Refresh

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.

National Nutrition Month was developed by the American Dietetic Association and its members as a way of highlighting the benefits of a good diet. It’s good we have an entire moth to host activities, because there’s a lot of new information every year to get out into the hands of consumers.

This year’s theme is “Nutrition from the Ground Up.” You can learn more at eatright.org. I’ve been able to get a sneak peek at things this year and here are some ideas to get you started:

• Coordinate store tours for seniors, persons with diabetes, parents of children, or people just looking to eat healthy. If you don’t have a registered dietitian on staff, check with your local healthcare facility and offer your store.

• Don’t forget local school groups! It’s a great way for kids to see some unusual fruits and veggies, explore some new foods and learn from the experts how food gets from the farm to the table.

• Feature some endcap displays of whole grains, a display of fruits and veggies…in other words, stock the perimeters with healthy options. While you are at it, ask your vendors to support some taste-testings!

• Check out your prepared foods section and add options that feature organically grown or minimally processed foods. MORE…

The larger something is, the longer it takes to turn (sometimes with terrible results). But watch out. Once the turn starts, all the energy going into the effort creates a momentum that’s nearly impossible to stop.

Such is the case with Wal-Mart, the retailer everyone loves to hate. For years, it’s been attacked as a downscale, obese operation that kills the communities in which it opens. The unflattering portrait is often bolstered by small-business advocates and disgruntled employees who point out the chain’s blind devotion to selling at the lowest price, consequences be damned.

Those criticisms are coming fewer and farther between now, thanks to the company’s ongoing efforts in the area of sustainability and health and wellness. Just lat week, the retailer confirmed publicly that all of the eggs it sells in all of its stores are cage-free. The announcement prompted the Humane Society of the United States, a leader in animal welfare, to withdraw a shareholder resolution it submitted to Wal-Mart last November calling on the company to disclose its progress moving toward cage-free eggs.

Noting that Wal-Mart has 30% of the food retail market, HSUS is hoping it will influence other industry heavyweights.

“Wal-Mart’s move is a positive one, and we hope its competitors follow suit,” said Paul Shapiro, senior director of the group’s factory farming campaign.

Meanwhile, the March issue of The Atlantic includes an article by the magazine’s food writer, who finds that Wal-Mart’s produce sections are competitive with the basic offerings found at Whole Foods Market. Not only that, but the retailer has been diligent in trying to increase the availability of local-grown foods in its stores as part of its ongoing mandate to consider sustainability and a social consciousness in going about day-to-day business.

Wal-Mart’s idea of promoting “Heritage Agriculture,” an in-house concept introduced during the tenure of then-CEO Lee Scott in 2007, is but one aspect of this larger umbrella program that extends well beyond produce. MORE…

Next month we head out to Anaheim for Expo West, the great green granddaddy of trade shows for the natural and organic industry. We’re anxiously anticipating that, and in the meantime there are a few smaller shows to tide us over, like today’s Green Products Expo in midtown Manhattan.

We went up this afternoon, walked the floor, and came back with a grab bag of new product information. Vendors covered a wide range of categories, from spice companies to cookware to toilet leak detectors. If there was one unifying theme, though, it was providing reusable substitutes for many commonly used products.

Now let me just reach into the bag and pull out a few of the highlights…

- Conserve: Reusable water bottles have gotten a lot of attention lately, and now we’re seeing that concept evolve into other containers and packaging. Conserve has come out with a combo pack that includes a reusable spray bottle and four cleaning tablets. Drop in a tablet, fill the bottle with water, and you’ve got your cleaning solution.

- Regreet: This is an even more interesting twist on the “reusable” concept. Rather than throw out that birthday card, Regreet wants you to cover over the signature with one of its sticky pads and write in your own. It sounds a bit tacky, but the cover-ups are colorful and attractive. Also consider that millions of paper cards get thrown out each year. MORE…

One company makes toothbrushes and other conveniences from old yogurt cups. Another offers bowls made from old LPs. As more companies get creative with modern civilization’s discards, it’s only a matter of time before someone creates art for art’s sake.

I’ll admit, when I look at my weekly supermarket circulars, the last thing I think of is a cheekbone, or a swirl of brunette… but that’s exactly what Sandi Schimmel Gold has been envisioning as she collects circulars, catalogs and other direct-mail pieces from the mailbox and turns them into portraits like “Smoulder,” a 30”x36” close up (left) of a strikingly blue-eyed (and toned) woman with red hair. In her description of the art, Schimmel Gold points out there are icebergs, Hannukah candles and clouds in the woman’s face; and perfume bottles and Macy’s ads in the hair.

Everything came from junk mail.

