What do we look for in a natural or organic certification?
Is that a key question on your mind? Looking to convert over to a natural and organic farm?
Quick Definitions
Organic = Non Synthetic. Basically man made
Natural = un processed. The more processing involved the less natural.
Lets first discuss the concepts we look for behind Natural:
If you were to eat wild deer, tar tar (not that you should, it is very dangerous) that is uncooked, you would be going it completely 'all natural'. Or a free range chicken, uncooked.
Technically when you cook a product you are changing its natural components to something that does not occur in nature. So every cooked meal is not a natural product. However, this is not what we are discussing in the 'green' movement. We are discussing harmful unnatural practices. Cooking food or meats to kill off bacteria or parasites is a 'good' process to put your meat through prior to consumption.
So a processed feed, may be certifiably natural, but it is still processed to some degree. Most feed is merely compressed organic matter. It is just squished to make it dense. Processessing the feed is not an issue, but wrongfully processing the feed is. Our feeds and practices of certified farms focus on being as Natural as possible. So what is an unnatural feed process? Medicated feed given wholesale and perpetually to an otherwise healthy animal is a very unnatural process. It is also a process that is causing an issue. These UNnatural compounds are laced throughout our meat supply. Medication is NOT an issue. The improper use of it is. When a hog is sick the appropriate amount of medication is used. Otherwise any fertilizer from the animal and the meat itself will be laced with this unnatural and even sometimes synthetic (non organic) compound. Another example is adding a salt extraction by product. This increases sodium, but is not a natural form of bio available sodium.
For vegetables, fertilizers can be very unnatural fertilizers. Compounds that give massive size to a vegetable, that the plant would not otherwise encounter. It changes our produce. Such fertilizers have been shown to eliminate nutrients from the plant and cause reduced bio-availability as we consume it. Bio-availability is the amount of the nutrients your body is able to digest and use, rather than passing it out of the back door.
Now Organic is a bit different but some of the same concepts or compounds are an issue.
Organic can be easily understood 'as nature would provide'. That is nothing man made or 'synthetic' was used in the fertilizer, feed, or pest management.
So Natural has to do with how something is processed, organic has to do with the synthetic nature of its elements. So a heavily changed feed is not technically synthetic, but it is of very low quality for you and the animal. Whereas a synthetic component is something that is man made and also very likely harmful.
A lot of medications are synthetic and even some pesticides. We are not against proper use of such things. The issue with both is moderation and consumption. However, certainty flows in a persons life when a consumer can eliminate every unnecessary process or synthetic component to their life. Health follows nature, while we would all agree there is an appropriate about of processes or synthesized materials, most farms do not practice 'appropriate'. The certification is clearly to tell the consumer you do. We verify it.
Quick Definitions
Organic = Non Synthetic. Basically man made
Natural = un processed. The more processing involved the less natural.
Lets first discuss the concepts we look for behind Natural:
If you were to eat wild deer, tar tar (not that you should, it is very dangerous) that is uncooked, you would be going it completely 'all natural'. Or a free range chicken, uncooked.
Technically when you cook a product you are changing its natural components to something that does not occur in nature. So every cooked meal is not a natural product. However, this is not what we are discussing in the 'green' movement. We are discussing harmful unnatural practices. Cooking food or meats to kill off bacteria or parasites is a 'good' process to put your meat through prior to consumption.
So a processed feed, may be certifiably natural, but it is still processed to some degree. Most feed is merely compressed organic matter. It is just squished to make it dense. Processessing the feed is not an issue, but wrongfully processing the feed is. Our feeds and practices of certified farms focus on being as Natural as possible. So what is an unnatural feed process? Medicated feed given wholesale and perpetually to an otherwise healthy animal is a very unnatural process. It is also a process that is causing an issue. These UNnatural compounds are laced throughout our meat supply. Medication is NOT an issue. The improper use of it is. When a hog is sick the appropriate amount of medication is used. Otherwise any fertilizer from the animal and the meat itself will be laced with this unnatural and even sometimes synthetic (non organic) compound. Another example is adding a salt extraction by product. This increases sodium, but is not a natural form of bio available sodium.
For vegetables, fertilizers can be very unnatural fertilizers. Compounds that give massive size to a vegetable, that the plant would not otherwise encounter. It changes our produce. Such fertilizers have been shown to eliminate nutrients from the plant and cause reduced bio-availability as we consume it. Bio-availability is the amount of the nutrients your body is able to digest and use, rather than passing it out of the back door.
Now Organic is a bit different but some of the same concepts or compounds are an issue.
Organic can be easily understood 'as nature would provide'. That is nothing man made or 'synthetic' was used in the fertilizer, feed, or pest management.
So Natural has to do with how something is processed, organic has to do with the synthetic nature of its elements. So a heavily changed feed is not technically synthetic, but it is of very low quality for you and the animal. Whereas a synthetic component is something that is man made and also very likely harmful.
A lot of medications are synthetic and even some pesticides. We are not against proper use of such things. The issue with both is moderation and consumption. However, certainty flows in a persons life when a consumer can eliminate every unnecessary process or synthetic component to their life. Health follows nature, while we would all agree there is an appropriate about of processes or synthesized materials, most farms do not practice 'appropriate'. The certification is clearly to tell the consumer you do. We verify it.
Organic/Natural Feeds and Produce certification
We have select varieties of Organic and Natural feeds. We let you know what percentage of each is available. For example, the government regulates 'USDA' organic at 95%. Organics can be labelled on a product if it is over 70%. Natural is not currently regulated.
If you use non natural feeds within your animals, then compost their manure adding it to your vegetable production, it is certain to impact your natural label. That is why we offer feeds that are balanced between natural and affordable. Our goal is to aid you by helping you produce the best natural product while still being affordable.
Nothing is 100% natural and nothing is 100% organic. Our world has been altered too much for that. For example every corn product is now laced with GMO's to some degree. Cannot get rid of it. But we work on sourcing more natural feeds and products.
We do currently offer both natural and organic products from our produce and we offer natural/Organic feeds to our homestead farms. Ask us more about those feeds.
If you use non natural feeds within your animals, then compost their manure adding it to your vegetable production, it is certain to impact your natural label. That is why we offer feeds that are balanced between natural and affordable. Our goal is to aid you by helping you produce the best natural product while still being affordable.
Nothing is 100% natural and nothing is 100% organic. Our world has been altered too much for that. For example every corn product is now laced with GMO's to some degree. Cannot get rid of it. But we work on sourcing more natural feeds and products.
We do currently offer both natural and organic products from our produce and we offer natural/Organic feeds to our homestead farms. Ask us more about those feeds.