Our Label and What's on it
What is:
Common product name so you know what you are getting.
Government seal of inspection. Every turkey is inspected by a federal employee during dressing. Every day during processing we get Federal inspection.
Our list of ingredients is complete so you don't have to guess what is in them.
What's not:
The term natural. This used to mean minimally processed with nothing added. The USDA has allowed the addition of ingredients as long as they are natural. Salt is natural. So is water. Many allergens and toxins are natural too. We just don't think this term means anything anymore.
Organic: I've looked long and hard at organic practices for poultry production, and I just don't believe that they will allow us to produce the best turkey possible.
All vegetable diet:
This started showing up around the time of the first reported cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, or BSE for short, or mad cow disease as it has been come to be known. Many people did not know that animal by-products were being fed to cattle and felt it was a good idea to restrict their diet to all plant based nutrients. Cattle are herbivores, no doubt, but swine and poultry are omnivores. They are also an entirely different species, neither one being bovines. They can't get or transmit BSE. Restricting their diet is pointless, and it is less environmentally friendly or "green". We can safely utilize the byproducts of animal agriculture or we can bury them in a landfill. I feel it is the right thing to do.
The phrase, "Hormone Free". Nobody uses hormones in poultry, it is illegal and unnecessary. Using this phrase seems to imply that others do.
Range grown. To be designated as range grown, poultry has to have access to the outdoors. This can be as meaningless as leaving a door open to a small pen. People driving by our farm can see for themselves how we keep over 20,000 turkeys on open range. However, our later flocks are not grown outdoors as they will be too small to face the harsh year-end weather. They do receive extra room, and of course, our expert care.
Raised without antibiotics: The majority of our turkeys do not receive any antibiotics once they are on the farm at one day of age. However, we do treat flocks that get sick. We feel that it is the right thing to do. We have no second label so there is no segregation of treated and untreated flocks. We follow proper protocols as to dosage and withdrawal times and our Federal inspectors will verify that there is no residue. To date there is no scientific evidence that the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture has lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans. We really feel that use of such a label is misleading and causes undue concern.
Common product name so you know what you are getting.
Government seal of inspection. Every turkey is inspected by a federal employee during dressing. Every day during processing we get Federal inspection.
Our list of ingredients is complete so you don't have to guess what is in them.
What's not:
The term natural. This used to mean minimally processed with nothing added. The USDA has allowed the addition of ingredients as long as they are natural. Salt is natural. So is water. Many allergens and toxins are natural too. We just don't think this term means anything anymore.
Organic: I've looked long and hard at organic practices for poultry production, and I just don't believe that they will allow us to produce the best turkey possible.
All vegetable diet:
This started showing up around the time of the first reported cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, or BSE for short, or mad cow disease as it has been come to be known. Many people did not know that animal by-products were being fed to cattle and felt it was a good idea to restrict their diet to all plant based nutrients. Cattle are herbivores, no doubt, but swine and poultry are omnivores. They are also an entirely different species, neither one being bovines. They can't get or transmit BSE. Restricting their diet is pointless, and it is less environmentally friendly or "green". We can safely utilize the byproducts of animal agriculture or we can bury them in a landfill. I feel it is the right thing to do.
The phrase, "Hormone Free". Nobody uses hormones in poultry, it is illegal and unnecessary. Using this phrase seems to imply that others do.
Range grown. To be designated as range grown, poultry has to have access to the outdoors. This can be as meaningless as leaving a door open to a small pen. People driving by our farm can see for themselves how we keep over 20,000 turkeys on open range. However, our later flocks are not grown outdoors as they will be too small to face the harsh year-end weather. They do receive extra room, and of course, our expert care.
Raised without antibiotics: The majority of our turkeys do not receive any antibiotics once they are on the farm at one day of age. However, we do treat flocks that get sick. We feel that it is the right thing to do. We have no second label so there is no segregation of treated and untreated flocks. We follow proper protocols as to dosage and withdrawal times and our Federal inspectors will verify that there is no residue. To date there is no scientific evidence that the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture has lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans. We really feel that use of such a label is misleading and causes undue concern.