3039/17310
Vermont Law College - https://www.vermontlaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Local-Food-Definitions.pdf
Poultry and Rabbit Producers class at Extension - https://extension.unh.edu/event/2024/10/food-safety-poultry-rabbits-producers
Shared Soil Food Episodes - https://extension.unh.edu/resource/shared-soil-podcast
NH Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food - https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/
Thumbnail Photo for episode:
Transcript:
Welcome to this episode of Shared Soil, a podcast dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges and encouraging personal and professional growth for all people in agriculture. My name is Kendall Kunelius, and I'm a field specialist in the area of agricultural business management.
I'm Rebecca Dube, and I provide technology and support to the members of Extension.
And in this episode, it's just us, just the two of us. We've had a lot of episodes where we interview people, but we thought today we'd have a conversation on the topic of technical terms. So since this podcast really focuses on educating farmers and educating consumers, which it's kind of like that Venn diagram, right? Like we overlap between the two. Not all consumers are farmers, but all farmers are still consumers. We want to make sure that we're touching on these topics of agricultural products, because it's the people who make them and the people that consume them that need to be educated about what they actually are and the labels that go on those products. So labeling is a very tightly controlled aspect of the agricultural industry. So we have things like marketing labels, we've got Weights and Measures that tells you how much the product contains or weighs. And it's for many good reasons that it's tightly controlled, because we're looking at terms that have a certain meaning associated with them, that either carry understand better understanding things about your health if you consume that product. But also, some of these terms are just used as marketing, so to kind of incentivize you to purchase that product. And we're kind of digging into that, what do these mean, and why should these marketing terms, or why should these labels entice you to either purchase that item? Or do they really mean what they say? Are you getting the bang for your buck if you're purchasing an item that has a label that maybe a product right next to it doesn't. So we also wanted to pay attention to this topic at this time of year when farmers markets may not be as readily available. So if you are someone who shops at farmers markets or on-farm Farm Stores - the growing season is over, so you may be transitioning from accessing your food at a farm stand or a farmer's market back to going to the grocery store. So I think this is a very timely topic for us to cover. I also want to add that we are going to be citing our sources very carefully for this podcast, because we are going to be using some really technical definitions, so you can find all of these sources that we're going to be touching on in the show notes. And I highly recommend that you take a look at one source in particular, the Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers, it's a free resource on the Extension website. You can download it and take a look at it and use this to help guide your shopping decisions, but also, if you're a producer, guide your labeling decisions as well. Sure. Yeah. So with that, let's set up a scenario. You're walking down the meat aisle at the grocery store, and you see two packages of chicken next to each other. One has labels like organic, non GMO, vegetarian-fed. The other has a marketing call out that says the product is all natural and no hormones added. What do these terms mean? And how do you know where to look to understand their definition in the context of the food?
Yeah, you know, Kendall, it can be so confusing. I can look at one package of chicken and see in larger letters that it's all natural and the package also boasts no antibiotics ever, and in smaller print, the animal has no hormones or steroids, that it's 100% vegetarian-fed and raised cage free. Now, does this package make me want it more than another brand? That's what it's made to do. But let's take a closer look at each of these claims. Now, first of all, all natural is not the same as organic, and we'll get to that in a minute. But first, let's talk about the claim of no hormones or antibiotics. This is a great claim, something you want in your meat, but it's not the special extra effort of this one supplier giving you extra bang for your buck. According to the USDA, added hormones cannot be used in hog, poultry, or bison production. So that's going to be a given for any of these products that you buy. In fact, producers can only make the claim on their packaging if it's followed by the statement "federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry or pork." However, this is usually in tiny print somewhere else on the package. It's not that big in your face, hey, we're great. We have no antibiotics or hormones! Or, I should say, additional hormones. Of course, every animal has its own hormones. They're talking about additional added in. And if a producer is going to make that claim on other forms of meat, that's not poultry or pork, then they have to provide the documentation that shows they raise the animal without additional hormones. And for the claim of no antibiotics, well then the producer has to provide documentation that the animal was raised without antibiotics, meaning that no antibiotics were used on the animal during its lifetime. This label only applies to antibiotics not being administered directly to the animal. It doesn't account for the animal's diet, its access to pasture, or the processing of the meat. They have other terms for that. And the claim of 100% vegetarian fed and no animal byproducts. Isn't that kind of saying the same thing? I mean, it means they're not feeding the chickens meat of any other animal byproducts. Because, yes, they do sometimes, but they cannot if they're claiming vegetarian fed on their packaging. And Kendall, I have to tell a little story.
Okay, I love a story. Yeah.
I used to work in an office in Massachusetts that was located right next to a rendering plant. And this is going to be the place where they develop animal byproducts. And I'm going to tell you that place smelled to high heaven. It smelled awful, and I felt really badly, especially for our dock workers, who had to leave the door open to the outside all the time. Because, I mean, the smell, even in the office, was bad, but out there was just awful. And it's to the point where I really, I'm not interested in having animal byproducts consumed by something that I'm consuming and just the thought of that smell. But each one is an individual preference and what you think, but the more you know, the better you can make your decisions.
