Making Waves in the Dairy Industry: Kalona SuperNatural™ Goes Above and Beyond During Unprecedented Times
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Certified Organic Dairy Honors June’s National Dairy Month by Supporting Regenerative Agriculture and Small Scale Family Farmers as a Sustainable Solution to Protect Livestock and Preserve the Land for Future Generations
Kalona, IA (June 22, 2020) – Kalona SuperNatural, an emerging, certified-organic, grass-fed dairy producer and brand is making waves during this year’s National Dairy Month by remaining resilient during these unprecedented times. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, National Dairy Month was created in 1937 to encourage Americans to consume more milk to fix the over surplus of product.
This past spring, many conventional dairies were forced to dispense milk because of a lack of demand. Since the pandemic began earlier this year, Kalona has been busy filling distributors’ large orders and working closely with its more than 40+ Amish and Mennonite dairy farmers in eastern Iowa.
Kalona’s CEO and Founder, Bill Evans, was recently quoted in a series of articles published by Presence Marketing, the nation’s largest independent natural and organic food brokerage firm and New Hope Network, an internationally recognized media leader in the natural products industry. Evans indicated that this is a crucial time for dairies, such as Kalona, to be recognized for the ripple they are making in helping the dairy industry regain strength.
"The conventional guys are having issues because they’ve got a large portion of their manufacturing set up for food service; there was no place for that to go a month ago, and it's still limited," Evans says. "We’ve been able to accommodate a 25-30% increase in sales volume, whereas larger producers are shorting people. Kalona SuperNatural has been more successful than others in balancing our organic milk supply."
With more than six months left on the books for the year, Kalona SuperNatural not only has its eye on the state of the industry, they are also paying close attention to the fields.
Going Beyond Organic
Kalona SuperNatural creates delicious, certified organic cream-topped dairy products that are non-homogenized and batch-pasteurized to preserve the fresh flavors. The Amish and Mennonite farmers that are part of the Kalona SuperNatural family of farms take a holistic approach to farming and have done so for the past 100 years.
The farmers believe in allowing their cows to engage in their natural behaviors and move freely in open pastures. This grazing practice mimics the natural movement of wild herds in times passed and follows regenerative agriculture methods, a sustainable approach to farming. When dairy cows are pasture-grazed, they become a boon for combating climate change.
Kalona also encourages its farmers to practice a technique called mob grazing, which means a farmer will put their herd out to graze on a small plot of land daily. They will continue to rotate the herd to various parcels of land, letting the grazed plots rest and rebuild naturally. This technique is done without the use of pesticides and fertilizers and provides cows with plants and grasses rich in nutrients. The result contains more nutritious milk for consumers.
In Support of Regenerative Agriculture
As awareness of climate change grows, Kalona SuperNatural is looking at innovative farming practices that are traditional, yet sustainable. “We are looking to utilize farms as a force for good,” says Phil Forbes, Kalona SuperNatural’s Director of Supply Chain.
“What’s beautiful about regenerative agriculture is that it’s not prescriptive,” Forbes says. “Regenerative agriculture provides us with a framework of modern techniques done sustainably. We want our farmers to manage their land in a sustainable manner that works within the context of their land. There's creative freedom in that model for farmers, and the outcome is net positive for the entire ecosystem."
Evans adds, “At Kalona, we’re ‘Dairy Proud’ all year long, beyond National Dairy Month. Every purchase of our products is a vote for a healthier planet.”
Where to Find Kalona SuperNatural
Kalona SuperNatural products are available at leading retailers in the western U.S., including Whole Foods Market, Natural Grocers, Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Thyme, Hy-Vee, and other independent natural food stores, co-ops, and grocers. Visit kalonasupernatural.com/store-locator.
For wholesale and sales inquiries, please contact Sharon Lake, Supply Chain Manager, sharon.lake@opengatesgroup.com.
About Kalona SuperNatural
Kalona SuperNatural is based in a thriving organic farming community in the heartland of America - Kalona, Iowa. They work with small, sustainable Amish and Mennonite family farms to produce delicious, minimally-processed organic dairy products from pasture-grazed cows. Kalona SuperNatural offers a full line of certified organic dairy products. Learn more at kalonasupernatural.com.
