I was having a search around the net the other night and came across a SMH Blog, Chew on This that had a post about the ethics of eating/shopping. I thought it was great that people were getting on there and discussing the matter. I does concern me though that so many people are trying to eat as well as they can, but are being misled or should I just say lied to.
Some things that Certified Organic means:
Never in its lifetime has that animal been treated with chemicals, Never In Its Lifetime has the animal been treated with or fed antibiotics, Certified Organic Produce is free from GMO’s, Certified Organic Animals are not treated with Hormones for growth promoting or reproduction. Free to range on Pastures.
For a full Australian Organic Standard cick here
A few years back (before we were certified organic) Jack and I ran our pigs “Free Range” but we preferred to call it pasture raised as our pigs spent their whole lives out on pasture, and other free range pigs had varying amounts of time outdoors, but most are confined to a shed (or ecoshelter) for at least half of their life. We didn’t use chemicals on the pigs or land, and although I had a good friend and a brother in law that were vets, I stopped using antibiotics as well and opted for Homeopathic treatments. When we went to the Farmers Markets people would say ”Oh, you are the organic pork people.”, but we would let them know that, no we were not organic, as at that stage we did not feed organic feed, or have any form of organic certification.
Even in our first year of organic certification we did not claim to be organic (It’s actually part of a contract that you sign when you sign up to be certified, that you cannot claim that you are organic, even though you are running your farm to all of the standards required) Even in the following year, you can only sell your produce as “In Conversion” Organic, In fact for 3 years you need to run your whole farm as certified organic, but cannot claim to be fully organic until this 3 year period is up. Let’s just call it an apprentiship.
So there is a whole lot of investment of time, energy and money for the 3years leading up to your being “A” grade organic. This is why it gets me so mad that other farmers, butchers, manufacturers out there claim organic for just about anything. It’s an incredible relief to me that Standards Australia will hold the organic standards for Australia in just a few short months. I have seen a bit of griping on other blogs that it is unfair that only certified organic should be called organic, but the analogy that I see it as is that of the apprentice and the Tradesman.
You need to be commited (no, not to a mental health facility, but sometimes I wonder) to be organic, you need to be dedicated. You need to have put the time and effort in on your trade. You then need to be a diligent caretaker of the land and animals that you care for and are responsible for. Prevention is better than a cure in Certified Organic farming. So careful planning is very important.
Ensure that you are truly getting certified organic produce by asking for the producers organic certification number.