Yeah, for sure. And actually, if I could touch on that. So as as a livestock person myself - I own chickens. I own poultry, and I also am familiar with the use of dairy cows as a way to recycle byproducts. So it's very common in the dairy industry to feed things like blood meal to add additional protein. And UNH, the research dairy farm has actually done quite a bit of research into using blood meal in a TMR - Total Mixed Rations, so in a ration for dairy cows. So that's interesting. We can probably find some of that stuff to put in the show notes too. But the other thing that we commonly see those byproducts used for is fertilizer. So things like bone meal, blood meal; those are used in the organic industry, if you don't want to use chemical fertilizers to add things like phosphorus, calcium and nitrogen into your soil. So I totally hear you, probably doesn't smell the best to work next to a rendering plant, but I do want to add in that counterpoint to say something that says, like, an all vegetarian-fed diet may apply to some industries like poultry and even pigs are a really big area where you may not always see vegetarian-based diet, but even for something like cows, there are nuances. There are ingredients that go into their diets that may not be vegetarian-fed. So there's kind of two ways to look at it, but I like that we've explored both of those points of view to say, like, what is a strict vegetarian diet for that animal look like, versus recycling the byproducts of the animal that otherwise we know would have been disposed of in a way that wasn't productive or that took up more space that than needed to.
Definitely, and that plays into our theme of the more you know about these things, which can be very complex of a value, the better you can make your own choices. You learn more of what it's about.
For sure. And I think too of people who have certain lifestyles or dietary restrictions based on their belief systems. So I think of people who keep kosher, and they really need to know the labels, right? They have very specific labels that go on their food because it's important to them and their religion to know where those ingredients came from, and not to cross-contaminate. So I think transparency is the word we're going for here, in terms of the diet that the animal is consuming, and looking at how carefully we have to read the labels on the package to know that nuance to what that transparency is trying to get at.
Right, and know what these labels refer to, because some of them refer to what's done to the animal during its lifetime, but not to the feed that it's eating, and other labels refer to the feed that it's eating and what that is, as opposed to what's being done to the animal. So it's good to know a little bit about all of them. So anyway, coming back to packaging terms, I can look at another package in that same producer that it may be labeled organic, and this one also says no hormones or steroids added, no antibiotics, all vegetarian diet. So then Kendall, what is the difference between the two, and how can I be sure that they really are organic?
Yeah, and that's a great question. So having worked in the feed and grain industry for 10 years before I came to Extension, this is a question I would get almost on a daily basis. What is the difference between an organic bag of feed or an organic fertilizer, if we're talking about fruits and veggies, because these are terms that are broad spectrum across all agriculture, right? What's the difference between a bag of organic feed and conventional feed? Organic feed has to go through a certification process. It has to be created with grains or inputs that have been certified organic. Now the definition of organic according to the USDA National Organic Standards Board, and we will link this definition in the show notes. Organic agriculture is defined as an ecological Production Management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.
Wow, that's a mouthful. Kendall!
Yeah, I know, I can't believe I made it through all that without losing my place! Yeah. So to translate that into layman's terms, the term organic, we think of it, you know, there's maybe a little misconception that means like, oh, you know, we're not using chemicals. We're not we're not using the typical conventional agriculture methods that you might think of. And while that is true, I think the bottom line here that this definition gets at is the point that organic agriculture is actually really focused on improving soil health. So think about the regenerative agriculture episode we did with Becca. And she was really talking about the definition in actual practice, how she talks about. It's less about having a big farming operation, and more, it's human-sized for her because that helps her maintain that soil health. She built up six inches of topsoil by using organic materials. And by organic, I mean, like plant-based materials. So all of this to say, organic actually comes down to how you treat your soil. So whether you're tilling, whether you're not tilling, whether you're using a no-till seed drill, whether you're composting and using your, I want to say like bio waste, but everything from the farm that can be composted, is it being composted? So it's important to understand that while, yes, we think of chemicals versus not chemicals, organic is more about the practices that you use and less about the label in terms of marketing. And I guess I'm going to kind of be a little sticky on that point to say organic is a powerful label, if people understand what the definition gets at. We hear it as it's better for your health, because there's typically less pesticides used. And while that is true, the more important piece is if you're buying organically certified and labeled meats or produce, what you're really doing is you're voting with your dollar to say we want to see more organic practices used. We care about soil regeneration and soil health, and we care about agriculture being sustainable, both in a monetary way and in a production methodology way.
And how can I tell that they're not just slapping that on, you know, because they feel like it and they want to get a higher price, but that it's actually using organic practices?
That's a really good question. So I would point to our legal guide for New Hampshire agricultural producers, and in there, it specifically states that a product can be 100% organic, organic or made with organic ingredients, but the composition of which must be stated on the label. So you're going to be wanting to look on the packaging, and you want to see something that's either USDA certified organic, or the ingredients list, if it has an organic ingredient which should also be certified, it will state it as an ingredient. So a great example is something like if you're buying a locally made granola that's labeled as organic, it should have organic oats, organic wheat, whatever it has in there, and it should have a little seal that is going to appear on the bottom. Now we wouldn't probably typically see an organic certified granola in our area, because that is going to be something that comes in on a larger scale. So the label that we're talking about here is, if you pick up a product off the shelf that's advertised as organic, it should have a little organic certified seal on it. So we're so we're looking for the USDA label, and where I think this also comes into play- so there's this big question in livestock producers about USDA-certified meat. And what does it mean to have your animal processed at a USDA-certified slaughterhouse or processing facility? Thinking back to your rendering plant, example, and the biggest difference there is that if you have your animal processed at a USDA-certified facility, you should be able to sell retail cuts. If you have your your animal purchased at a non-USDA-certified facility, you can sell halves or wholes. So think of like a whole pig that is cut up into retail cuts, but you can't sell those cuts individually. They would have to be sold as part of a whole or a half animal. So the labeling there is going to vary. So the USDA label, I highly recommend for folks to do their own research on this based on the type of agriculture that they're interacting with. So if you're a farmer that does USDA-certified organic vegetables, let's say, my first recommendation is to go talk to NOFA, which is the Northeast Organic Farming Association, or as Becca mentioned in Maine, it's MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers [and Gardeners] Association. And they have these really neat programs that help you transition from conventional agriculture into organic practices. And it's kind of like a multi-year-step process, and you get a mentorship out of it, but you're going to learn a lot about why that organic label means a lot to a lot of people. But I also think that we can't overemphasize the importance of the education that comes with saying organic doesn't always mean what people think it means. And it's actually an interesting point, because it means so much more in a much bigger and better way, in terms of impact, than what people tend to purchase an organic product for.
