All About Organic

The Problem:

Organic is a hot word these days and you might be surprised to learn that it doesn’t always mean what you think it means.

While the certified organic standard as set by the USDA is a step in the right direction (depending on how you look at it), it is by no means the end all be all. Products labeled as “certified organic” can still be sprayed with some pesticides and animals can still receive some vaccinations. In the USDA regulations there is no mention of animal welfare or living conditions.

The term “organic” is owned by the government. It is technically illegal to advertise your product as organic unless it has been officially certified organic by the USDA. The certification process can be lengthy and expensive (which is why organic food is always more expensive). But as long as you feed and vaccinate your animals with the right thing, spray your crops with the right thing, and you shell out some cash you can be certified organic.

What does all of that mean for a small farmer? Well, if you are a small farmer who grows your food organically but can’t afford to go through the certification process you cannot advertise your food as organic without risk of at least, being fined.

At Nielsonsgård, we think that the USDA standards for organic create a race to the bottom. Farmers are incentivized to meet the bare minimum requirements in order to receive an official stamp so they can sell their product for more. The true meaning of organic is being lost, the gap between farmers and consumers is steadily growing bigger, animal welfare is given no thought, and farmers are still barely making ends meet financially.

The Solution:

Joel Salatin coined the term “beyond organic” and that is a standard we can get behind. Beyond organic encompasses the true meaning of organic. Chemical free farms, respectful animal stewardship, and best of all: being held accountable by your local community.

We believe that the solution to so many of the issues in our food industry today would be solved if farmers sold their products directly to their community and consumers looked to their local farms for food.

At Nielsonsgård we choose not to be certified organic. We prefer to meet a higher standard and be held accountable by our local community. It is expensive to go through the certification process and is almost three times as expensive to feed our chickens a certified organic feed. Feeding our chickens a locally grown, non-GMO feed makes our meat prices more affordable for our customers. We believe the high standard we use when raising our chickens helps to grow a strong and healthy bird that has the ability to detox from any residual chemicals that might be found in their feed. Fresh air, green grass, and movement go a long way for chickens (and humans) to be healthy and resilient.

We hold ourselves to a very high standard. This is the chicken that we feed to our children and that we believe is worthy to be fed to yours. We are proud of what we do and know that this is chicken you can feel good about eating.

If you want to learn more about why we raise our chicken on pasture, click here. If you want to learn more about how we care for our chickens, click here.