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Do
Organic products cost more than conventional?
Usually the answer is yes if you consider only the price
on the package.
-Eating Organic foods improves health and
will reduce health care costs over the long run
(and you'll enjoy a better quality of life). Some
experts estimate that 50% of our health care costs go
to treating illness and disease caused by poor quality
food and environmental toxins (including toxins from
conventional agriculture)
-If more
farming converted to Organic and subsequently we reduced
our use of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides
we'd see petroleum prices drop. We would also see our
environment improve and reduce associated costs.
-Organic
farmers do not receive Federal Farm subsidies. Big
Agribusiness reaps multi-billions of dollars in Federal
Farm subsidies. There
are many more examples like these.
-So, do Organic
Products really cost more? We say "NO" in the long
run.
Some people ask us "Why do your chicken and eggs cost
more?"
Here are a few things we like to tell them about......
Organic Feeds – We only feed from high quality,
locally and regionally produced Organic grains. This
supports our region economically. Our feed costs up to
2˝ times the price of conventional feed. The benefits
are huge however; NO pesticides and no GMO or GE
products, both of which have been proven to pose
significant dangers to animal and human health.
We “Pasture” our Poultry – Allowing our chickens
to graze on living grasses adds many, many nutrients and
trace minerals to their diet. This makes for healthy
poultry which makes for healthy poultry products. It is
important to realize that the “organic” label does not
address the nutrition of the products, only how it was
grown, processed, etc. It was found in a laboratory
study of pastured eggs that pastured eggs had on
average:
• nearly 3 times the Vitamin E of conventionally raised
eggs,
• nearly 2 times the Vitamin A of conventionally raised
eggs,
• nearly 8 times the Beta Carotene of conventionally
raised eggs,
• 3 times the Omega 3 EFA’s of conventionally raised
eggs,
• 1/3 less cholesterol than conventionally raised eggs,
• 1/3 less saturated fat than conventionally raised
eggs.
Pasturing also allows our chickens much more exercise,
which in turn substantially increases their feed intake.
Pasturing is a much more labor intensive method which
increases labor costs too. There is no question in our
mind that the end result is a much better product and
clearly worth it. It also has environmental benefits as
the manure from the chickens replaces remotely produced
synthetic or organic fertilizers for our pastures and
crops.
We are Certified Organic – There is no substitute
for knowing the farmer that produces your food.
Unfortunately not everyone has the time or means to
accomplish that. Organic Certification is an important
means to assure buyers that the organic label means that
that those products truly meet the organic standards.
Certification, procedures, and the associated record
keeping all have a cost impact on the end products.
Humane Standards – We raise our poultry humanely.
We observe a collection of standards from several
organizations and just use plain old common sense. Our
birds get to stretch their wings and practice natural
behaviors. They are not forced to breathe the fecal dust
of mega-farms or be confined to the 67 square inches of
space that the United Egg Producer’s Board says they
“must” have. Our cull standards (removing and
slaughtering less productive birds) are much more
relaxed than most commercial producers. This lessens our
productivity but we feel it is an important trade-off.
A recent brief survey of small pastured poultry
producers from around the country showed that the
average price of their eggs is about $4.69 / dozen. This
includes some producers who even use conventional feeds.
Given the lengths we go to and the wholesome quality of
our products, we feel that our prices make our products
a very good value to our customers and given the demand
of our eggs, it’s clear that our customers feel the same
way. |