Right. And that's still different than an all-natural product. You know, when I mentioned my initial package I was looking at for the poultry, it said all-natural. And that's different from organic. All-natural is more concerned with how the meat is processed. The meat, poultry and eggs that carry the natural label, they can't be altered during processing, which means you can't add artificial ingredients, such as spices, marinades and sauces, things like that. You can't add colorants to make it more of a certain color, look fresher, and additional chemical preservatives. It's more about the meat processing than the animal itself. Meat that's labeled as all-natural, that can come from an animal that's consumed any grain or forage product, organic or not. So you could have an animal that has been raised on non organic product, and it's still called all-natural when it's in the retail packaging. So it's good to know that difference between the two, that it can have a very, all-natural doesn't automatically mean organic.
Hmm, yeah. And, and that isn't that interesting, because when we see multiple, I don't want to call it stacked, stacked labels on a package, right? Because it'll say, like, all natural, organic, non-GMO, it'll put all those labels on the same packaging. What I think is really important is for folks to, like I said, before, do their homework and see what is most important to you in terms of what's in line with how you choose to purchase food to then put in your body. It may not matter to you, and that's perfectly okay. It's your personal preference. But the important thing that we're exploring here is to say, if you're choosing to spend more money on a package of chicken because it has labels such as organic, non-GMO or all-natural, what are you actually purchasing? Where is that dollar going or where What are you speaking about when you say, I'm willing to pay this much more for a package of chicken that has these labels on it, versus you're just going to buy a regular package of chicken. And like I said before, there's nothing wrong with either of those. It's just understanding the difference between how that animal was raised, what it consumed, and sometimes how it was processed.
Right. So you can see if it matches up to your values and whether it is throughout its whole process and not just a portion of this. I do also want to do a call out to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, which has a wonderful three-part series on meat labeling terms. We've gotten some of this information from [them] and we'll have a link to that in the show notes, so you can read more about all these different labels that we're talking about.
Yeah, absolutely. And I also wanted to just touch on real quickly, too, some terms that are not just associated with foods. So on page 114 in the Extension Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers, there is this really great text box which talks about the differences of advertising of native or New Hampshire made. So we do see this quite often in New Hampshire; we have New Hampshire made stores, or local made stores. We've got a lot of craft stores. Rebecca, I know you frequent craft fairs and you're really knowledgeable and all the different products, textiles, that kinds of stuff that may be made in New Hampshire. So I'd love to hear your input, if you have a good story or a good example on this. But these terms that specifically are mentioned are things like native, local, locally grown and locally produced. So I'm thinking of things like wool and soap and honey, other things that you wouldn't really see on a package in a grocery store. And when I went looking for the definition of local to see if we could find, like, an actual mileage radius so people could better understand where that local is coming from, I came across a source from Vermont Law College, and the long and story short of they have this really great one page piece that says defining local. And what they came up with is there really is no definition there, because local is really dependent upon you and your location. And you know, local may be to your state but if you live on a state line, local still is across that state line. And there's no real way that they're willing to say, like, Oh, it's a 15-mile radius. Now that's just an example, but the local definition is dependent upon you and what you consider to be in your vicinity. It also depends on how the term is used, and that is really one of the great things in this text box that I really encourage folks to take a look at, because the context is what matters in terms of the definition and use of the label. So I'll give a little example of this. So let's say you walk into a farm store and you see this beautiful display of apples. I'm thinking about juicy, delicious apples this fall that we've seen. Maybe there's also on the side of it some half gallons of cider, and then there's also on the other side of it some commercially produced containers of caramel. It's not a local product, or it's not made in your area. It's not farm made, it's a commercially produced product. So in this case, the labeling for that could say, and this is the as used banner describing general display of goods; native, local, locally produced, locally grown, are the four terms that you could have associated with that. But, the display must contain at least one product grown or produced in New Hampshire. So the apples could be grown in New Hampshire, or they could have been purchased in from somewhere else, and the cider could be produced in New Hampshire. And the caramel doesn't, I mean, it's kind of arbitrary, right? It's just an addition. It's a value-added piece that you dip those apples in, if you so chose to, right? But the important thing there is that the advertising has to point to one of those things being clearly grown in New Hampshire. Moving on from that, those same four terms, native, local, locally grown and locally produced, could be used at point of sale signs. So this is an item identified by the sign. So this is you selecting a bag of apples off of a display. Or if you have, oh, I'm thinking of Contoocook Creamery with their milk. This is a great example. So in Hannafords, you might see a locally produced, native to New Hampshire milk product (comes in different flavors) next to things like Hood or, you know, I don't know, there's different labels of milk and that sign the point of sale, sign the little the little price tag may say things like native, local or locally grown. So this would be an item identified by the sign that must be grown or produced in New Hampshire. So there's a little example of a difference between a display or a product on the shelf. That's what this is indicating. This could also be posters identifying a particular farm, that farm must be identified in New