The Farmer's Daughter USA

Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

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Consumers are confused about food labels. Maybe we should stop covering products with pointless marketing.

February 13, 2019

Food labeling has reached a feverpitch. But it hasn’t made shopping for healthy food any easier.

A recent survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation and the American Heart Association show that 95% of Americans say they always or sometimes look for healthy options when food shopping. But only 28% say that information is easy to find.

The problem partially stems from confusion over the nutritional panel and ingredient list. And some survey takers would like to see a universal or uniform icon to denote food is “healthy.”

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch, but here’s a bold conclusion. Maybe consumers are confused because we slap a bunch of marketing labels on food products and pretend they have something to do with nutrition?

The “natural” label for example. The word has absolutely no set definition, though the FDA is supposedly working on it. Yet we find this word on all sorts of products. Does it mean minimally-processed? Maybe, but what the heck does that mean? Regardless, just because a product is “natural” doesn’t mean it’s healthy for you (read: the natural fallacy).

What about the non-GMO label? Whether a crop is genetically modified has nothing to do with nutritional values. Heck, it doesn’t even have anything to do with safety. Quite frankly, when it comes to choosing a food product at the grocery store, unless you’re buying Arctic Apples, it makes absolutely no difference.

Consider the organic label. It’s a marketing term; it’s overseen by the USDA’s marketing branch. Studies have shown that there is no meaningful difference between it and conventionally-produced food. The outcome is the same. But one thing about it is certain, it has nothing to do with whether a product is healthy or not.

These examples are only a small portion of the marketing claims we routinely see on food. None of them help us determine whether food is healthy for us. But they all pretend to have some bearing on the matter. These quasi-health claims just make everything more confusing for already-confused shoppers.

So where is the FDA? It’s tasked with oversight on food labeling. Yet Dr. Gottlieb and his team stay silent on these persistent problems. And even if they define some nonsensical claims, it’s doubtful that consumers will really understand the meaning. Honestly, how many people understand the contours of the new bioengineered labeling law?

We’ve reached a boiling point. The claims, allegations, and outright nonsense are reaching a tipping point. And consumers just don’t know what the heck to believe anymore. We can, and must, do better.

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Filed Under: Labeling, Marketing Tagged With: labeling, labels, organic

Comments

  1. Roger Guevremont says

    February 13, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    The producer wants his product to sell. He hires the most clever marketing people he can afford. His package has to attract the buyer, more colorful, more distinctive, more outrageous. Did you see the word ‘truthful’, ‘valid’ or ‘easy to understand’ in any of that? NO. Perhaps the solution will be a publication that describes the health aspects of our food. Why does it not exist? Because of money. The money we spend on an object is split into several pockets, including to the distributor, and to the marketing folks. How much goes to the producer or farmer? How much goes to production of a serious, accurate health description document? ………………………………. Will consumers read, and decide on which products to purchase based on this document? How many consumers would read it and use it to guide them?

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

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thefarmersdaughterusa

Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! ๐Ÿฆƒ
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. ๐Ÿซฃ

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23๐ŸŒพ
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. ๐Ÿคฃ

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ It's true. My puppy. ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
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