Technical Terms in Agricultural Product Labeling

Kendall and Rebecca discuss the complexities of agricultural product labels, focusing on terms like "organic," "all natural," and "no hormones added."  They also address the nuances of "local" and "native" labels, emphasizing consumer education and the significance of informed purchasing decisions. Resources for further learning are provided, including the Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers and the University of Nebraska's meat labeling series.Show notes:Legal Guide for NH Agricultural Producers - https://extension.unh.edu/resource/legal-guide-new-hampshire-agricultural-producersUNH Dairy Research TMR (Total Mix Ratio) -USDA National Organic Standards Board - https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/nosbNOFA – Northeast Organic Farming Association - https://nofa.org/MOFGA – Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association - https://www.mofga.org/University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension, 3-part series on meat labeling  - https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/beef/3039/17310Vermont Law College - https://www.vermontlaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Local-Food-Definitions.pdfPoultry and Rabbit Producers class at Extension - https://extension.unh.edu/event/2024/10/food-safety-poultry-rabbits-producersShared Soil Food Episodes - https://extension.unh.edu/resource/shared-soil-podcastNH Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food - https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/Women in Ag Newsletter signup - https://unhoutreach.tfaforms.net/217751?CID=701G0000001AiKCIA0  Kendall Kunelius – [email protected]  Rebecca Dube – [email protected]  Thumbnail Photo for episode:  Transcript:  Kendall Kunelius  0:09  Welcome to this episode of Shared Soil, a podcast dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges and encouraging personal and professional growth for all people in agriculture. My name is Kendall Kunelius, and I'm a field specialist in the area of agricultural business management. Rebecca Dube  0:25  I'm Rebecca Dube, and I provide technology and support to the members of Extension.  Kendall Kunelius  0:32  And in this episode, it's just us, just the two of us. We've had a lot of episodes where we interview people, but we thought today we'd have a conversation on the topic of technical terms. So since this podcast really focuses on educating farmers and educating consumers, which it's kind of like that Venn diagram, right? Like we overlap between the two. Not all consumers are farmers, but all farmers are still consumers. We want to make sure that we're touching on these topics of agricultural products, because it's the people who make them and the people that consume them that need to be educated about what they actually are and the labels that go on those products. So labeling is a very tightly controlled aspect of the agricultural industry. So we have things like marketing labels, we've got Weights and Measures that tells you how much the product contains or weighs. And it's for many good reasons that it's tightly controlled, because we're looking at terms that have a certain meaning associated with them, that either carry understand better understanding things about your health if you consume that product. But also, some of these terms are just used as marketing, so to kind of incentivize you to purchase that product. And we're kind of digging into that, what do these mean, and why should these marketing terms, or why should these labels entice you to either purchase that item? Or do they really mean what they say? Are you getting the bang for your buck if you're purchasing an item that has a label that maybe a product right next to it doesn't. So we also wanted to pay attention to this topic at this time of year when farmers markets may not be as readily available. So if you are someone who shops at farmers markets or on-farm Farm Stores - the growing season is over, so you may be transitioning from accessing your food at a farm stand or a farmer's market back to going to the grocery store. So I think this is a very timely topic for us to cover. I also want to add that we are going to be citing our sources very carefully for this podcast, because we are going to be using some really technical definitions, so you can find all of these sources that we're going to be touching on in the show notes. And I highly recommend that you take a look at one source in particular, the Legal Guide for New Hampshire Agricultural Producers, it's a free resource on the Extension website. You can download it and take a look at it and use this to help guide your shopping decisions, but also, if you're a producer, guide your labeling decisions as well. Sure. Yeah. So with that, let's set up a scenario. You're walking down the meat aisle at the grocery store, and you see two packages of chicken next to each other. One has labels like organic, non GMO, vegetarian-fed. The other has a marketing call out that says the product is all natural and no hormones added. What do these terms mean? And how do you know where to look to understand their definition in the context of the food? Rebecca Dube  3:31  Yeah, you know, Kendall, it can be so confusing. I can look at one package of chicken and see in larger letters that it's all natural and the package also boasts no antibiotics ever, and in smaller print, the animal has no hormones or steroids, that it's 100% vegetarian-fed and raised cage free. Now, does this package make me want it more than another brand? That's what it's made to do. But let's take a closer look at each of these claims. Now, first of all, all natural is not the same as organic, and we'll get to that in a minute. But first, let's talk about the claim of no hormones or antibiotics. This is a great claim, something you want in your meat, but it's not the special extra effort of this one supplier giving you extra bang for your buck. According to the USDA, added hormones cannot be used in hog, poultry, or bison production. So that's going to be a given for any of these products that you buy. In fact, producers can only make the claim on their packaging if it's followed by the statement "federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry or pork." However, this is usually in tiny print somewhere else on the package. It's not that big in your face, hey, we're great. We have no antibiotics or hormones! Or, I should say, additional hormones. Of course, every animal has its own hormones. They're talking about additional added in. And if a producer is going to make that claim on other forms of meat...