Media Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, tel 303.807.1042, steven@compassnaturalmarketing.com
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NuLeaf Naturals, Leading Provider of CBD Wellness Products, Expands Nationally to 1,600+ Retail Locations; Will Feature Brand at Natural Products Expo West
Visit NuLeaf Naturals at Booth N1735, North Hall, in the Hot Products section at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
Denver, CO (February 27, 2019) – NuLeaf Naturals, a leading manufacturer of whole-plant CBD wellness products, is quickly gaining traction in the natural products channel and has been invited once again to exhibit at the world’s largest natural products trade show, Natural Products Expo West, March 6-9, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
The brand was founded in 2014 and has national distribution in more than 1,600 retail locations across the United States including New Seasons Market in Oregon, Westerly Natural Market in New York, Jungle Jim’s in Ohio, Alfalfa’s Market in Colorado, and many other prominent natural products stores nationwide. For retail locations, visit here.
“NuLeaf is our most popular CBD product,” said Organic Food Depot Manager Jim Jacobs “We love it.” Westerly Market located in the heart of New York City echoed similar thoughts, "NuLeaf is our best-selling CBD oil brand.” According to New Seasons Market, "Customers love that the product is highly concentrated and contains no additives.”
Wholesale inquiries are welcome. Please contact NuLeaf Naturals, tel 720.372.4842, email contact@nuleafnaturals.com
Visit NuLeaf Naturals and sample its full line of CBD wellness products and dietary supplements at Booth N1735, North Hall, in the Hot Products section at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
About NuLeaf Naturals
Founded in 2014 by a group of health-conscious plant medicine aficionados, NuLeaf Naturals is one of America's top pioneering hemp companies. The company vision is to continue to create cannabinoid wellness products that promote a healthy body and mind and to help people and their loved ones live a happier, healthier life. NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is 100% organic and contains all the synergistic cannabinoids, terpenes, essential oils, and other beneficial phytonutrients of the original plant. The brand is committed to providing the highest quality products in their most pure and simple form. Visit www.NuLeafNaturals.com, email contact@NuLeafNaturals.com.
Healing through Hemp…and Honey
With a mission to support veterans and educate consumers about natural health, Colorado Hemp Honey hits the road to introduce Double-Strength Raw Relief Honey with 30 milligrams of whole plant hemp extract per serving.
Parker, CO (January 30, 2019) – Colorado Hemp Honey, the original hemp honey company, will hit the road this spring at leading healthy lifestyles expositions in the U.S. to introduce its new Double-Strength Raw Relief artisan honey with 30 milligrams of full-spectrum, naturally occurring hemp extract per serving. The company’s goal is to educate people about sustainable and organic agriculture and the importance of preserving bee health, along with showcasing its line of hemp-infused honeys at Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural products trade show in Anaheim, CA. Colorado Hemp Honey also will feature its products at the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo, the nation’s largest gathering of hemp industry professionals, in Denver, March 29-30.
Further, the company is dedicated to supporting the veteran and service-animal communities through its various philanthropic partnerships.
“We can’t wait to get out there and talk with healthy lifestyles influencers, advocates, business leaders and enthusiasts about the tremendous benefits of CBD and full spectrum, whole-plant hemp extract,” said beekeeper and farmer Nick French, co-founder with his wife Ali French of Frangiosa Farms, which produces Colorado Hemp Honey. “The naturally occurring CBD in our products calms the mind and soothes the body, supporting its inflammatory response and toning the endocannabinoid system.”
Frangiosa Farms, founded in 2008 in Parker, CO, to create local artisan neighborhood honey using organic practices, is dedicated to responsible beekeeping in the face of the bee population decline through community education, backyard beekeeping workshops, and support of locally sourced raw honey. In 2015, Nick and Ali created Colorado Hemp Honey using raw honey from the farm, full-spectrum, plant-based, non-isolate hemp extract, and organic essential oils.
Frangiosa Farms donates 10 cents from every jar of honey sold to Veterans to Farmers, with a mission to “train veterans in agricultural systems, technologies and business operations for a fulfilling and sustainable lifestyle.” Similarly, the company donates a portion of each jar of Colorado Hemp Honey Pet Tincture sold to support Freedom Service Dogs of America, which helps train and transform the lives of shelter dogs to serve as companion animals for veterans and others suffering from serious injury.
Combining the Raw Power of Hemp and Honey
Colorado Hemp Honey combines the healing powers of raw honey, organic essential oils, and cannabinoid-rich whole hemp extracts in a product formulated to help provide relief. Double-Strength Raw Relief contains twice as much full-spectrum hemp extract as the company’s popular Relief honey without sacrificing any of the delicious sweetness and complexity.
Colorado Hemp Honey is made from 100 percent pure, raw Rocky Mountain honey directly from the farm’s hives and industrial hemp from its fields and those of other Colorado farmers. Colorado Hemp Honey uses a proprietary blend of Colorado-grown, non-GMO, pesticide-free hemp and handles it gently to preserve terpenes and phytonutrients such as amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins (including B1, B2, B6, D, and E), fatty acids (including omega 3 and 6), and trace minerals (including iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and potassium).