“I create without waste,” Schimmel Gold writes on her website. “I upcycle junk mail, calendars, post cards, photos, old greeting cards, tags, etc… it’s all paper waste I collect. I use only water-based, acid-free, non-toxic materials to create my work. It is completely eco-friendly. I reuse and repurpose canvas, frames, etc. whenever possible.” MORE…

Most of the attention at food shows goes to the fun, “around the plate” foods like chocolates and cheeses, teas and olive oils. “Center of the plate” offerings are usually few and far between. But this year, I am already noticing a handful of companies offering items that answer the daily question, “What’s for dinner?”

One company in particular caught my eye and piqued my interest with its steamable, sustainable seafood entrees like Japanese Black Sesame Wild Ahi Tuna, Veracruz Style Tilapia and Wasabi Ginger Wild Salmon. These are not your chemical-feast TV dinners of yore; instead, they are all-natural, flavorful meals with seafood as the protein of choice. These products were in trays, but more and more steamable meals are popping up in grocers’ freezers in bags that perform the same function.

Another company out of the Chicagoland area is producing restaurant-quality meals much like you can find in high-end European retailers like Picard in France. They are starting with high-quality ingredients to produce an upscale meal — also in a steam bag — that you would be proud to serve to your family and friends.

Interestingly enough, this steamable technology cropped up first in private label offerings from Europe before it was adopted by frozen vegetable producers. The frozen veggie manufacturers have been on board with steam-in-the-bag offerings for the past few years now, so it’s a natural transition that the entrée manufacturers would follow suit. Now that most households in America cannot “cook” without a microwave, we’re seeing new item introductions with microwave-only instructions. The day of the dual microwave or oven tray seems to be a thing of the past. MORE…

There have been numerous efforts over the years to tackle childhood obesity in this country, but nothing so ambitious as what First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Tuesday. The new initiative she’s spearheading, dubbed Let’s Move, seeks to bring together government agencies and the private sector — basically, anybody and everybody that impacts children’s health — to combat the problem. The ultimate goal: Eliminate childhood obesity within a generation.

No doubt, it’s a sweeping response to a sweeping problem, with one in every three children in this country considered “obese”. As the name suggests, Let’s Move looks to get kids off the couch and moving around. There are many thoughtful food-related proposals, as well.

Expanding access to healthy foods is one of the major themes. Schools, for one, could soon see reform as the new plan looks to update the National School Lunch Program to include more healthy options. Neighborhoods where fresh, healthful food is hard to find, known as “food deserts” (which we wrote about here), are also a focus. Listen up, supermarkets: The administration’s 2011 budget calls for a $400 million investment to bring grocery stores to these underserved neighborhoods. That’d probably include generous tax breaks for any retailers that move in.

The Let’s Move agenda also looks to invest in educating consumers and enhancing transparency at the shelf level. MORE…

The annual convention of the nation’s independent supermarket operators is being held this week in Las Vegas, and the consumer survey released every year to mark the occasion has some interesting insights into the mind of the whole health shopper.

The poll, conducted by the National Grocers Association and SupermarketGuru.com, devotes an entire section to “Nutritional Concerns,” and that’s where you see just how many of the nearly 2,500 chief household, mostly female shoppers remain committed to eating healthy despite the tough times.

When asked what concerns them most about the foods they eat, the simple “Desire to be healthy/eat what’s good for us” came in first, at 22%, far outpacing the other choices (fat content received 13%).

That desire is apparently translating into action. A full 27% stated their diets are healthy enough. More important, the number of those who admit shortcomings is falling: “Compared with a year ago, when 68% were critical of the foods they eat at home and away from home, this figure improves markedly to 62%,” the report said.

Fruits and vegetables are the most popular ways of improving diet, according to the survey, with 84% of respondents saying so. Less junk food was second (64%) and fewer fried foods was third (63%). MORE…

As the economy improves in 2010, consumers may be more interested in (and willing to pay a premium for) healthy convenience foods. In 2009, only one in four identified frozen entrees as key to buy organic. We expect those percentages to increase in 2010…first with more customers shifting to organics when buying frozen fruits and vegetables and then to healthy convenience foods.

Retailers can get ahead of the trend by expanding their offerings of organic prepared foods and offering more healthy take-out options. Premium quality store brand and private label organics will be an important part of the product mix for 2010 as consumers will continue to look for value in their natural and organic purchasing.

As for name brand organics, they’ll be looking to coupons, consumer education and promotions to maintain consumer loyalty.

Movies like Food Inc. and the continuing popularity of books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Michael Pollan’s latest release Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual should continue to build consumer focus on both healthy eating and safe, sustainable agricultural methods. That means consumers will be looking for more locally raised food, clear labeling and signage introducing new health- and earth-conscious products.