Hampshire. So that's like that locally grown label. And then last but not least, there's this little nuanced term that is "our own". So it's the farm claiming a product. This is used in any written material, signage, brochures, etc. And that means that that product must be grown or produced by the vendor. Where this could be really interesting is people packaging chicken. If you have poultry that's cut up or whole that you're selling out of your freezer, you can say, "our own poultry", as long as you grew it, you produced it. So the slaughtering is going to be a little different if you're selling retail chicken, and if you're interested in that, I highly recommend you check out the poultry and rabbit producers class also put on by UNH Extension. I'll give you a little bit more nuance to that. But those are just four situations that I think we typically see these terms that seem a little bit like, "oh, it's locally grown, like, cool," but the impact you're having by choosing a locally grown product, understanding that locally grown might mean 100 miles away, it might mean two miles away. It's all about getting to know your farms and where you're sourcing ingredients from, is where I say the bottom line is. One of my favorite examples of eating local is actually: so when I was a student at UNH, they had in their dining halls in several different places, maps of New Hampshire. And they had indications on there what products they were purchasing from various farms. So there were farms all across New Hampshire that they said "oh, we get some veggies from here. We get some milk from here we get meat from here we get our bread. (Oh, that was a big one, like local bakeries) from these different places." And it was always really cool knowing that even as a student, I could choose those products to say, "yes, I'm consuming this item because I support the fact that you're sourcing this from local farms." The university is supporting its local agriculture. That's a whole another topic.
That's more transparency there, right? Transparency when you're eating. You're at the end of that cycle, but you're seeing where all of that is coming from. So important.
Right! And that's a great, a touch point to say an educated consumer is a powerful consumer. And when we vote with our dollars and we vote with our feet, that's a great way for us to say, yes, we really support local agriculture in all ways. And I think it's important here to mention too that we have two previous episodes about eating and foods and growing your own food, and those are with our two specialists from our health and well-being team, the Nutrition Connections folks. They talk specifically about the use of SNAP and EBT benefits and food assistance as payment methods. One of my favorite things that we're seeing is more and more farm stands are able to accept these payment methods. So it's gaining access for folks on those benefits to those products. And how cool would it be if you listen to this episode and you go to a farm store and you pick up an product that has one of these labels on it, and you're like, "Oh, I know what this means!" So on all sides of this purchasing food coin an educated consumer and educated farmer, this is really important, and I think it's something that our eyes- We see advertising all the time, and when we're able to decipher and make a personal choice based on the labeling that's being thrown at us, I think that gives us a little bit more control over where our dollars go and the types of purchasing that we choose to support.
That sounds great! So we've covered some key label terms, and I hope you have a better understanding of them now.
The last thing I would want to say with this episode is we're gonna include a lot of sources in the show notes. It's really important to take some time to look through those, because we did a high-level talk and definitions about these things, like the terms that we're talking about, the situations that we're talking about, but there's a lot of nuance to this. There's a lot of rules and regulations, and all of those things are actually accessible either through the legal guide, the New Hampshire producer Legal Guide, but also on the New Hampshire Department of Food, Ag and Markets. If you go on their website, you can actually read all the RSAs associated with producing or selling or marketing in New Hampshire. And I highly recommend that if you're a farmer, to take a look at that stuff, because you may be able to take advantage of some labels that you that you aren't using right now that may be more meaningful. And if you're a consumer, this is really good for you, to be able to knowledgeably consume products from farms or just from the grocery store. It just really helps you have a better understanding of what it is that you're choosing to purchase and what those labels mean. But I guess my point is, the sources are out there, and we want to link a bunch of them in the show notes. But if this topic interests you, feel free to reach out and we can send you a different links to different places that will help you dig a little bit deeper.
Sure, because there's always links to get in touch with both Kendall and I in the show notes as well. So we would encourage you to get out there, get to those farmer markets, get to the winter farmers markets that happen over the winter. Look at your labels, get some yummy stuff, and then join us again for a new topic on the next episode of Shared Soil.
Shared Soil is a production of University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, an equal opportunity educator and employer. Views expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those of the university, its trustees or its volunteers. Inclusion or exclusion of commercial products in this podcast does not imply endorsement. The University of New Hampshire, US Department of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperate to provide extension programming in the Granite State. Learn more@extension.unh.edu.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Creators & Guests
Host
Kendall Kunelius
Kendall joined Extension as an Agriculture Business Management Field Specialist in 2022. She earned a BS in Equine Studies: Industry and Management from UNH and has a diverse background in the agriculture industry including horticulture, forestry, livestock, and agricultural business retail management.
Host
Rebecca Dube
What is Shared Soil?
A podcast by University of New Hampshire Extension dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges, and encouraging personal and professional growth for all women in agriculture. Hosts Kendall Kunelius and Rebecca Dube create a relatable and welcoming space to learn and celebrate, that aligns with UNH Extension's commitment to expanding access, strengthening connections, and enhancing well-being for all.
