When it comes to buying consumable goods
for ourselves, our kids, and our pets, more and more people
are making the switch to organic products. But what does the
word “organic” mean? And specifically what does
it mean for a product to have the word “organic” on
it. Personally I try to use organic products whenever possible,
but I have to remind myself now and again to stop and actually
study the label before just throwing something in the cart
just because I see the word organic somewhere on the packaging – because,
believe it or not, so-called “organic” items are
not always the healthiest option.
The term “organic” simply means
farming without the use of synthetic chemicals. Prior to WWII,
the term wasn’t
even used because chemical-free farming was the norm. According
to the Organic Consumer’s Association, after
the Second World War there was a movement towards “factory
farming” which in turn called for the widespread use
of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and mass-rearing.
In the midst of this agricultural industrial revolution, some
pioneers of the organic movement called for a return to the
responsible farming. This counter movement re-defined the term “organic” to
include adopting techniques that maintain soil fertility and
utilize renewable resources that do not grossly pollute the
environment, in addition to the absence of pesticides.
Today the use of the term “organic” is well regulated
in the human food chain and food producers must meet certain
criteria for it to be used on packaging. However, just because
a package says “organic” does not mean that the
entire product is organic. To say that a product is “made
with organic ingredients” means that it only needs to
contain at least 70% organic ingredients. If the product contains
95% organic ingredients, it can say “organic” on
the packaging. And to say “100% organic ingredients”,
each ingredient listed must be completely organic.
Organic pet food and organic
dog treats have not received the
same level of attention or regulation
as the
human
food
industry. Not long ago a manufacturer could call a pet food
organic even if it only contained trace amounts of organic
ingredients. More recently the guidelines for organic human
food discussed above were applied to organic
pet food. However,
there is still little oversight or regulation. More stringent
regulations for organic pet food are under development, but
until then, there are pet foods out there claiming to be “organic” without
any real federal standards being applied. For example, just
because a pet food ingredient is organic, is it also human-quality?
Or could it be a by-product of an organic ingredient made for
the human food chain and sold of to the pet food industry at
a discount?
Keep in mind also that just because a product is organic, does
not necessarily make it healthy. Walk into your local health
food store and you’ll see that virtually everything is
available in an organic version these days. They make organic
hot dogs, cookies, soda pop, and ice cream. But is it healthier
for me to buy a loaf of organic white bread than it is to buy
a non-organic loaf of 12-grain? Should let my kids drink organic
chocolate milk instead of non-organic carrot juice? Should
I buy my dog an organic processed pellet or canned food instead
of a non-organic fresh, raw dog food? The bottom line is that
organic or not, junk food is still junk food.
Our organic line, Monzies Organics, is made with only human-quality
ingredients. Monzie’s Organic
Müesli for dogs contains
95% organic ingredients. The other 5% are ingredients that
are not available in organic, such as kelp. Our Monzie’s
Organic Cookies for Dogs are baked in a certified organic
human-food bakery and are also made with 95% organic ingredients.
As far
as which of our three mixes you select for your pets (Sojos
European-Style, Europa Grain-Free,
or Monzies), ultimately,
it’s up to you to make that decision based on what your
dogs thrive on and what you are comfortable feeding them. The
same can be said about the meat and vegetables that you combine
with our mixes. Certainly it is much more expensive to use
only organic meat to mix with our food. But you should also
keep in mind that the human-quality meat found in most grocery
stores is far superior in quality to anything you’d find
in a traditional commercial pet food. In our opinion, there
is a far greater gap between human-grade food and feed-grade
food than there is between organic food and human-grade
dog food. So in the end, before you decide whether to feed organic
or
not, the first priority should be to make sure that you’re
feeding a fresh, unprocessed food made of human-quality ingredients.
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Copyright ® 2006
Sojourner Farms. All rights reserved.
