You Get What You Pay For

I'd like to tell you a story about how a friend and farmer I know got ripped off.

I'd like to tell you this story because you are also getting ripped off.

I met this friend because I was looking for a source of beef that I could trust. I learned this story sitting in his living room, face to face with him as my kids played on the floor.

We were talking about marketing and how he pursued a "certified grass fed" label for his cows.

He was hoping that the label would help with marketing. He found what he hoped would be a good certification program and went through the process of obtaining the rights to use the label.

He was shocked when he was granted permission to use the label without anyone ever visiting his farm.

He is rightly proud of the way he farms and was looking forward to more effectively communicating it. He thought the label would help. He thought this would start with showing his farm to the certification program.

He thought they would care.

All the really cared about was that he paid. It doesn't matter what practices he is doing. They don't check.

If he pays the money, he gets to use the label.

If he lies, no one knows.

If other people lie, no one knows.

This is not uncommon.

Businesses hide behind labels all the time. It's a long chain of offloading the responsibility of thought and care.

Here's another example...

One of the worst ways you could have spent your money over the past 5 years was on "Organic" chicken.

I learned this the hard way when we started farming.

The principles of Organic appeal to me, so I set about looking for Organic feed for the birds we were raising.

Getting Organic chicken feed, it turns out, is not easy.

Let me clarify.

Getting good Organic feed is not easy.

This does not stop with chickens. The problem is in sourcing Organic-certified grains.

The vast majority of Organic feed is shipped to the US on boats across the ocean.

One of the biggest reasons that the Organic feed is shipped in is because our farmers can't compete with the prices other countries can sell Organic feed at.

One of the biggest reasons we can't compete with the price of imported Organic feed is how fraudulant the certification processes have been in certain contries we rely on for that feed.

People get caught often. This causes temporary spikes in Organic chicken prices until someone greases the wheel again.

Maybe it will get better.

The reality of the past decade has been that people who trust the label of grocery store Organic chicken are paying for one thing and getting something very different.

Organic chicken could be the poster child for exploitative farming in third world countries, long distance food shipping, and disengenious food advertising.

This leads a lot of farmers I know to practice what they call "litte o" organic.

Little o organic is adhering to the principles of "Organic" as best as you possibly can given the inputs you are able to source locally and without the label.

You can't use the word in your advertising unless you pay though

I guess you get what you pay for.

I'd rather pay for local.

To support local farmers.

For community.

For health.

Don't hand your trust over to a certification program you know nothing about.

Labels should not replace the communication and relationships that trust should grow out of.

There are many well-meaning labels out there. There are many well-meaning certification agencies.

The problem is that there are many people using labels to hide the true nature of what they are doing. Many businesses use labels to make you think one thing about a product when the truth is far different.

Think of all the grocery store food that comes with a brand that includes the name "Farm" even though the business doesn't own a farm and just buys wholesale food.

If you get in the habit of trusting a label, you get in the habit of trusting labels in general.

Trust your own observations. Develop a relationship with your farmer and your food.

I know that this is not the most convenient of activities, which is why we are building a food co-op for our area.

Our goal is to make it easier for consumers to access all of the food that they want in one place. We want to make it less time-consuming for farmers to "go to market". We want you to know you will get what you want before you even head out the door.

If you are interested in this as a farmer or a food buyer, reach out and let's talk.

In the meantime, just remember to keep questioning everything.

Especially labels.

Life is good.