Reading Labels

Years ago when I was just beginning to understand  the importance of eating healthily, I would  drive down the river road and browse the aisles of the New Morning Co-op, smiling at my fellow granolas, invariably wearing tie dyed shirts and bandanas, to pick up my organic oats and beans.  The organic food movement was beginning to gain strength and little food co-ops sprang up in towns and cities all over the place.  Though I loved the drive in my VW and it felt really cool, I did have to go out of my way to find and take advantage of this choice. 

Today, grocery stores have done a wonderful job of providing choices for consumers.  You can find gluten-free pancake mix, organic dairy and meat, fair trade coffee and chocolate in most any store and many now carry a house brand of organic products ranging from tomatoes to butter.  Cost conscious consumers (and who isn't?) are finally able to easily find an excellent selection of high quality environmentally friendly foods and goods at reasonable prices while shopping at their local market.

But, have you ever wondered how reliable that organic label is and what other labels claiming free range, biodegradable, etc, mean exactly?  Our consumer challenge at this time is to wade through all the hoopla and rhetoric to find those with substance.  Take the claim ‘Organic" for example.  On the Consumer Reports Greener Choices website the term organic has three levels; ‘100% Organic', ‘Organic' (95% organic and 5% approved on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances), or ‘Made with Organic Ingredients' (70% organic and 30% approved on the National List).  Nothing with less than 70% organic ingredients may use the organic label, which for food is highly regulated.  The GreenerChoices.org website has an easy to use catalog of all the possible labels you may come across covering every product from wood to laundry detergent.  Here you may discover that Free Range chickens need only be let outside for five minutes a day.  However, you can trust a Fair Trade label and any organic certified label as meeting rigorous standards.  The term natural as applies to beef and chicken means no artificial ingredients are added, but the USDA does not monitor for antibiotics or hormones under this labeling.  Buyer beware!

 In the quest for full disclosure and transparency, not to mention ease of use, we may soon have an unlikely partner, Walmart!  Walmart has begun the process of creating a ‘Sustainable Product Index' which will be required for all of the products it carries, affecting 100,000 suppliers.  The company has provided the initial funding for a ‘Sustainability Index Consortium'.   Composed of multiple universities, the consortium will analyze data on the environmental impact of every product from raw materials to disposal and come up with a rating system that will be user friendly.  The consortium will be coordinating with governments, NGO's and businesses all over the world. The great thing about this is that when ready the information will be an open platform and available to any company that wishes to use it.  In a few years we may be able to look at a product tag and be able to make a much more educated decision without having to do independent research or wonder if the label means what we think it does. 

If you don't feel like waiting the few years for the consortium and maybe don't trust the corporate world at any rate, there is always the best and most fun option of buying local.  It's a win-win situation where you have the best of all possible outcomes, knowing and supporting your fellow Cheshire County producers and getting great products that are made or grown close to home.  And maybe if you are lucky, you can drive down a road by the river to get there.