In addition to hemp honey in jars and sticks, Colorado Hemp Honey produces a line of diverse products, including pet tinctures with propolis, hemp-infused coffee and hemp honey chocolates. All products are triple tested for purity and potency.
Colorado Hemp Honey products are available in leading retail stores and natural food and pet retailers nationwide and online at www.coloradohemphoney.com. For wholesale inquiries, contact Dave Podesta, dave@frangiosafarms.com, 415.310.1659.
About Frangiosa Farms and Colorado Hemp Honey
Frangiosa Farms was founded in 2008 with the goal of creating local artisan neighborhood honey using organic practices. In 2015, Nick and Ali French created Colorado Hemp Honey using raw honey from the farm; full-spectrum, plant-based, non-isolate hemp extract; and organic essential oils. Frangiosa Farms helps save bees and veterans with its community outreach efforts, supports local farmers, and recently began growing industrial hemp. Colorado Hemp Honey has been featured in Food & Wine, Westword, and CNN, among others. Colorado Hemp Honey products are available in natural food and pet retailers nationwide. Visit www.coloradohemphoney.com.
Visit Colorado Hemp Honey Booth N2236 in the North Hall New Products Pavilion at Natural Products Expo West, March 6-8, 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and at the 6th Annual NoCo Hemp Expo at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center in Denver, March 29-30, 2019.
Media inquiries: Steve Hoffman, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, 303.807.1042
Wholesale inquiries: Dave Podesta, dave@frangiosafarms.com, 415.310.1659
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At the Epicenter: Arran & Ratana Stephens of Nature’s Path Foods
Arran & Ratana Stephens: founders of Nature's Path Foods, North America’s largest organic, independent, non-GMO breakfast foods co.
For Immediate Release:
At the Epicenter Presents Arran & Ratana Stephens of Nature’s Path Foods
Arran and Ratana Stephens, passionate entrepreneurs, organic food pioneers, and founders of Nature's Path Foods, North America’s largest organic, independent, non-GMO breakfast foods company, will be featured at “An Evening at the Epicenter” in Boulder on Thursday, October 18, 2012.
An Evening at the Epicenter is produced by Best Organics Inc. and Compass Natural LLC and hosted by the Sterling Rice Group.
Boulder, CO (October 8, 2012) – Nature’s Path Foods founders and Co-CEOs Arran and Ratana Stephens took an uncompromising path to create a triple-bottom line, family owned business spanning three generations – one of social responsibility, sustainability and financial viability. The company began with small roots and is now North America’s largest organic, independent, non-GMO breakfast foods company, employing hundreds of people at state-of-the-art facilities in Washington and Wisconsin. The company’s headquarters are based near Vancouver and additionally owns and operates a 3,000 acre cooperative farm.
The Stephens’ will share insights, perspectives and lessons on how to build and preserve an enduring family business. Both are natural entrepreneurs who balanced taking riskswhile conserving resources and will share their wisdom with established and aspiring entrepreneurs.
In addition to providing high quality certified organic breakfast foods, the company is committed to the larger cause of sustainable agriculture, and is a charter supporter of Proposition 37, the California Right to Know ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods. The company sources organic grains including kamut, corn, oats, whole grain wheat and brown rice from North American farmers and imports fair trade ingredients such as cocoa, sugar cane, molasses, and spices.
“We are pleased and honored to host such organic food pioneers as Arran and Ratana Stephens to interact with the Boulder natural, organic and sustainable products community. Having spent 40 years building their company and serving as founding leaders in the organic market, their message will be of great value to not only seasoned leaders but emerging entrepreneurs as well. Their message is important because it is an ideal model of how to support a family legacy in your business,” comments Steven Hoffman, Managing Director of Compass Natural Marketing and Co-Producer of At the Epicenter, the speaker series bringing thoughtful leaders in sustainability to the Boulder community.
Nature’s Path Foods’ triple bottom line mission inspires corporate support of initiatives including Bite4Bite, a one-for-one donation to a local food bank; Gardens for Good, granting money to local non-profits to create community garden projects; 1% for the Planet Members, to which 1% of EnviroKidz product sales are donated; and the California Right to Know campaign for mandatory GMO labeling.
Ratana, often described as the ‘heart’ of the company, is an award-winning entrepreneur and received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award and Bright Lights Award from the Pacific Immigrant Resource Society. She has a M.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Psychology and began her career in India as a college lecturer.
