Well, we had a big blow recently. We never actually touted our eggs or chickens as 100% organic. However, we practice organic farming, insomuch as we use no chemicals, no growth-inducing additives, etc. We are no careful about the free vegetable waste we pick up at the market to feed them, however. And we don't sift out the non-organic leftovers from our dinners. And we give them "natural brown rice," not the more expensive "organic." And we don't pay an extra $10 per bag for "organic" chicken feed. The local restaurant was, however, selling our eggs and chicken as "organic." And we had a standing order for 20 chickens per month and 20 dozen eggs per month. Yes, we ordered 40 meatbirds based on this order, and increased our layer flock also. Well, I went trotting into the restaurant with the egg order in one of my nifty up-cycled feed bags - yes, good ol' Nutrena non-organic poultry feed with the cute chicken on the outside! And the customer that eats my "organic eggs was sitting their waiting for her "organic" eggs, and she said, "Did you make that?" And I proudly and stupidly said, "Why, yes, I'm up-cycling - I have lots of these!" And she said, "Well, then I guess your eggs aren't organic!" And I said, "Wha......?" Yes, I am dumb, with a capital D! Like, I don't even know how organic you have to be to be organic! So, the reputation of the restaurant took a BIG hit (my fault, their fault, we all are hurtin') and we are stuck with lots of chicken that we probably won't be able to sell. NOT organic, but free-range, yummy, well-loved, well-fed, never saw a chemical or pesticide or growth hormone in their life, chickens! Oh, well, puttin' a bunch of em' in the emu next week. And, we will buy only enough for our own good eating and special orders from now on, and start growing vegetables.
Pooh!
Organic chicken feed is expensive! I bought a bag once at Dels and also looked into shipping it here buy the ton in order to get it cheaper. It still cost a lot. Solution for me? Switch to rice and add stuff from that point.
ReplyDeleteAs for your restaurant, (if you do switch to organic) is to have a certification from you that they can post. Entitle it something like "Cleaner Than Organic" or "Better Than Organic Certified" or something like that. Certify that unlike commercial organic, your birds live a natural life outdoors not exposed to the vaccines, dewormers, medications, and other chemical contaminants that certified organic farmers are allowed to use.
List what foods are fed to your chickens, for example Non-GMO rice (all rice in the stores is non-GMO), local fruits and vegetables, clean grass, nature's protein sources.
By the way, if you earn less than $5000 a year, you can legally use the label "organic" without going through the certification process.