I am so proud to be able to order some of my weekly groceries from Organic Emporium, who really do care where their food comes from and how the animals are raised and live. Love this rant! :-) There is indeed such a thing as grass-fed. I know this to be true because of the time I have spent on Keith Harveys farm. There is indeed such a thing as free range. I know this because I have walked Keith Harveys farm where cattle are wholly reared on lush veldt responsibly preserved through holistic grazing. I know this because I have just spent time with a proper goat shepherd who very literally walks his goats up mountains and lets them forage on indigenous shrubs each and every day. I know that free range can be meaningful because I have just spent time with an incredible farmer who keeps pigs in such a vast natural environment that they are for all intents and purposes - feral. I know that there is some incredible - truly free range - lamb in this country because I have just spent a week on 2 of the best Karoo lamb farms I have ever seen where sheep and their lambs are scattered, wholly grazing on Karoo veldt and shrub, in vast tracts of unpolluted terrain. I know that there are farmers out there who truly free range their chickens because I know Mandy and I know Ruth and I know all about their commitment to doing things properly. These are real farmers, with real farms who really exist.These woman are real farmers who really give a toss. Who really care about their animals. Who really are always at the other end of a telephone line available to chat and connect and share the latest news and care about how you feel about their produce. Who always have an open door when I want to go and visit them. Yes - I also know about all the free range chicken out there that really is nothing more than chickens free in a barn with an open door at the back in case they want to go out being fed standard pellets, I know about these misleading farms because I visit them and walk way from them regularly and put up with the criticism that I dont have a steady supply of chicken. Ive had it in monumental chunks with the exploitation of the word free range when it comes to chicken. The thing is - to be honest - retailers want your money and they are buckling to your demand and if we take a more critical view at ourselves - isnt it us - the consumer - who wants an endless supply of conveniently packaged - cheap too - chicken breasts? If we arent prepared to adjust our needs and to understand that this convenience comes at a price - is it fair to keep attacking retailers? I just read an outrage on a popular FACEBOOK support group for a way of eating - at the price of cucumbers. Everybody was jumping on a fat attack at retailers for the price of cucumbers at this point in time. Not one post - pointed out that cucumbers do not grow in Winter! Not one question asked - why are cucumbers so expensive right now? Not one of the posters made the connection between the fact that if the price of cucumbers has gone up in Winter - surely it is because of the costs of having to bring in cucumbers from regions where it is growing because it is not seasonal. None of the consumers cared in this string of posts - they all just wanted cucumbers in the middle of Winter - at a cheap price to boot. Are these the same consumers that are going to attack retailers for the mess they make of the food system while they try and meet this absurd consumer demand for out of season, convenient food? I will not put my name to farms that exploit the term free range. Ill tell you the story and detail of the farm and you can decide how you feel about supporting that farm and buying their produce. Never mind the term free range - stop placing so much emphasis on them - ignore them and ask for real information. The deeper problem is that the western consumer has an insatiable demand for chicken. I dont know that the demand for chicken is at all sustainable to be honest. 9 million tons of maize - most of that genetically modified -is grown for the South African market - half of which is used for animal feed with most of that going to feed chicken because the average consumption of chicken per person has literally doubled in 20 years. Im not sure that our insatiable appetite for chicken breasts is sustainable. Heaven knows, I cant meet it. I can provide you with whole properly sized chickens from only 2 farms right now sporadically when they are available but to meet an insatiable demand for cut and packaged chicken breasts, you need a conveyor belt chicken farm. I cant find one Im happy to put my name to. So I know that the term free range has been exploited, is too often misleading and is abused. I know all about it. It exists though, alongside farmers who do it properly like Mandy, like Ruth. Who actually give two hoots about the animals they raise. I know they exist because I do what I can to find food heroes like them and connect you to them. Just because the terms are being mis-used - does not mean that we must let go of our utopian ideals of properly pastured animals. These utopian ideal farmers exist. Natures utopian ideals exist. I wouldnt do what I do if I hadnt have connected with them. I leave their farms fired with purpose and motivation. Conventional mind-set retailers are going to jump on this band wagon - they sniff an opportunity for profit and they are going to try and manipulate you - no differently to how they always have done - with jingle bell marketing -stuff and nonsense. The only way to stop them from doing this is to become educated and ask them - directly - to explain to you what they mean by their terms. Dont believe a term - ask them what they mean. They can only get away with it, if you turn a blind eye, believe the label and not ask for meaningful connection to the producer of the food. Free range can be a meaningful term. Ive connected with farmers that properly and truly free range their animals in environments most suited to them. Grass-fed can be meaningful - Keith Harvey and others in that region quite literally rear cattle wholly on veldt. I know these farmers exist - I have seen them and been to them and spend most of my working life standing for and on behalf of them. Yes, I have also come across those calling beef grass-fed and finishing the animals on grain. I know about those who have exploited that term and used it misleadingly. It doesnt make a Keith Harvey, who doesnt, any less real. Just because too many others pollute these terms and use them for economic gain and to mislead and manipulate consumers - doesnt negate the fact that great farmers who do great justice to the very real terms - free range and grass fed that are actually meaningful terms when practised responsibly - exist. They are the true food heroes and I will continue to stand up and for them. Yes - there are retailers out there exploiting these terms - it does not mean though that we should tarnish all with the same brush. They do not negate the reality of the great food heroes who do things properly - who truly rear animals on their natural diet in a great environment - they exist and I will spend the rest of my life standing up for and on behalf of them in whichever capacity I can. We need to stop being angry with the retailers and turn the attention to ourselves as consumers. Retailers cannot pull the wool over your eyes if you stop and insist on proper answers and ask for more than glossy pictures and meaningless labels. This is what the food revolution is about. Onwards and Upwards, Debbie Logan Standing for the authenticity of great farmers. They do exist. They are out there. Back them. Dont allow retailers to hide behind labels. This is our revolution. jozirealfood.co.za
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 19:52:57 +0000
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