Arran grew up on his family's organic farm in Vancouver - the inspiration behind Nature's Path - and is author of The Compassionate Diet, founding member of the Non-GMO Project, and board member of the Rodale Institute. He is passionately involved in the Prop. 37 consumer right to know initiative to label genetically engineered foods.
Together, Arran and Ratana have four children, two of whom are directly involved in leadership operations of the business.
The evening will include a welcoming reception beginning at 5:30pm followed by an engaging conversation by Arran and Ratana Stephens, and will be hosted in the downtown Boulder offices of the Sterling Rice Group. For press passes or more information, please contact Shoshana Romer, shoshana@compassnaturalmarketing.com. Tickets are available atwww.naturespathfoodsattheepicenter.eventbrite.com.
About An Evening at the Epicenter An Evening at the Epicenter is a series of interactive talks for entrepreneurs and business and community leaders in the $300-billion market for natural, organic, sustainable and socially responsible products and services. An Evening at the Epicenter is produced by Best Organics Inc., a leading organic gift and brand promotions company; and Compass Natural LLC, a leader in LOHAS communications, public relations, strategic marketing and business development.
Launched in 2010, An Evening at the Epicenter has featured Horst Rechelbacher, Founder of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients; Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org; John Elstrott, Chair of Whole Foods Market; local economies expert and author Michael Shuman; Fox Health News correspondent Chris Kilham, and others. An Evening at the Epicenter is well attended by business, community, academic and student leader from the Boulder/Denver region.
At the Epicenter Sponsors Sponsors include Whole Foods Market, Sterling Rice Group, New Hope Natural Media, Mychelle Dermaceuticals, Earth Balance, Glutino Foods, Udi’s Gluten Free, Transition Colorado, Pax World Investments, Bay State Milling, St. Claire's Organics, Organic Vintners, Eco-Products Inc., Boulder Valley Media Alliance, Boulder Ice Cream.
About Best Organics Inc. Best Organics Inc., a majority woman-owned company, is a leading provider of premium, hand-packed, organic and eco-friendly gift basket collections featuring gourmet products from local, regional and U.S.-based producers and leading brands. Its gift collections are presented in beautifully illustrated, reusable gift boxes, and are available online atwww.AmericasBestOrganics.com, and for corporate gifting. Best Organics Inc. is a member of the Organic Trade Association, Colorado Proud, and Naturally Boulder, and is a Green America-approved business. Contact gifts@bestorganics.com or call 303.499.ORGANIC (6742).
About Compass Natural Marketing Compass Natural Marketing, established by organic and LOHAS industry veteran Steven Hoffman and based in Boulder, CO, brings more than 25 years of experience in natural and organic products sales, marketing, public relations, communications, research, event planning, special project assignments and strategic industry guidance to businesses involved in the $290 billion market for natural, organic, sustainable, and socially responsible products. Visit www.compassnatural.com, contactinfo@compassnaturalmarketing.com or call 303.807.1042.
On the Sustainable Food Horizon for 2012
As we embark on 2012, we wanted to highlight a few issues and trends that we feel impact the natural, organic and sustainable foods industry.
On the Sustainable Food Horizon for 2012: Organic Market Trends and More.
By Steve Hoffman
As we embark on 2012, we wanted to highlight a few issues and trends that we feel impact the natural, organic and sustainable foods industry. We hope this presents some resources and food for thought as we face new challenges in growing the market for healthy, sustainable food.
Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth
GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back
Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices
Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient
Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry
Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon
Consumer Health Concerns Drive 10% Natural and Organic Products Growth
With the overall economy showing signs of recovery, Boston-based investment banking firm Canaccord Genuity is bullish on the natural and organic products industry, which, says analyst Scott Van Winkle, is currently growing in the 10% range due to strong consumer demand for quality, health and nutrition, compared to 1% growth in overall food sales. More than three-quarters of US families purchase some organic foods, according to a November 2011 Organic Trade Association (OTA) survey. Those surveyed revealed that their strongest motivator is the belief that organic products are “healthier for me and my children,” followed by concerns over the effects of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and GMOs, and the desire to avoid highly processed or artificial ingredients. “In a time when the severity of the economy means making tough choices, it is extremely encouraging to see consumers vote with their values by including quality organic products in their shopping carts,” said OTA Executive Director Christine Bushway. While baby boomers have been early adopters of organic, younger Gen X and Gen Y consumers are emerging as supporters of organic and sustainable products, with Gen Y showing the highest usage of organic products and natural personal care; they just don’t have the same buying power yet as boomers, says research firm Natural Marketing Institute. However, it’s still tough out there for independent natural products retailers and manufacturers, as competition is intense for the healthy consumer’s dollar.
