What the Heck Does “Organic” Mean, Anyway?

When we go out and demo our products in stores, we get a lot of tasters who say “OK,  this sounds great, but what does organic actually mean?” This is a great question! Trying to get a clear answer from Google will make your head spin. There’s a lot of confusing information out there and we hope to clear some of it up in this post.

The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 laid out an extensive legal definition, the gist of which was that an “organic” product cannot contain any synthetic chemicals, it can’t come from animals treated with synthetic chemicals within the last three years, and it can’t come from land treated with synthetic chemicals within the last three years. Little subparts of this definition are constantly being tweaked, but there are some consistent and general rules you can count on.

 

Certified organic foods WILL NOT contain:

• Chemical fertilizers or sewage sludge
• Chemical insectides, pesticides, & herbicides
• Antibiotics or added hormones
• Bioengineered or genetically modified ingredients

Also:

• Organic foods cannot be sterilized by irradiation.
• Organic farmers are strongly encouraged to use methods that help conserve soil and water resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the USDA Organic Seal:

The “organic” label and the USDA seal require a third-party certification, so if you see a food with the above logo on its package, you can be sure that the farmer and processor are held accountable to the standards listed above.

To carry the USDA seal, a product MUST contain at least 95% organic ingredients. If it’s completely and totally organic, it will say “100% organic.” If it contains at least 70% organic ingredients, it will say “made with organic ingredients.” Otherwise, it can’t have the word organic or the USDA seal anywhere on its label. Don’t just look for the seal, read carefully too.

Also worth noting:

“Organic” is a claim about how the food is grown and processed. It has not (yet) been proven to confer a better taste or greater nutritional value.

You may have heard that the USDA Organic Seal is a scam. “Scam” is not the right word. The simple fact is that it’s impossible to please everyone with such a broad label.

Purists argue that megafarms and large corporations technically follow the organic rules but still cut corners in terms of the overall well-being of their land and their animals. Some small farmers and processing companies feel the label is unfair because despite being absolutely committed to the principles, they cannot afford certification.  

At Ohio Organic Family Farms, we do feel it’s worth the expense to give consumers extra peace of mind about the quality and origin of our milk. However, in the end it all comes down to your personal convictions about your food… the USDA Organic Seal is a helpful tool and we are proud to display it, but it should not necessarily be the end-all of your buying decisions.

 

SOURCES/LEARN MORE:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml

http://www.organic.org/home/faq#faq1

http://usda-fda.com/Articles/Organic.htm

Why You Should Drink Chocolate Milk After Your Workout!

Sorry for the hiatus! Summer has been incredibly busy here at the dairy. But new content should be pretty regular from now on, so keep checking back!

Anyway, according to a recent article in Fitness Magazine, a study out of Indiana University showed that, on top of being a refreshing treat, chocolate milk can be beneficial as a recovery drink after a tough workout!

Yes, it does sound a little crazy. But here are some things to consider:

- The high water content in chocolate milk replaces fluids lost as sweat and can help prevent dehydration.

- The carbohydrates in chocolate milk can provide replenishment for tired muscles by giving the body something to metabolize, and the proteins in chocolate milk can also help with recovery and rebuilding.

- The small amounts of sodium and sugar in chocolate milk can help you retain water and feel more energetic, and you also get a dose of calcium to help strengthen your bones.

Now, if you’re counting calories or just doing low-impact exercise to have fun and stay active, chocolate milk may not be ideal after your workout. But if you’re pushing your body to its limit, chocolate milk may be an excellent solution to help replenish your muscles and hasten your recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Matthew Keida, 2009.

And if you’re going to drink chocolate milk, better make it a glass of Ohio Organic Family Farms chocolate milk from grassfed cows. It’s naturally high in omega-3s, and it’s made with all-natural ingredients like antioxidant-rich organic cocoa and NO high fructose corn syrup! Satisfied customers say it’s “like a milkshake” – MUCH tastier than those fake-fruit sports drinks or protein shakes!

SOURCE/MORE INFORMATION: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/superfoods/chocolate-milk-after-workout/

Grassfed Cows Help Fight Global Warming!

Cows are ruminants- animals able to eat grass because of special bacteria in their unique four-compartment stomachs. These bacteria help the cows digest tough plant materials, particularly the carbohydrate cellulose, which is the component that gives plant stalks their strength and upright structure. However, as these bacteria aid in digestion, they also produce methane gas, which the cows burp out into the atmosphere. Methane gas is a “greenhouse gas” that contributes to global warming. It has been estimated that beef cattle and dairy cows are responsible for nearly 2o% of the atmospheric methane produced by the United States!