-----------------------
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and New Hampshire counties cooperating. Direct inquiries to unh.civilrights@unh.edu.
Kendall Kunelius 0:09
Welcome to this episode of Shared Soil, a podcast dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges and encouraging personal and professional growth for all people in agriculture. My name is Kendall Kunelius, and I'm a field specialist in the area of agricultural business management.
Rebecca Dube 0:25
I'm Rebecca Dube, and I provide technology and support to the members of Extension.
Kendall Kunelius 0:32
And in this episode, it's just us, just the two of us. We've had a lot of episodes where we interview people, but we thought today we'd have a conversation on the topic of technical terms. So since this podcast really focuses on educating farmers and educating consumers, which it's kind of like that Venn diagram, right? Like we overlap between the two. Not all consumers are farmers, but all farmers are still consumers. We want to make sure that we're touching on these topics of agricultural products, because it's the people who make them and the people that consume them that need to be educated about what they actually are and the labels that go on those products. So labeling is a very tightly controlled aspect of the agricultural industry. So we have things like marketing labels, we've got Weights and Measures that tells you how much the product contains or weighs. And it's for many good reasons that it's tightly controlled, because we're looking at terms that have a certain meaning associated with them, that either carry understand better understanding things about your health if you consume that product. But also, some of these terms are just used as marketing, so to kind of incentivize you to purchase that product. And we're kind of digging into that, what do these mean, and why should these marketing terms, or why should these labels entice you to either purchase that item? Or do they really mean what they say? Are you getting the bang for your buck if you're purchasing an item that has a label that maybe a product right next to it doesn't. So we also wanted to pay attention to this topic at this time of year when farmers markets may not be as readily available. So if you are someone who shops at farmers markets or on-farm Farm Stores - the growing season is over, so you may be transitioning from accessing your food at a farm stand or a farmer's market back to going to the grocery store. So I think this is a very timely topic for us to cover. I also want to add that we are going to be citing our sources very carefully for this podcast, because we are going to be using some really technical definitions, so you can find all of these sources that we're going to be touching on in the show notes. And I highly recommend that you take a look at one source in particular, the Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers, it's a free resource on the Extension website. You can download it and take a look at it and use this to help guide your shopping decisions, but also, if you're a producer, guide your labeling decisions as well. Sure. Yeah. So with that, let's set up a scenario. You're walking down the meat aisle at the grocery store, and you see two packages of chicken next to each other. One has labels like organic, non GMO, vegetarian-fed. The other has a marketing call out that says the product is all natural and no hormones added. What do these terms mean? And how do you know where to look to understand their definition in the context of the food?
Rebecca Dube 3:31
Yeah, you know, Kendall, it can be so confusing. I can look at one package of chicken and see in larger letters that it's all natural and the package also boasts no antibiotics ever, and in smaller print, the animal has no hormones or steroids, that it's 100% vegetarian-fed and raised cage free. Now, does this package make me want it more than another brand? That's what it's made to do. But let's take a closer look at each of these claims. Now, first of all, all natural is not the same as organic, and we'll get to that in a minute. But first, let's talk about the claim of no hormones or antibiotics. This is a great claim, something you want in your meat, but it's not the special extra effort of this one supplier giving you extra bang for your buck. According to the USDA, added hormones cannot be used in hog, poultry, or bison production. So that's going to be a given for any of these products that you buy. In fact, producers can only make the claim on their packaging if it's followed by the statement "federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry or pork." However, this is usually in tiny print somewhere else on the package. It's not that big in your face, hey, we're great. We have no antibiotics or hormones! Or, I should say, additional hormones. Of course, every animal has its own hormones. They're talking about additional added in. And if a producer is going to make that claim on other forms of meat, that's not poultry or pork, then they have to provide the documentation that shows they raise the animal without additional hormones. And for the claim of no antibiotics, well then the producer has to provide documentation that the animal was raised without antibiotics, meaning that no antibiotics were used on the animal during its lifetime. This label only applies to antibiotics not being administered directly to the animal. It doesn't account for the animal's diet, its access to pasture, or the processing of the meat. They have other terms for that. And the claim of 100% vegetarian fed and no animal byproducts. Isn't that kind of saying the same thing? I mean, it means they're not feeding the chickens meat of any other animal byproducts. Because, yes, they do sometimes, but they cannot if they're claiming vegetarian fed on their packaging. And Kendall, I have to tell a little story.
Kendall Kunelius 6:00
Okay, I love a story. Yeah.
Rebecca Dube 6:04
I used to work in an office in Massachusetts that was located right next to a rendering plant. And this is going to be the place where they develop animal byproducts. And I'm going to tell you that place smelled to high heaven. It smelled awful, and I felt really badly, especially for our dock workers, who had to leave the door open to the outside all the time. Because, I mean, the smell, even in the office, was bad, but out there was just awful. And it's to the point where I really, I'm not interested in having animal byproducts consumed by something that I'm consuming and just the thought of that smell. But each one is an individual preference and what you think, but the more you know, the better you can make your decisions.