Canaccord Genuity’s Healthy Living Index of more than 40 publicly traded natural, organic and healthy lifestyles companies continues to outperform the S&P 500, with companies including UNFI, Whole Foods Market and Hain Celestial Group seen as darlings of Wall Street. “Strong growth is apparent across all channels of distribution,” says Van Winkle. According to OTA, sales of organic products totaled $29 billion in 2010, up 8% from 2009. Organic companies are creating jobs at three times the rate of businesses overall and supporting 14,540 organic farms and ranches in all 50 states, totaling 4.1 million acres of land currently in organic management, says OTA. Categories of organic products charting significant growth include fruits and vegetables (12% of all fruits and vegetables now sold in the US are organic), dairy, beverages, packaged foods, supplements, clothing and fiber, personal care products and pet foods. Meanwhile, total sales of natural and organic products by all retailers, including natural and mass merchandisers, grew 7.3% in 2010 to more than $65 billion, says industry communications leader New Hope Natural Media, with similar growth projected for the foreseeable future, as long as the economy continues to recover. Add to that the fact that sales of Non-GMO Verified products grew to $1 billion in 2011, and the health-conscious consumer is driving the market with the motto, “It’s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away!”
GMOs: Biotech Gains Ground; Consumers and Organic Industry Fight Back
GMO agriculture continues to present the greatest threat to organic and sustainable food production. Here in Boulder, CO, a center of organic products business, despite three years of contentious public hearings, a survey showing that 71% percent of Boulder County residents are against GMOs, and a growing body of research demonstrating the health and environmental risks associated with the widespread adoption of GMO agriculture, the Boulder County Commissioners voted unanimously in December to allow the cultivation of GMO sugar beets on taxpayer-owned Open Space land. The publicly owned land is leased to a handful of conventional farmers who claim they cannot compete unless they use GMO seed and Roundup herbicide. GMO farming continues to dominate more than 90% of major commodity crops, including corn, soy, cotton, canola and sugar beets. This past year GMO alfalfa was approved for market and Monsanto introduced GMO sweet corn to supermarkets’ produce sections. Both are prolific pollinators that will increase the risk of genetic drift and contamination of organic and native crops. Genetically engineered salmon designed to grow faster than native species narrowly missed FDA approval in 2011—but is still on the docket to be the first genetically engineered animal product to be approved for market. Should such a fish escape into the wild, a likely occurrence, native species could be seriously threatened. Meanwhile, scientists at the China Agricultural University are developing genetically engineered cows to produce milk that contains the characteristics of human breast milk that they hope to bring to market in two years.
The organic industry has been labeled Luddites in its opposition to GMOs by conservative Boulder columnist Bob Greenlee, and was discredited profusely in the Boulder County hearings as being against farmers’ right to coexist. Yet proponents of GMO agriculture ignore science that shows GMO insecticide toxins ingested in the diet were present in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of fetuses tested; that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, is so prevalent in the environment that it is being detected in the air, rain and rivers during the entire growing season in the Midwest; that engineered genes may jump into the DNA of other species in the environment with unknown consequences; that Roundup-resistant superweeds are emerging as a result of GMO farming; that pesticide use has actually increased by nearly 400 million pounds since the introduction of GMOs in 1996; that GMO corn is losing its effectiveness against insect pests in four major crop-producing states; that Purdue University Professor Emeritus Don Huber is being discredited for identifying an unknown new disease infecting plants and animals that has a strong association with GMO agriculture.
Now consumers and organic leaders are fighting back. In September, a number of organizations, including OTA, Rodale Institute, Environmental Working Group and others, together with the Center for Food Safety, filed a legal petition calling on the FDA to label genetically engineered foods; more than 450 partner organizations have signed on to help spread the word, and individuals are encouraged to sign the petition. In October, thousands of people participated in the 300-mileRight2Know March from New York to Washington to demand mandatory labeling of foods containing GMO ingredients. In California, petitioners are actively gathering signatures for an April 2012 deadline to place the California Genetically Engineered Food Act calling for labeling of GMO foods on the 2012 California ballot. The Organic Consumers Association’s Millions Against Monsanto has been supporting the initiative. Non-GMO activists in Boulder County are regrouping to pursue a referendum, beginning with a “GMO Free Boulder” benefit concert featuring Ziggy Marley on January 21. “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it,” Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, told the Kansas City Star in 1994, shortly before GMOs were first introduced to the marketplace. With 96% of consumers saying GMOs should be labeled, according to a 2011 MSNBC Health Poll, it’s a statement that stands true today.