Stonyfield Farm, one of the country’s leading yogurt brands and a longtime champion of environmentally sound farming practices, heard these statistics and decided to make a change. They teamed up with scientists from their parent company, Groupe Danone, as well as from the University of Vermont, to determine how they could reduce Stonyfield’s methane emissions.

The solutions they found? Pump new bacteria into the cows’s stomachs… OR, feed them grasses as nature intended!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Tim Maikshilo and his wife, Kristen Dellert [Stonyfield farmers], hold one of their Holsteins in Coventry, Vt.” Picture by AP/Tony Talbot

That’s right! Just by switching their cows from a corn diet to a grass diet, Stonyfield dairy farmers in Vermont reduced their cows’ methane emissions up to 18%! On top of that, the change didn’t affect their feed costs appreciably, and their vet bills have gone down too!

By feeding our cows ONLY grass, Ohio Organic Family Farms is trying to do the right thing for your health, our health, our cows’ health, and the health of the environment. We greatly appreciate your support in this endeavor!

 

SOURCES/LEARN MORE:

http://www.epa.gov/rlep/faq.html

http://www.cantonrep.com/business/x998779079/Cows-burp-less-on-a-green-diet

http://www.epa.gov/methane/scientific.html

Exciting New Study Shows That Our Butter IS More Nutritious Than a Leading National Brand’s!

Recently, Ohio Organic Family Farms sent out a sample of our butter to an independent third-party food analysis lab. We also sent them a sample of butter from a leading national brand.

We are thrilled to present the results of the analysis here. These numbers really emphasize why it’s so important to do things the right way instead of the easy way!

THE RESULTS:

 

Not a scientist? That’s ok! Here’s how you can learn more.

A quick intro to fatty acids:

Fatty acids are the compounds produced when your body breaks down fats. Fatty acids function as hormone-like regulators and are necessary for a wide range of biochemical processes. For the most part, your body can produce all the fatty acids it needs to get things done. There are two exceptions: alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid. Because your body lacks the chemical pathways necessary to make alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids, you must take them in as part of your diet. Since you have to get them from outside sources, these fatty acids are known as “essential” fatty acids.

What are “omega” fatty acids? What are EPA and DHA?

“Omega-3″ and “omega-6″ refer to the positions of certain bonds between the elements in the fatty acids. The structures of omega-3 fatty acids are derived from the structure of alpha-linolenic acid. The structures of omega-6 fatty acids are derived from the structure of linoleic acid. Since you can’t make alpha-linolenic acid or linoleic acid on your own, you can’t make the omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids either. There are several different omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but for our butter study we focused on the omega-3 fatty acids EHA and DHA. We chose to focus on those two because as it stands now, they are among the most heavily researched essential fatty acids.

What is CLA?

The structure of CLA, as its name implies, is derived from the structure of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid. It is another important compound being heavily studied by leading food science researchers.

Why should I care?

We know- it can be exhausting to try to keep up with the never-ending flow of inconsistent nutrition information. But more and more studies are uncovering the health benefits of EHA, DHA, and CLA. As stated in the chart above, they have been shown to be beneficial in several very important ways.

The take-home message:

Where we differ most markedly from the leading national brand is what we feed to our cows. Our cows eat ONLY grass, as nature intended, and in terms of beneficial EHA, DHA, and CLA, this truly makes a quantifiable nutritional difference. This is why we are so proud to present Ohio’s ONLY certified organic milk from fully grassfed cows.

We chose to have butter analyzed because these compounds are found in fat, and of all our products, butter has the greatest fat content. But all of our products come from the same grassfed cows, and we are absolutely confident that you’d see comparable results analyzing anything we make.

What’s more, with Ohio Organic Family Farms products, you’re getting these beneficial compounds as nature intended- not from a pill, not from a lab, not from a weird nutraceutical food. Just butter the color of pure sunshine, and it tastes amazing!

