I’ll admit, sometimes it’s easier to make food choices with blinders on. Choosing a restaurant that makes sustainable efforts is downright work let alone choosing the ‘right’ ingredients at the market. It can be a drag trying to figure out what all the labels mean, but it’s work well done especially when picking out your holiday meals. If you’ve seen the movie, Food, Inc. you know why it’s important to know where your food comes from and it’s important we have a voice in what food we eat. Our purchases are our voice. Plus, there’s nothing better than cooking food from your heart for the ones you love, even if your loved ones are nuts (that’s what the Americans tell me!)

Picking out the right turkey can be a bit confusing. Gone are the days of “fresh or frozen,” which were my choices growing up in Ireland. Today there’s a plethora of labels to go with the many different birds available for consumers. How do you know which one is right for you?

If you’re like me, you’re looking into Local Organic, Sustainable or Heritage varieties. What’s the difference? Even I was confused with all the new labels in these categories. I found a great article on the National Resource Defense Council’s site which cleared up a lot of confusion.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC Turkeys must be raised without antibiotics or growth hormones, eat only organic feed that did not contain chemical fertilizers or pesticides and they must be given access to the outdoors. Organic farming generally falls within the accepted definition of sustainable agriculture, though there is a difference between the two.

SUSTAINABLE Turkeys are usually certified organic turkeys but sometimes a small farm that is not organic-certified might be using organic guidelines and be self-sufficient by recycling all the farm’s waste. This is why it’s important to know where your turkey comes from and what guidelines that particular farm adheres to. “Sustainable” refers more to a philosophy about agriculture than “organic,” which is bound by its legal definition. Sustainable describes the practices of farmers who preserve the land, treat their animals and workers humanely and help support the local community.

There is no single set of standards for sustainable agriculture, there are several labels for which high standards have been set, which go beyond the “organic” label. I was surprised and delighted to see these labels, even more delighted to know exactly what they meant.

• Animal Welfare Approved: Sets high standards for health, shelter and handling, including a requirement that animals spend most of their life in pasture. Prohibits growth hormones; allows antibiotics only for sick animals.
• Certified Humane: Sets high standards for health, shelter and handling; prohibits growth hormones; allows antibiotics only for sick animals.
• Food Alliance Certified: Requires low- or no-pesticide policy; advocates worker welfare, habitat protection, well-managed agriculture and humane care of livestock.
• American Grassfed: Requires that animals eat grass only, and if they receive antibiotics due to illness they must be removed from the program. Growth hormones are prohibited.

HERITAGE Turkeys are like the heirloom tomatoes of the turkey world. In the States there’s a movement to bring back old-fashioned, diversified breeds from small turkey farmers. Ninety-nine percent of all turkeys raised in the US at the present time are the Broadbreasted White variety, sometimes called the Large White. While conventional wisdom would suggest that the heritage turkey might be stringy and the Broadbreasted White juicier, in a blind taste test quite the opposite turned out to be true: Heritage birds–the Midget White and Bourbon Red in particular–proved superior in flavor to factory-farm birds. I hear Jersey Buff’s aren’t bad either. Buying heritage turkeys are more expensive but think about what you’re helping to accomplish, which is helping to preserve small farms and endangered breeds while helping to break the monopoly corporations now have on our food supply. Though it might be too late to order yours for this Thanksgiving think ahead to Christmas or even next year’s feast. Bookmark heritagefoodsusa.com.

I posted a video a few days ago of the trailer for the movie FOOD, Inc.,which basically outlines where our food comes from. The movie’s been out for a month or so but I only just got around to seeing it last night. Man, this is an eye opener.

