talking about it tonight I think we all
have memories of eating good food with
family and friends food is a major
cultural ingredient for people all over
the world but what if our food
consumption and the way we share that
with other people made a statement about
the future of our planet I think it does
which is why I want to talk about
organic food gladdie had an organic
banana we’ll mention that later the
organic food movement is a movement for
tomorrow but it’s something we can get
involved in today it is innovative and
we need to make that change in our food
system it’s perplexing to me that in
order to feed the world people think
that we need genetically modified
organisms and bioengineered chemicals
and seeds which aren’t natural or
friendly there’s more to it than just
these technological advancements that
although we’ve produced more food than
ever before
there’s also a host of problems that we
never had before either like more desert
offical more soil erosion more
deforestation we have problems with our
health that we’ve never seen before and
more urbanization because people can’t
seem to make a living on the farm
anymore clearly we need to make some
changes to our food system but it’s more
than just scientific advancements I
think that what organic does is that it
provides leadership and tenants that
really care about our bodies our
environment and our future let’s look at
a few of their characteristics they
emphasize soil fertility and
biodiversity they encourage
alternative methods to chemical
application and then furthermore they
support humane and ethical treatment of
livestock as well as careful production
of animal by-products like eggs and milk
we need a system that will produce more
food and good food and I think if we
continue to ameliorate the shortcomings
we see in the organic food industry that
it will eventually become the system we
need to sustain us for generations to
come
one example I love sharing that I think
really encapsulates the organic food
movement is a small nonprofit in Senegal
West Africa it’s called the Beersheba
project and what I love about this
project is that it really Roth’s organic
food alive for me because I saw that you
don’t need a lot of expensive chemical
inputs to grow food what you need is to
know your environment we’re so detached
these days from what our natural
environment actually is we just want a
quick solution and what I saw here is
that you really need to know what nature
is all about and it will provide what
you need they use simple methods of
composting their waste of mulching
around the crops to prevent soil erosion
and water evaporation and then they
planted trees to improve the quality of
the soil and to create wind breaks it
was really great I felt like this is the
system that will make a difference in
the world
even though it was a small example I got
really excited to see that this is a
system we can contend for although
that’s a great example and what I wish
was more prevalent in the world the
reality is that here in the US we get
most of our organic food from industrial
organic farms this is one brand you
might have seen at Jewel Osco organics
and it’s an example of a lot of the
farms we see in California Mexico
Central and South America where they
really follow the conventional method
pharming although they adhere to the
USDA standards for production so they
tend to have their pop their hands in
both conventional and organic operations
another example is Driscoll’s berries
production they’ll have organic
operations right alongside their
conventional operation as for bananas we
see that dole and Chiquita are the
largest producers of both conventional
and organic so this is just kind of a
basic market response to the supply
meeting and increased demand for a label
in a positive sense I think that the
industrial organic industry shows that
the supply chain is shifting its
consciousness to realize and acknowledge
that consumers want more than just
conventional produce and not just
produce we want better products that
have fewer chemical additives are more
natural and don’t have GMOs in them I
think there’s a tipping point coming
here in the in the United States in the
history of our food where organic
manufacturing and agricultural
production are going to explode
consumers are making a difference we can
make a difference by choosing organic
food you’re participating in a system
that’s not only going to sustain us for
generations but also believes in
principles that are better for our
bodies and for everyone involved in the
industry one of the major categories of
organic is produce most people start
with produce when they think of organic
here’s a slide of the Dirty Dozen which
was determined by the Environmental
Working Group there are 12 different
types of produce that really are major
culprits – herbicide and pesticide use
if you consume anything organic at all I
would recommend these 12 types of
produce another category in organics is
dairy and eggs so organic dairy cows
must
access to pasture which is important so
they can graze they are fed 100% non-gmo
and organic feed and they’re also
carefully tended so that there are not
treated with antibiotics or hormones to
stimulate unnatural production of milk
on the egg side it’s a little bit more
complicated because you’ll see a lot of
different labels well begin with
cage-free that means that they have
access outside of their cages one step
in the right direction then we have free
range which is access to the outdoors a
relatively new label is pasture-raised
which means that the chickens are raised
most of their lives on pasture this is
great because hens love to forage for
bugs that’s how they’re naturally made
and then we have organic which is
free-range and non-gmo the best
combination you’ll see one of the the
pictures is pasture raised and organic
this is the ideal combination and what
if you can find this label I would
encourage you to eat those eggs because
you’ll notice a difference as for meat
surprisingly meat is the smallest
category in organic I think it’s because
there’s a limited supply so as supply
and distribution meet the demand for
better quality meat we’re going to see
this category rise we’re showing some
pictures here of of chicken and pork
some labels to be aware of are all
natural or a B F this refers to
antibiotic and hormone-free again
referencing their medical treatment and
their growth progression so a more
natural progression as opposed to growth
hormones then we have non GMO there’s a
third-party organization called the non
GMO Project and they verify that in the
raising of these animals they only ate
100% non GMO feed the best that you can
find is pasture raised and organic so
complying with the regulatory standards
of organic but also then allowing them
this extra space to to roam and grow as
for beef and lamb you’ll notice
grass-fed grass-fed is a really great
label to wash for because sheep and cows
are
are ruminants meaning they don’t like
corn and soybeans which are the main
components of most organic and
conventional feed so grass-fed really
refers to a better environmentally sound
system for animals on top of that if you
can put organic then you have that
regulatory standard lastly I want to
reference just a few labels that you
might see in the grocery store that show
us that in general the food industry is
changing not only organic is changing
the industry but these labels and
consumers are demanding better products
we want to know what we’re eating we’re
not content to just consume whatever
anymore gluten-free is a really popular
label I’m sure you’ve all heard of more
and more people are noticing that
they’re intolerant of the proteins found
in grains such as wheat and rye so this
is this category is rising really
quickly just be aware that there are a
lot of sugars sometimes added to these
products so read the labels just because
it says gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s
awesome for your health then we have
paleo which refers to a special kind of
diet that’s high-protein grain free and
sugar-free this is very innovative and
we’re seeing a lot of increase in this
product and then lastly vegan so this is
a popular diet that’s been a while for a
while but we’re seeing more and more
products in the grocery store for vegan
which means it’s just entirely
plant-based with no animal by-products I
would encourage you to consume if you
are vegan or want to have some meatless
Mondays that you would consume organic
vegan products because conventional
vegan there’s often a lot of colorants
chemical additives and unnatural
artificial ingredients to conclude
farmers manufacturers and consumers have
started a movement to change our food
system into a more sustainable industry
organic food movement really responds to
our desire for better we want better we
want better health a better environment
and better food innovation and creative
design along with research within the
organic industry help us to link both
our unnatural the unpredictable natural
world to our bodies and our desire for
good food so what’s important is that
more people get involved in the organic
food industry it’s calling out for
people to take stock of what they’re
consuming and how it’s being produced
more hands getting involved right now
only less than 1% of the population is
engaged in agriculture so I’m looking
forward to seeing how this industry
develops and how we can get more
involved as consumers thank you [Applause]