Food, Inc.- You’ll Leave This Movie “Hungry For Change”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA, http://www.oeffa.org), the organization that provides our organic certification, presented a special pre-screening of the new movie “Food, Inc.” at the Drexel Theatre in Bexley (Columbus). There were also some notable speakers and a buffet dinner of delicious local & organic food from sponsors such as Flying J Farm, Whole Foods Market, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Snowville Creamery, and more. Ohio Organic Family Farms was proud to provide moviegoers with half-pint bottles of our organic chocolate milk from local grassfed cows!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms (Image from foodinc.com)

The movie examined various aspects of America’s industrial food system and provided lots of interesting “food for thought” about the ethicality, safety, and nutrient content of the foods we take for granted every day. One of the highlights of the film was an interview with Polyface Farms’s Joel Salatin, who extolled the practice of keeping grassfed, pastured cows. This is also what we at Ohio Organic Family Farms believe. Our farmers feed their cows grass as nature intended, and as a result our dairy products have a superior flavor and have been scientifically proven to contain more crucial nutrients (more on these studies later!).

The movie will be showing at the Drexel East (2254 E Main St., Bexley) through 7/23 /09 and we highly recommend it- if you eat, you owe it to yourself to learn the facts about where your food comes from! For showtime information, call 614-231-1050 or visit http://www.drexel.net/beta. To learn more about the movie, visit http://www.foodincmovie.com.

Beat the Heat with our Old-Fashioned Frozen Vanilla Custard

Ohio Organic Family Farms
OLD-FASHIONED FROZEN VANILLA CUSTARD

1 cup Ohio Organic Family Farms whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup Ohio Organic Family Farms whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

1. Combine the first three ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
2. Cool and pour into a shallow pan. Freeze to a mush (do not allow it to freeze completely).
3. In a large bowl, whip the cream with the vanilla and salt.
4. Remove the frozen mixture from the pan into the whipped cream; fold whipped cream into frozen mixure. Return to pan and freeze completely.

After the custard has hardened, cover it to avoid freezer burn.

Try our delicious, old-fashioned chocolate krinkles. Just like Grandma used to make!

 

Ohio Organic Family Farms
CHOCOLATE KRINKLES

2 cups Ohio Organic Family Farms butter
3 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla extract
5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 cups Ohio Organic Family Farms cottage cheese
½ cup powdered sugar

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Fold the cottage cheese into the batter.
3. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll rounded spoonfuls of the dough in powdered sugar, then place them 2 inches apart on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire cooling rack.
Enjoy with a tall, cold glass of Ohio Organic Family Farms Cream-Top milk.

Try our Patriotic Pound Cake- the perfect finish for a Memorial Day or Fourth of July picnic!

 

Ohio Organic Family Farms
PATRIOTIC POUND CAKE

1 cups butter, softened
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 cup Ohio Organic Family Farms whole milk
1 ½ cups Ohio Organic Family Farms heavy whipping cream
1 T confectioner’s sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8 ½ inch by 4 ½ inch loaf pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Butter parchment; set pans aside. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Put butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla in mixer and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 min. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk.
3. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until golden brown or until toothpick comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 min. Cut around outsides of cake to loosen up sides, flip out onto rack and let cool.
4. Put cream and confectioners’ sugar into bowl and whisk on medium high speed until soft peeks form. Place cream in piping bag and pipe desired design on tops of cakes. Decorate with desired fruit and enjoy!!!!

A Taste of Summer: Sweet Berry Parfaits

 

Ohio Organic Family Farms
SWEET BERRY PARFAIT

2 cups Ohio Organic Family Farms cottage cheese

BERRY LAYER:
8 oz. frozen mixed berries
1/8 cup granulated sugar
Toss together; set aside until berries are thawed.

WHIPPED CREAM:
1 cup Ohio Organic Family Farms heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
Whip together until peaks form.

To assemble parfaits, place a 1-inch layer of cottage cheese in the bottom of a cup, then add a ½-inch layer of berries, then add another 1-inch layer of cottage cheese so berries are in the middle. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Party-Perfect Spinach Dip

 

Ohio Organic Family Farms
SPINACH DIP

1 bag (6. oz) baby spinach
½ sweet onion, diced fine
1 red bell pepper, diced fine
3 cups Ohio Organic Family Farms cottage cheese, pureed
½ tsp. garlic puree
1 tbsp. Ohio Organic Family Farms butter
to taste salt and pepper

1. De-stem baby spinach, set aside.
2. Fine-dice onion and bell pepper, set aside.
3. Puree cottage cheese, set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, sauté onions and peppers in butter. Once onions are translucent, add the prepared baby spinach. Cover pan and steam until spinach is wilted.
5. Add spinach mixture to pureed cottage cheese. Stir. Mix in pureed garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.