What is "Natural"?

PICTURE THIS:

You’re strolling the brightly lit and chilly frozen food aisle – Tonight is family dinner, your older kids have no plans with friends and your youngest child has had a wonderful day – Time to celebrate with their favorite on this beautiful, warm summer day… a nice chicken Caesar salad. Cool, crunchy AND (bonus?!) healthy! You’ve just made that homestyle Caesar dressing and it’s been killing you to bust it out!

Things have changed in the past few years. Instead of just grabbing the cheapest chicken, you’re now looking for that healthy, lean, natural chicken. It starts with the little changes, right? You’ve learned the difference between average store-bought chicken, and wholesome pastured and humanely raised meat. You made the switch a couple years ago, and every meal gets easier to find a product that is healthier for your family.

Scanning the laid out chicken, your eyes go to the same colored package you usually get – The green and yellow of Sanderson Farms. Your smile creeps up as you reach for the chicken breast and you read “100% Natural” and you feel good about your choice– Healthy, natural, clean meat.

Right?

Wrong!

IN JUNE, THE USDA DISCOVERED HOW UNNATURAL SANDERSON FARMS “100% NATURAL” CHICKEN REALLY IS.

Government testing was conducted and they found traces of antibiotics, hormones, steroids, and prescription drugs.

These are the very reasons you’ve spent that extra dime to choose “natural” over blatantly unnatural meats!? How could this be?

WHY DOES THIS FALSE ADVERTISING HURT SO MUCH?

Because you have been betrayed…again.

And because “natural” is supposed to mean something good. And it doesn’t.

Why are big companies above rules and regulations?

NOW WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

This is why we always tell our customers to buy locally. But first, you need to identify farmers who care for their livestock in ways that are important to you. And then, you need to get to know the people who care for the animals.

HOW DO I GET TO KNOW MY FARMER?

1. Call us at any time. Our phone number is 928-231-9058 and ask!

2. Then come out to the ranch and see what we do. Make an appointment and we will show you around. We encourage you to ask us questions, to visit and to hear how we value our animals – and in effect value our customer’s health.

3. Volunteer to help us with projects around the ranch. We are always working on projects that improve wildlife habitat. And what better way to get to know us and see our values at work.

I can only see this recent news as a reminder of what we are trying to achieve for our customers. We are hoping to put ourselves in a totally different category than what you’ve just read.

This also reminds me of why I have joined the Date Creek family after 5 years of practicing vegetarianism, with attempts at going vegan. (This will come in a later post)

On this ranch, life is cherished. Life is respected. We put our focus into the welfare of our animals, and because of such practices we have very little illness.

We have NO need for antibiotics!

We have no use for growth hormones because of how connected we are to each animal – We’ve read study after study focusing on the fact that compassion (even neck rubs) help the animal be more relaxed and gain more weight. I do my very best to get every animal to a more gentle state – I truly believe it creates a positive impact on the animals quality of life – and the taste of the meat.

We do not spray pesticides or herbicides on the land or on any of the animals and we haven’t for more than 2 decades.

Come out to the ranch and see for yourselves!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope this helped you on your quest for getting the very best meat — Without dropping your expectations. It is possible to get the best of both worlds!