There’s plenty of demand for locally raised meat and poultry, and enough farmers willing to supply it. So what’s the problem? The problem is that grisly middle step: the slaughterhouse. Consumers prefer not to think about the stunning, killing and carving of the animals they eat — but with a shortage of processing options for small-scale farmers, they may soon have to.

Having too few regional slaughtering facilities has been a problem for years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates the industry, has updated its standards to the point where small processors are now required to follow the same protocol as large-scale operations. The compliance is costly, and that means limited options. The Hudson Valley region of New York, whose farmers provide much of the free-range meat and poultry that Manhattanites love to nosh on, has only four facilities. Those who can’t get a time slot often end up traveling to conventional slaughterhouses in surrounding states, thus defeating the purpose of “locally raised”.

Now, in light of recent foodborne outbreaks, the Obama administration has proposed changes to the safety plan, known as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP. Officials claim the changes are minor, but small producers and processors are claiming the opposite is true. They point to a regulation that would require facilities to conduct microbial testing.

“Perhaps a large plant slaughtering 5,000 animals per day can afford its own lab and microbiology staff, and can pass the cost along to the consumer, but most small plants can’t,” writes Joe Cloud, co-owner of True & Essential Meats, which processes animals in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley region, in a column for The Atlantic MORE…

The latest organic sales figures are in and, no surprise, the industry slowed to single-digit growth during 2009. This after several years of through-the-roof gains in the teens and twenties. Organic, meet Earth. Earth, organic.

According to the Organic Trade Association, product sales in 2009 climbed 5.3% to reach $26.6 billion. That’s still a tiny percentage of the overall food industry, though embedded in the report are a few eye-catchers. Organic fruit and vegetable sales, for instance, grew by 11.4%, and now comprise 11.4% of all fruit and vegetable sales in the U.S., and 38% of the total organic food market. That’s pretty impressive, and it just goes to show how important fresh, perishable foods are to people who believe in the organic standard.

Unfortunately, that standard is under major scrutiny right now, and some consumers are losing confidence. An audit last month by the Office of the Inspector General found problems with import oversight, showing that reviews had not been conducted for some of the certifying agents abroad. This is a big deal since, to meet organic demand, companies have had to look to countries like China, Australia and Argentina for supplies. A recent poll by the OTA found that 41% of producers say “undependable supplies of organic raw materials limit their ability to generate sales.” MORE…

There have been culinary horror stories about ships plying the Mediterranean, stopping at ports in Spain, Italy and Turkey, and filling their vast holds with olive and other oils that are then indiscriminately mixed, yet sold as pure in U.S. food stores. Unscrupulous producers bottle inferior grades of oil and slap on a premium label. Sometimes the product is cut with inferior oils like sunflower or hazelnut, though it’s still marketed as “100% pure olive.”

American consumers love olive oil, but they’re in dire need of some education — and some reassurance that the oil they’re purchasing is authentic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new standards, but has yet to finalize grading and issue new regulations. As a result, we keep using the four grades of olive oil established by the agency in 1948.

The rules are based on four basic elements: acidity, absence of defects, odor and flavor. There’s nothing about purity or authenticity, and this is the loophole that’s been blatantly exploited by less reputable producers. When consumers see terms like “pure extra virgin” on a label, that actually means nothing in the eyes of the USDA, because that’s a definition used by the International Olive Council, located in Spain. The United States isn’t a member of the IOC, and so, such wording is not officially recognized stateside. MORE…

An audit of the National Organic Program that was just released includes some worrisome insights on the state of imports. The USDA’s Office of Inspector General found that the National Organic Program’s oversight of foreign certifying agents is in need of “significant” improvement.

The report, which includes 14 recommendations for the NOP to follow, looked at all aspects of the program, though primarily the focus was on administration and other internal controls. As they pertain to foreign growers, the OIG found that onsite reviews had not been performed at 5 of the 44 foreign accredited certifying agents; similarly, reviews at 24 of the 44 foreign agents were not performed until at least 2 years had passed, though these agents had been conditionally accredited.

The need for imported organic ingredients and foods is well documented. The explosive growth of the organic food industry here in the United States since the NOP was introduced in 2002 quickly sent companies desperate for organic inputs overseas. In its most recent industry overview, the Organic Trade Association found that a “lack of a dependable supply of organic materials continues to be an important issue for the industry. Forty-one percent of producers say that undependable supplies of organic raw materials limit their ability to generate sales.”

According to the OTA, manufacturers stated that organic grains were the most difficult to source, while organic sugar was cited by 11% of companies.

So, what countries cultivate the most organic land? Numbers compiled in the World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics & Emerging Trends found that Australia led with the most organic land (12.3 million hectares), followed by China (2.3 million hectares) and Argentina (2.2 million hectares). The United States came in fourth, with 1.6 million hectares in 2005, the latest year for which statistics were available. MORE…

It took five years of on-and-off sparring, but organic supporters are raising a nice, tall glass of organic milk after the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued revised rules governing the “access to pasture” guidelines contained within the National Organic Program.

Mark Kastel, co-founder of the Cornucopia Institute, a small farm advocacy group and one of the most vocal critics of the original regulations, was quoted in our print issue of SN as saying, “Flashing forward to a year from now, when this rule will be fully in place and enforced, we hope to be able to say that 100% of the name brands and private labels all meet the rigorous standards that consumers expect” from the USDA-certified organic label.

There are two reasons everyone is pleased. The first one, of course, is that the rule was changed. Starting in June, the USDA’s revised access to pasture regulation will require farmers to allow their cows to graze at least 120 days per year, and the cows must also get at least 30% of their food from pasture during the local grazing season. The old version simply — and vaguely — required “access to pasture,” with no further specifications as to how much or when.