Also, attention natural food manufacturers: a class action lawsuit filed in December against Frito Lay by a California law firm alleges that the company misleads consumers by making all-natural claims on its Tostitos and SunChips, which also contain GMO corn and vegetable oils, ingredients the claimant says are not natural. As many natural products contain GMO ingredients, the outcome of this case should be of interest to natural products businesses.
Another Price of GMOs? Organic Dairy Feed Shortages and Higher Organic Milk Prices
The increased production of GMO corn for conventional animal feed and biofuels, including corn ethanol, is costing organic consumers indirectly by creating a shortage of organic grain needed for feed for organic dairy operations. The cost of organic feed and hay has risen sharply in the past year as farmers find it more difficult to source non-GMO and organic grains, while the price farmers receive for their organic milk has not, says the December 29, 2011, New York Times. Yet, consumer sales of organic milk increased 15-17% from January through October 2011, according to USDA, while total conventional milk sales dropped 2%. Organic dairy farmers, many of whom have cut back on production because they can’t afford the feed, are demanding a 20% increase in the price they receive for their milk, creating out-of-stock situations in Publix stores throughout the Southeast, and retailers Wegmans and Target say they, too, have been affected by organic dairy shortages. The Times reported that organic dairy leader Organic Valley raised the price paid to farmers in August 2011, and was considering raising the price further this past December, alarmed that some organic dairy farmers were actually abandoning organic for conventional farming, where the cost of feed is significantly less and the price paid for conventional milk has risen. Meanwhile, the direct cost to organic consumers is going up: a half-gallon of organic milk that typically sells for $3.99 may now sell for $4.39, with some supermarket chains already raising their prices. Farmers are asking retailers to do their part by lowering their markup on organic milk so that higher prices do not drive consumers away. A couple of messages are garnered from this story: 1) Organic dairy farmers need to be paid more for their milk so they can make a sustainable living; 2) More and more acreage is being dedicated to GMO corn production for human and animal consumption and for the growing demand for ethanol, which is reducing organic land conversion, increasing GMO contamination risks, and raising the cost for organic feed and organic milk. Now with the deregulation of GMO alfalfa, which threatens organic alfalfa crops, organic dairy farmers are even more at risk.
Climate Change Is Affecting Agriculture; Rodale Shows Organic Farming More Resilient
First it was chocolate, and now peanut butter. In September, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture reported that rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns associated with climate change will dramatically reduce land area suitable for cocoa production between 2030 and 2050, particularly in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa, where half the world’s cocoa is sourced, impacting the $9 billion cocoa industry. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that record heat and drought in the southeastern US and Texas had decimated the peanut crop, raising prices 30-40% on supermarket shelves and leaving small organic peanut butter producers pinched for supplies. A 2011 crop-yield analysis by Stanford University revealed that warming temperatures have reduced wheat and maize harvests by 5.5% and 3.8%, respectively, from what they could have been during the past three decades.
While GMO agriculture continues to promote that it is the solution to climate change and world hunger, the fact is that conventional and GMO farming, with its intensive use of water, fossil fuels and chemicals, is responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions – more than any other sector of the economy. Meanwhile, in 2011, the venerable Rodale Institute released the results of its 30-year field trials, America’s longest-running comparison of organic and conventional farming practices. Its primary conclusions: 1) organic yields match conventional yields; 2) organic outperforms conventional in years of drought; 3) organic farming builds rather than depletes soil organic matter, making it a more sustainable system; 4) organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient; 5) conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases compared to organic farming practices. “As we face uncertain and extreme weather patterns, growing scarcity and expense of oil, lack of water, and a growing population, we will require farming systems that can adapt, withstand or even mitigate these problems while producing healthy, nourishing food. After 30 years of side-by-side research…Rodale Institute has demonstrated that organic farming is better equipped to feed us now and well into the ever changing future,” said the authors of the report.
Feeding The World’s 7 Billion; Surprise Fact: More People Are Overweight than Hungry
The world’s population reached 7 billion this year. Of that total, nearly 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. As has been true for a long time, much of the problem is rooted in political unrest, armed conflict and civil war vs. the ability to produce food or engage in trade. Rising prices and climate change exacerbate the issue. Proponents of industrial and GMO agriculture persist in dismissing organic as an option to feed the world, spreading misinformation that there isn’t enough land, even as scientific studies conclude that not only can organic feed the world, but that it may the most viable option of doing so. Research from the University of Michigan and the United Nations shows that in developing countries, where risk of famine is greatest, organic methods could double or triple crop yields. “Organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term. Furthermore, evidence shows that organic agriculture can build up natural resources, strengthen communities and improve human capacity, thus improving food security by addressing many different causal factors simultaneously,” said the UN.