Kendall Kunelius 6:54
Yeah, for sure. And actually, if I could touch on that. So as as a livestock person myself - I own chickens. I own poultry, and I also am familiar with the use of dairy cows as a way to recycle byproducts. So it's very common in the dairy industry to feed things like blood meal to add additional protein. And UNH, the research dairy farm has actually done quite a bit of research into using blood meal in a TMR - Total Mixed Rations, so in a ration for dairy cows. So that's interesting. We can probably find some of that stuff to put in the show notes too. But the other thing that we commonly see those byproducts used for is fertilizer. So things like bone meal, blood meal; those are used in the organic industry, if you don't want to use chemical fertilizers to add things like phosphorus, calcium and nitrogen into your soil. So I totally hear you, probably doesn't smell the best to work next to a rendering plant, but I do want to add in that counterpoint to say something that says, like, an all vegetarian-fed diet may apply to some industries like poultry and even pigs are a really big area where you may not always see vegetarian-based diet, but even for something like cows, there are nuances. There are ingredients that go into their diets that may not be vegetarian-fed. So there's kind of two ways to look at it, but I like that we've explored both of those points of view to say, like, what is a strict vegetarian diet for that animal look like, versus recycling the byproducts of the animal that otherwise we know would have been disposed of in a way that wasn't productive or that took up more space that than needed to.
Rebecca Dube 8:32
Definitely, and that plays into our theme of the more you know about these things, which can be very complex of a value, the better you can make your own choices. You learn more of what it's about.
Kendall Kunelius 8:43
For sure. And I think too of people who have certain lifestyles or dietary restrictions based on their belief systems. So I think of people who keep kosher, and they really need to know the labels, right? They have very specific labels that go on their food because it's important to them and their religion to know where those ingredients came from, and not to cross-contaminate. So I think transparency is the word we're going for here, in terms of the diet that the animal is consuming, and looking at how carefully we have to read the labels on the package to know that nuance to what that transparency is trying to get at.
Rebecca Dube 9:19
Right, and know what these labels refer to, because some of them refer to what's done to the animal during its lifetime, but not to the feed that it's eating, and other labels refer to the feed that it's eating and what that is, as opposed to what's being done to the animal. So it's good to know a little bit about all of them. So anyway, coming back to packaging terms, I can look at another package in that same producer that it may be labeled organic, and this one also says no hormones or steroids added, no antibiotics, all vegetarian diet. So then Kendall, what is the difference between the two, and how can I be sure that they really are organic?
Kendall Kunelius 10:01
Yeah, and that's a great question. So having worked in the feed and grain industry for 10 years before I came to Extension, this is a question I would get almost on a daily basis. What is the difference between an organic bag of feed or an organic fertilizer, if we're talking about fruits and veggies, because these are terms that are broad spectrum across all agriculture, right? What's the difference between a bag of organic feed and conventional feed? Organic feed has to go through a certification process. It has to be created with grains or inputs that have been certified organic. Now the definition of organic according to the USDA National Organic Standards Board, and we will link this definition in the show notes. Organic agriculture is defined as an ecological Production Management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.
Rebecca Dube 11:18
Wow, that's a mouthful. Kendall!
Kendall Kunelius 11:20
Yeah, I know, I can't believe I made it through all that without losing my place! Yeah. So to translate that into layman's terms, the term organic, we think of it, you know, there's maybe a little misconception that means like, oh, you know, we're not using chemicals. We're not we're not using the typical conventional agriculture methods that you might think of. And while that is true, I think the bottom line here that this definition gets at is the point that organic agriculture is actually really focused on improving soil health. So think about the regenerative agriculture episode we did with Becca. And she was really talking about the definition in actual practice, how she talks about. It's less about having a big farming operation, and more, it's human-sized for her because that helps her maintain that soil health. She built up six inches of topsoil by using organic materials. And by organic, I mean, like plant-based materials. So all of this to say, organic actually comes down to how you treat your soil. So whether you're tilling, whether you're not tilling, whether you're using a no-till seed drill, whether you're composting and using your, I want to say like bio waste, but everything from the farm that can be composted, is it being composted? So it's important to understand that while, yes, we think of chemicals versus not chemicals, organic is more about the practices that you use and less about the label in terms of marketing. And I guess I'm going to kind of be a little sticky on that point to say organic is a powerful label, if people understand what the definition gets at. We hear it as it's better for your health, because there's typically less pesticides used. And while that is true, the more important piece is if you're buying organically certified and labeled meats or produce, what you're really doing is you're voting with your dollar to say we want to see more organic practices used. We care about soil regeneration and soil health, and we care about agriculture being sustainable, both in a monetary way and in a production methodology way.
Rebecca Dube 13:33
And how can I tell that they're not just slapping that on, you know, because they feel like it and they want to get a higher price, but that it's actually using organic practices?