Critics of the old rule claimed that large-scale dairies were taking advantage of the hazy wording to circumvent the spirit of the regulations but still calling their dairy products certified organic. Groups like the Cornucopia Institute and the Organic Consumers Association were tenacious in petitioning the USDA for investigations of specific big dairy operators and filing lawsuits. MORE…

With so many different apps and gadgets springing up around the supermarket industry, it’s only appropriate that we get this, an interactive map detailing just about anything you’d care to know about food availability, our eating habits, and how depressingly obese we’ve become.

It’s called Your Food Environment Atlas, and it’s courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the Obama administration’s drive to get Americans — and especially kids — eating healthier. Earlier this month Michelle Obama launched Let’s Move, a nationwide effort to increase availability of healthful foods for kids, and to get them exercising more. The administration also announced it plans to spend $400 million to help eliminate food deserts.

The new food atlas is incredibly detailed, and that makes it a fun, useful tool for consumers and food industry insiders alike. Go ahead, play around with it for a while. Want to know what U.S. county eats the most pounds of fruits and vegetables? How about the regions with the highest density of fast food restaurants? I was interested to see the distribution of farms that sell directly to consumers.

Other than being a diversion when things get slow at work, the USDA’s atlas is a definitive guide in the drive to make America healthier. That might sound overblown, but information is power, and this much information can go a long way. The food industry has stated time and again its commitment to helping people lead healthy lives. Well, now they have a good idea of what they’re up against.

For all the attention that the organic industry gets, it’s easy to forget just how small it really is. We got a reminder earlier this week when the U.S. Department of Agriculture offered up the results from its first ever wide-scale survey of organic farming.

According to the results, less than 1% of all farms in the U.S. are organic. The survey tallied 14,540 organic farms covering 4.1 million acres of land, with total sales of $3.16 billion in 2008.

A few other interesting findings from the report:

- No surprise, California led the nation with 20% of all organic farms and 36% of total sales.

- Organic farms bring in an average of $217,675 in sales, compared to $134,807 for all other farms.

- Expenditures for organic farms are higher, however, at $171,978 per farm compared to $109,359 for other farms.

- 44% of organic farms sold their products within 100 miles from where they were grown.

- 83% of organic farm sales came from wholesale channels, 10% direct from retailers, and only 7% of sales came directly from consumers. MORE…

Apps have been great for the natural foods industry. Long-time wellness consumers are used to creative thinking. I mean, back in the days before online shopping, if there was a natural/organic lifestyler who needed something special, they either did it themselves or tapped into the word-of-mouth network, shopped specialty catalogues or subscribed to newsletters.

Those inspired approaches to filling their pantries is serving them well as mobile technology continues its dizzying expansion. Indeed, a recent app in particular has the potential to satisfy all consumers with real-time data on food recalls. ReachEverywhere, developers of the Shopper iPhone Shopping Assistant application, announced that it is integrating real-time recall information from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Now, both the FDA and USDA currently offer online access to the information (FDA even has its own app), but this new one promises to take the confusion out of trying to figure out which agency oversees the product in question.

According to my colleague, SN tech editor Michael Garry, “Users of the application who put an item on their list that is associated with a recall will automatically see the warning information for that product.”

In addition, ReachEverywhere, which launched personalized retailer circulars on the Shopper application one month ago, has added weekly circulars from Stop & Shop, Publix, Giant Food and Winn Dixie to the more than 100 existing retailers on the platform.

(Photo credit: Thibault Poix )

Organic is a regulated term and watchdog groups are actively watching to make sure producers and retailers alike don’t abuse this label. Recently, The Cornucopia Institute filed a formal complaint with the USDA’s organic program alleging that Target misled consumers into thinking some conventional food items it sells are organic.

In one example provided by the organization, Target nationally advertised Silk brand soymilk in newspapers with the term organic pictured on the carton’s label. But Silk manufacturer Dean Foods has shifted their products away from organics.

This is not the first time The Cornucopia Institute has targeted retailers. In 2006, the group filed complaints with federal and state regulators against Wal-Mart, also alleging misrepresentation of conventional food as organic with improper signage in their stores.

Surveys show the public is unclear about the difference between natural and organic, as well as related labels used in the wellness industry. That’s bad enough, but think about this: If the general public is unclear, your staff may be too. And where there’s confusion, there are often mistakes. For retailers, it’s especially important to remain vigilant.

Be sure employees understand the difference between organic products and those with natural claims, and emphasize the importance of accurate promotion — not only from the consumer perspective, but from a legal one, too.

USDA-approved organic labels first appeared on store shelves in October 2002. Use of the word organic became regulated, and producers that met certain standards were allowed to display the USDA Organic seal. MORE…

Under the Obama administration, federal agencies have started taking progressive steps away from their former selves. We’ve written about this happening with the Food and Drug Administration, and it appears the U.S. Department of Agriculture is doing the same.

So what are we talking about here — an overhaul of organic? The end of large-scale farming? Noooo. Like its big brother the FDA, the USDA has come under leadership that’s forward-thinking, yet still willing to extend an olive branch of diplomacy to the food industry. They’re working to make modest-yet-meaningful changes within the agency’s current mandate.

Two examples:

Earlier this week, the USDA announced an initiative called “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” aimed at increasing funding and awareness for local food systems. With a price tag of $65 million, the program is ambitious, and it’s addressing an issue of great interest to supermarkets, who have been stepping up their selection of local products but perhaps haven’t quite perfected the process. MORE…