Meanwhile, here’s an astonishing fact: there are more overweight and obese people on the planet than hungry people. An estimated 1.46 billion adults worldwide are overweight, with 502 million of them considered obese, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report. Ironically, according to the Red Cross, excess nutrition leading to obesity is killing more people today than hunger. “If the free interplay of market forces has produced an outcome where 15% of humanity are hungry while 20% are overweight, something has gone wrong somewhere,” said Red Cross Secretary General Bekele Geleta. The obesity epidemic is not just affecting wealthy nations; it is sweeping into low and middle-income countries, says WHO, creating a dual problem of unhealthy weight gain in some segments of a country’s population, and malnutrition in others. While nearly all countries are seeing rates rise, the severity of the problem varies greatly from country to country. In Japan, about one in every 20 adult women is obese, compared to one in four in Jordan, one in three in the United States and Mexico, and up to seven in 10 in Tonga. The across-the-board rise in obesity appears to be driven by changes in the global food system and the increased availability of processed foods, along with more sedentary lifestyles, say the authors. Adding more weight to the subject, researchers from Oxford and Columbia Universities forecast in The Lancet in August 2011 that nearly half of the US and UK populations will be obese by 2030, with a resulting increase in incidence of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by approximately $50 – $60 billion per year in the US and by approximately £2 billion per year in the UK by 2030. Hence, effective policies to promote healthier weight also have economic benefits, the researchers conclude. Healthy food marketers that can help provide solutions to obesity will benefit as society realizes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Equal Access: Improving the Availability of Healthy Food
Three primary obstacles remain to making healthy, natural and organic food more accessible. One is that the price of highly processed, cheaply produced food is just that—cheap, and organic products seem expensive in comparison. Market research firm the Hartman Group found that when consumers were asked why they didn’t buy more organic products, the reason most often cited (71% of the time) was that organic was too expensive. However, if you account for all the government subsidies enjoyed by industrial agriculture—more than $25 billion annually—and the hundreds of billions of dollars in external costs born by the public in terms of preventable, lifestyle-related diseases, including cancer, obesity and diabetes, plus damage to the environment often caused by chemical-intensive agriculture, then organically produced food, with its higher nutritional density and environmental benefits, is certainly the better value all around.
A second obstacle is that many people don’t have access to organic—especially those in inner city or rural areas. The USDA estimates that currently 30 million people in the United States live in “food deserts,” areas where healthy food is difficult to obtain, or “food swamps,” urban areas with no access to fresh foods but flooded with unhealthy fast food instead, according to the May/June 2011 Organic Processing. Progress is being made, with the advent of farmers markets, CSAs and urban agriculture programs. In an event produced by Compass Natural in September 2011 with Best Organics Inc. and held in partnership with the University of Colorado Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, Whole Foods Market Chair John Elstrott announced the retailer’s plans to reach new customers in historically low-income areas with new stores slated in neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit and New Orleans. “We believe all people want to eat healthy,” Elstrott said. “We want to experiment with the inner-city demographic.”
The third obstacle is that most children who eat school lunches are given no access to organic during a time when toxins in food can affect their development the most. First lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which led to the president signing the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—includes a $10-million Organic Pilot Program to help provide organic food choices in school nutrition programs. Also, many organic companies, including Nature’s Path, Veritable Vegetable, Organic Valley and others have been working to get organic food choices into schools. In higher education, a growing number of colleges are increasing healthy organic offerings and incorporating sustainability in their dining halls, including Cornell University, University of Colorado, and University of California at Berkeley.
Fukushima Update: Cesium in Organic Milk, Contaminated Seafood on Horizon
If you think that Fukushima hasn’t affected our food, think again. From rice and tea to beef and baby formula, radiation released from the March 2011 nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima has contaminated a significant amount of Japan’s food, presenting an alarming health risk to its population. The nuclear explosions and subsequent meltdowns in three heavily damaged reactors, caused by an earthquake and tsunami, have released 70 tons of highly toxic nuclear material into the environment, according to nuclear power expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Fukushima event.
By May 2011, the enormous cloud of radioactive fallout created by the accident ended up not only in Japan, but also throughout North America, from Seattle to Boston, all the way to Europe, transported swiftly around the globe in the Jetstream. Most but not all of the fallout was deposited on the ground in the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains. Soon after, milk, drinking water and topsoil from Hawaii to Vermont began testing positive for radiation, including radioactive iodine and cesium, caused by the Fukushima disaster. By summer, a number of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and other products grown or harvested in California—a major food producing region in the US—tested positive for radiation caused by Fukushima’s fallout.