A lot of people might assume that our food comes from actual farms but unfortunately the fact of the matter is that a lot of it is mass produced in factories by under paid illegal immigrants. Myself and the missus went to see it and she, being a veggie, well you can imagine her delight when they started showing chickens and cattle being abused. They’re not the only ones–the workers are also being abused. It was an ugly truth. There was so much info in this movie that it would be hard to relay all of it to you guys but to give you just a taste here’s what resonated with me:

• There’s an average of 47,000 items in any supermarket and the entire lot is controlled/produced by just 4 or 5 companies. Imagine having that much control over what we, the consumer, can buy. Now, just picture all those different brands and selection of products available in your local and just know that 4 or 5 companies control ALL those items. Even ‘green brands’ have gone big corporate: Tom’s of Maine? Now owned by Colgate-Palmolive. Naked Juice is Pepsi. Odwalla is Coca-Cola. Kashi is Kellogg’s. You get the picture.

• The common ingredient and most farmed product here (which is in a lot of these items) is corn. These food companies have been very clever in utilizing corn in a number of supermarket items from Twinkies to sweets (candy) to ketchup to batteries to diapers. It’s obviously a very versatile crop and has made these companies a bucket load of cash. Money is the name of the game.

• They are now growing chickens in a third of the time they used to take and twice as big. The conditions under which these chickens are farmed are deplorable and the TYSON brand is a huge culprit, forcing farmers to raise chickens in complete darkness and with the coops filled to the gills. They are also engineering chickens with bigger breasts because people prefer more white meat. Those chicks sound like they could be from LA! (Sorry there lads, just a bit of humour.) But seriously, you wouldn’t believe how scientific our food has become.

• On to beef.  There are so many problems with the beef industry I don’t know where to begin. Think about it, how is it possible that say McDonald’s can offer a dollar menu with a ‘juicy burger’ on its list but we can’t even by broccoli for a buck? Think that’s proper and safe meat they’re selling? Think again. E-Coli is a huge thing these days, mostly in part due to the way the animals are mistreated (think feces) and the fact that they’re serving them CORN for food = parasites. So to remedy this FOOD, Inc. spoke with a company called IBP (have a look and see who just happens to own IBP) that has found a solution. They make a meat filler for the burger meat and in order to eliminate any chance of contracting E-coli they rinse the filler in………..ammonia. So the next time you order your burger and fries from a fast food chain be confident in the fact that you may not get E-Coli but you have just eaten a mouthful of ammonia. Umm tasty!

• Then there’s soybeans and diabetes….I’m telling you, so much info was covered in this documentary.

I don’t want to come off all preachy about this movie but people really need to become more aware and more informed about what they’re eating and to get everyone talking about how we can create change for our food. The first thing the Missus and I talked about after the movie was, “Now What?–What more can we do?”  First off, we’ll be researching these large companies and will boycotting them (will keep you posted) and of course we’ll continue to support our local farmers. Here are some other tips from the FOOD, Inc. site to help people change how we eat (and think). The Eat Well Guide is a handy resource which lists local farmers markets, farms, restaurants and Community Supported Agricultural programs in your area (US and Canada), all of which offer organic and sustainable foods, including meats. For Ireland I found this map for fresh food.

I’d really like people to make up their own minds and go see it. If you’ve already seen it I’d like to hear from you guys and/or if you’ve seen any of the other movies that also discuss this topic.

Keep me posted.

Cheers!

Ever wonder where your food comes from….and I don’t mean the supermarket (for all you comedians out there). This video is from a movie that came out last month called Food, Inc. I looked up the website and I’m slightly annoyed at myself for not having had my shit together sooner and gone to see it even though, would you believe I have a flier up on my fridge! I only realized what the subject matter is and believe me I’ll be checking it out asap. Those of you that know me know how passionate I am about food and especially the quality of food I use so this is something that’s right up my alley.

Go ahead and watch this clip and make your own mind up.

I want to hear your thoughts on this, whatever your stand point is, so leave a comment below.

“How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?”

Intrigued? Here’s another snippit from the opening of the movie. From what I’ve read and seen it’s worth supporting. Tell your friends.  Together we can create change for the better.

Cheers