Deciphering Food Labels
A great habit to get into when shopping for food is reading the label. It’s worth your time to understand what’s going into your food and whether you want to bring it home. We suspect one reason why you choose to shop at Lakewinds is because we’ve done a lot of the label reading for you. You can trust when you pull a box of crackers or a pound of apples from our shelves that we’ve only selected products that reflect our strict quality standards. You also know that we strive to source products that have been grown and produced in a way that promotes ecological and human health. Still, it can be confusing looking at those labels and really knowing what it all means. We’ve put together a quick guide to reading some of the labels you’ll find at Lakewinds:
Certified USDA Organic: When you see that round green badge on your box of Simply Nature Stoneground Wheat crackers or a jar of Muir Glen pasta sauce, you can be assured that product has passed through rigorous standards. Organic means more than simply “pesticide-free.” Organic Certified products come from farm operations that have demonstrated that they protect natural resources, conserve biodiversity and use only approved inputs for plant nutrition and pest and weed control.
Non-GMO: We hear a lot about this in the news. There are many groups pushing to have food companies label products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with typical examples including conventionally grown corn, sugar beets and soybeans. Although there is no national requirement to label, companies such as Lundberg Rice and Garden of Eating voluntarily label their products Non-GMO. Did you know? GMO’s are prohibited in organic standards, so whenever you choose an organic product, you are also choosing to eat non-GMO food.
Fair Trade: When it comes to making a decision about buying products from overseas, like coffee, chocolate and tea, it’s a good idea to look for the Fair Trade label. Lakewinds proudly carries products from Equal Exchange, a co-operative that has been promoting Fair Trade practices for 30 years. From their website: “Fair Trade is a way of doing business that ultimately aims to keep small farmers an active part of the world marketplace, and aims to empower consumers to make purchases that support their values.”
Sustainable Seafood: Lakewinds has a set of standards for sourcing seafood and we encourage you to read about them. One of the labels you find on our ocean and fish products is the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label. On their website, they explain what their label stands for: “Only seafood from fisheries that meet our strict standard for sustainability can be sold with the blue MSC label. These fisheries ensure that fish are caught at levels that allow fish populations and the ecosystems on which they depend to remain healthy and productive for the future.”
Read up and shop smart! We strive to give you the best information we can about the food we source. Last month, we featured information on grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs and shade grown coffee. Next month we’ll tackle the difference between natural and organic.