Kendall Kunelius 13:43
That's a really good question. So I would point to our legal guide for New Hampshire agricultural producers, and in there, it specifically states that a product can be 100% organic, organic or made with organic ingredients, but the composition of which must be stated on the label. So you're going to be wanting to look on the packaging, and you want to see something that's either USDA certified organic, or the ingredients list, if it has an organic ingredient which should also be certified, it will state it as an ingredient. So a great example is something like if you're buying a locally made granola that's labeled as organic, it should have organic oats, organic wheat, whatever it has in there, and it should have a little seal that is going to appear on the bottom. Now we wouldn't probably typically see an organic certified granola in our area, because that is going to be something that comes in on a larger scale. So the label that we're talking about here is, if you pick up a product off the shelf that's advertised as organic, it should have a little organic certified seal on it. So we're so we're looking for the USDA label, and where I think this also comes into play- so there's this big question in livestock producers about USDA-certified meat. And what does it mean to have your animal processed at a USDA-certified slaughterhouse or processing facility? Thinking back to your rendering plant, example, and the biggest difference there is that if you have your animal processed at a USDA-certified facility, you should be able to sell retail cuts. If you have your your animal purchased at a non-USDA-certified facility, you can sell halves or wholes. So think of like a whole pig that is cut up into retail cuts, but you can't sell those cuts individually. They would have to be sold as part of a whole or a half animal. So the labeling there is going to vary. So the USDA label, I highly recommend for folks to do their own research on this based on the type of agriculture that they're interacting with. So if you're a farmer that does USDA-certified organic vegetables, let's say, my first recommendation is to go talk to NOFA, which is the Northeast Organic Farming Association, or as Becca mentioned in Maine, it's MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers [and Gardeners] Association. And they have these really neat programs that help you transition from conventional agriculture into organic practices. And it's kind of like a multi-year-step process, and you get a mentorship out of it, but you're going to learn a lot about why that organic label means a lot to a lot of people. But I also think that we can't overemphasize the importance of the education that comes with saying organic doesn't always mean what people think it means. And it's actually an interesting point, because it means so much more in a much bigger and better way, in terms of impact, than what people tend to purchase an organic product for.
Rebecca Dube 16:41
Right. And that's still different than an all-natural product. You know, when I mentioned my initial package I was looking at for the poultry, it said all-natural. And that's different from organic. All-natural is more concerned with how the meat is processed. The meat, poultry and eggs that carry the natural label, they can't be altered during processing, which means you can't add artificial ingredients, such as spices, marinades and sauces, things like that. You can't add colorants to make it more of a certain color, look fresher, and additional chemical preservatives. It's more about the meat processing than the animal itself. Meat that's labeled as all-natural, that can come from an animal that's consumed any grain or forage product, organic or not. So you could have an animal that has been raised on non organic product, and it's still called all-natural when it's in the retail packaging. So it's good to know that difference between the two, that it can have a very, all-natural doesn't automatically mean organic.
Kendall Kunelius 17:49
Hmm, yeah. And, and that isn't that interesting, because when we see multiple, I don't want to call it stacked, stacked labels on a package, right? Because it'll say, like, all natural, organic, non-GMO, it'll put all those labels on the same packaging. What I think is really important is for folks to, like I said, before, do their homework and see what is most important to you in terms of what's in line with how you choose to purchase food to then put in your body. It may not matter to you, and that's perfectly okay. It's your personal preference. But the important thing that we're exploring here is to say, if you're choosing to spend more money on a package of chicken because it has labels such as organic, non-GMO or all-natural, what are you actually purchasing? Where is that dollar going or where What are you speaking about when you say, I'm willing to pay this much more for a package of chicken that has these labels on it, versus you're just going to buy a regular package of chicken. And like I said before, there's nothing wrong with either of those. It's just understanding the difference between how that animal was raised, what it consumed, and sometimes how it was processed.
Rebecca Dube 18:57
Right. So you can see if it matches up to your values and whether it is throughout its whole process and not just a portion of this. I do also want to do a call out to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, which has a wonderful three-part series on meat labeling terms. We've gotten some of this information from [them] and we'll have a link to that in the show notes, so you can read more about all these different labels that we're talking about.
Kendall Kunelius 19:24
Yeah, absolutely. And I also wanted to just touch on real quickly, too, some terms that are not just associated with foods. So on page 114 in the Extension Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers, there is this really great text box which talks about the differences of advertising of native or New Hampshire made. So we do see this quite often in New Hampshire; we have New Hampshire made stores, or local made stores. We've got a lot of craft stores. Rebecca, I know you frequent craft fairs and you're really knowledgeable and all the different products, textiles, that kinds of stuff that may be made in New Hampshire. So I'd love to hear your input, if you have a good story or a good example on this. But these terms that specifically are mentioned are things like native, local, locally grown and locally produced. So I'm thinking of things like wool and soap and honey, other things that you wouldn't really see on a package in a grocery store. And when I went looking for the definition of local to see if we could find, like, an actual mileage radius so people could better understand where that local is coming from, I came across a source from Vermont Law College, and the long and story short of they have this really great one page piece that says defining local. And what they came up with is there really is no definition there, because local is really dependent upon you and your location. And you know, local may be to your state but if you live on a state line, local still is across that state line. And there's no real way that they're willing to say, like, Oh, it's a 15-mile radius. Now that's just an example, but the local definition is dependent upon you and what you consider to be in your vicinity. It also depends on how the term is used, and that is really one of the great things in this text box that I really encourage folks to take a look at, because the context is what matters in terms of the definition and use of the label. So I'll give a little example of this. So let's say you walk into a farm store and you see this beautiful display of apples. I'm thinking about juicy, delicious apples this fall that we've seen. Maybe there's also on the side of it some half gallons of cider, and then there's also on the other side of it some commercially produced containers