At the end of September, more than six months after the Fukushima event, store-bought milk samples from an organic dairy producer in the San Francisco Bay Area with a Best Buy date of Oct. 10, 2011, tested positive for radioactive cesium 134 and cesium 137, according to the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering, which has detected radiation in organic milk since testing began in mid-April. Also, tests found radioactive cesium 137 in topsoil in downtown Oakland and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, suggesting widespread contamination. In November, UC Berkeley announced it was no longer testing soil or locally produced milk or vegetables, as its facilities were undergoing remodeling; however, the department stated that milk sampling would resume when the work is finished. In a report presented in late October by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in Worcester, MA, researchers claim that US topsoil may actually contain levels of radioactive cesium more than 100 times higher than previously reported by UC Berkeley, suggesting a far greater impact on public health, farm production and fishing, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Currently there is no monitoring being done by government agencies.
The good news is that airborne fallout has mostly abated since the initial explosions last March, yet in the Pacific Ocean, a vast floating debris field from the earthquake and tsunami containing potentially radioactive material is soon expected to wash up on shores of the Pacific Northwest, threatening the environment and coastal residents. Pacific seafood is also at risk, as more than 460 trillion bequerels of radioactive strontium, plutonium and other isotopes have leaked into the ocean from the stricken Japanese reactors. The incident is being called one of the world’s most severe marine pollution disasters in history. “There’s a witches brew of chemicals leaking into the ocean…that eventually works its way up to the salmon and tuna and mackerel at the top of the food chain,” said Arnie Gundersen in a Dec. 26, 2011, radio interview with environmental health expert Helen Caldicott, MD. “It will be next year before we start to see the highly contaminated [seafood]. I’m eating as much salmon as I can this year because I’m a little bit concerned about what will happen next year,” he said. According to Greenpeace, governments and retailers are not adequately protecting the public from radioactive contaminated Pacific seafood, still sold unlabeled in Japan and international markets, including to the US, due to an alleged pact between the US and Japan.
Critical of the lack of testing of seafood by EPA, Gundersen said, “In our ports in the US, we have monitors that look for nuclear weapons; it’s likely that in a year from now, a truckload of tuna may fire off a radiation alarm because it’s loaded with cesium. At that point, hopefully, there will be a whistleblower at the dock to alert the authorities,” because, he says, the objective of the US, Japanese and other governments throughout the world has been to minimize the consequences of the disaster. “There’s way too much money on the line,” Gundersen concludes.
A lot of lives are at stake, too, starting with the young—infant mortality in the US has risen more than 10% since the Fukushima accident, say the authors of a new study published Dec. 19, 2011, in the International Journal of Health Sciences. The study links an estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the US alone, and potentially thousands more, to radioactive fallout from the Fukushima accident. The rise in reported deaths was highest among US infants under age one. “Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults,” the authors said.
In disturbing news reported by Reuters on December 28, scientists in Alaska are now investigating whether local seals are being sickened by radiation from Fukushima, as scores of ring seals have washed up on Alaska’s Arctic coastline since July, suffering or killed by a mysterious disease that is causing extensive lesions and patchy hair loss in the animals’ fur.
So, what can one do to protect oneself and family, as the costs of the Fukushima accident, estimated at $257 billion, continue to escalate? Eat Icelandic butter, North Atlantic salmon and vegetables grown in the Southern Hemisphere? How about advocating for greater safety regulations and monitoring of aging nuclear reactors in the US, particularly those situated in major earthquake and tsunami zones, and also trying to slow the ambitions of the likes of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who wants to build 100 new nuclear plants in the US in the next 20-30 years? Because it can happen here, and our food system, economy and population centers are not prepared for the consequences. Nuclear energy is clean, until it isn’t, and we need to invest in alternatives. Get informed; stay active; make a difference: www.enenews.com; Greenpeace.
Steven Hoffman writes on issues in sustainable food and agriculture. He is Managing Partner of Compass Natural LLC, a full service marketing, communications and public relations agency serving natural, organic and sustainable businesses. He also is Co-owner of Best Organics Inc., a leading online retail provider of premium artisan organic gift basket collections. He is Cofounder of the annual LOHAS Forum green business conference, former Director of The Organic Center, dedicated to scientific research and education about organic food and farming, and former Editorial Director of the Natural Foods Merchandiser, a leading industry publication. Hoffman also served as Program Director for Natural Products Expo, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade expositions, and as Marketing Director for pioneering organic foods manufacturer Arrowhead Mills. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Hoffman specialized in food, agriculture and education in Central America. He is a former director of the Philadelphia Urban Gardening Program, and holds a M.S. in Agriculture from Penn State University. Visit www.compassnatural.com.
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