of caramel. It's not a local product, or it's not made in your area. It's not farm made, it's a commercially produced product. So in this case, the labeling for that could say, and this is the as used banner describing general display of goods; native, local, locally produced, locally grown, are the four terms that you could have associated with that. But, the display must contain at least one product grown or produced in New Hampshire. So the apples could be grown in New Hampshire, or they could have been purchased in from somewhere else, and the cider could be produced in New Hampshire. And the caramel doesn't, I mean, it's kind of arbitrary, right? It's just an addition. It's a value-added piece that you dip those apples in, if you so chose to, right? But the important thing there is that the advertising has to point to one of those things being clearly grown in New Hampshire. Moving on from that, those same four terms, native, local, locally grown and locally produced, could be used at point of sale signs. So this is an item identified by the sign. So this is you selecting a bag of apples off of a display. Or if you have, oh, I'm thinking of Contoocook Creamery with their milk. This is a great example. So in Hannafords, you might see a locally produced, native to New Hampshire milk product (comes in different flavors) next to things like Hood or, you know, I don't know, there's different labels of milk and that sign the point of sale, sign the little the little price tag may say things like native, local or locally grown. So this would be an item identified by the sign that must be grown or produced in New Hampshire. So there's a little example of a difference between a display or a product on the shelf. That's what this is indicating. This could also be posters identifying a particular farm, that farm must be identified in New Hampshire. So that's like that locally grown label. And then last but not least, there's this little nuanced term that is "our own". So it's the farm claiming a product. This is used in any written material, signage, brochures, etc. And that means that that product must be grown or produced by the vendor. Where this could be really interesting is people packaging chicken. If you have poultry that's cut up or whole that you're selling out of your freezer, you can say, "our own poultry", as long as you grew it, you produced it. So the slaughtering is going to be a little different if you're selling retail chicken, and if you're interested in that, I highly recommend you check out the poultry and rabbit producers class also put on by UNH Extension. I'll give you a little bit more nuance to that. But those are just four situations that I think we typically see these terms that seem a little bit like, "oh, it's locally grown, like, cool," but the impact you're having by choosing a locally grown product, understanding that locally grown might mean 100 miles away, it might mean two miles away. It's all about getting to know your farms and where you're sourcing ingredients from, is where I say the bottom line is. One of my favorite examples of eating local is actually: so when I was a student at UNH, they had in their dining halls in several different places, maps of New Hampshire. And they had indications on there what products they were purchasing from various farms. So there were farms all across New Hampshire that they said "oh, we get some veggies from here. We get some milk from here we get meat from here we get our bread. (Oh, that was a big one, like local bakeries) from these different places." And it was always really cool knowing that even as a student, I could choose those products to say, "yes, I'm consuming this item because I support the fact that you're sourcing this from local farms." The university is supporting its local agriculture. That's a whole another topic.
Rebecca Dube 27:02
That's more transparency there, right? Transparency when you're eating. You're at the end of that cycle, but you're seeing where all of that is coming from. So important.
Kendall Kunelius 27:10
Right! And that's a great, a touch point to say an educated consumer is a powerful consumer. And when we vote with our dollars and we vote with our feet, that's a great way for us to say, yes, we really support local agriculture in all ways. And I think it's important here to mention too that we have two previous episodes about eating and foods and growing your own food, and those are with our two specialists from our health and well-being team, the Nutrition Connections folks. They talk specifically about the use of SNAP and EBT benefits and food assistance as payment methods. One of my favorite things that we're seeing is more and more farm stands are able to accept these payment methods. So it's gaining access for folks on those benefits to those products. And how cool would it be if you listen to this episode and you go to a farm store and you pick up an product that has one of these labels on it, and you're like, "Oh, I know what this means!" So on all sides of this purchasing food coin an educated consumer and educated farmer, this is really important, and I think it's something that our eyes- We see advertising all the time, and when we're able to decipher and make a personal choice based on the labeling that's being thrown at us, I think that gives us a little bit more control over where our dollars go and the types of purchasing that we choose to support.
Rebecca Dube 28:36
That sounds great! So we've covered some key label terms, and I hope you have a better understanding of them now.
Kendall Kunelius 28:44
The last thing I would want to say with this episode is we're gonna include a lot of sources in the show notes. It's really important to take some time to look through those, because we did a high-level talk and definitions about these things, like the terms that we're talking about, the situations that we're talking about, but there's a lot of nuance to this. There's a lot of rules and regulations, and all of those things are actually accessible either through the legal guide, the New Hampshire producer Legal Guide, but also on the New Hampshire Department of Food, Ag and Markets. If you go on their website, you can actually read all the RSAs associated with producing or selling or marketing in New Hampshire. And I highly recommend that if you're a farmer, to take a look at that stuff, because you may be able to take advantage of some labels that you that you aren't using right now that may be more meaningful. And if you're a consumer, this is really good for you, to be able to knowledgeably consume products from farms or just from the grocery store. It just really helps you have a better understanding of what it is that you're choosing to purchase and what those labels mean. But I guess my point is, the sources are out there, and we want to link a bunch of them in the show notes. But if this topic interests you, feel free to reach out and we can send you a different links to different places that will help you dig a little bit deeper.
Rebecca Dube 30:03
Sure, because there's always links to get in touch with both Kendall and I in the show notes as well. So we would encourage you to get out there, get to those farmer markets, get to the winter farmers markets that happen over the winter. Look at your labels, get some yummy stuff, and then join us again for a new topic on the next episode of Shared Soil.
Kendall Kunelius 30:29
Shared Soil is a production of University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, an equal opportunity educator and employer. Views expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those of the university, its trustees or its volunteers. Inclusion or exclusion of commercial products in this podcast does not imply endorsement. The University of New Hampshire, US Department of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperate to provide extension programming in the Granite State. Learn more@extension.unh.edu.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai