WHAT IS ORGANIC MEAT ?

The primary characteristics of Organic meat production are:
1. It is a legally defined standard;
2. There is a registered, documented and inspected trail from "farm gate to dinner plate";
3. It operates to the very highest levels of animal welfare;
4. No routine drugs, growth promoters, animal offal or any other additives fed to animals (sick animals may of course he treated);
5. At least 70% of animal feed must he grown to organic standards;
6. No use of artificial fertilisers or pesticides on feed crops or grass
7. No use of Genetically Modified Organisms.
What Guarantee is there that meat sold by OrganicDirect really is Organic?
The food chain right from farm to retailer is regularly inspected by one of the national certifying bodies.
For meat, the chain goes from farmer to abattoir to packer/processor to retailer.
At any time, any link in that chain can he inspected, and detailed records must he kept all along the chain to prove that any piece of meat really is organic.
Why, if there are fewer inputs used an the farm, is organic meat often more expensive?
Modern intensive farming techniques have been developed because the extra income they produce is worth much more than the cost of the inputs - you spend a little to gain a lot.
To farm organically requires changes from modern intensive farming practices, including a minimal use of inputs, and often much lower production levels, resulting in lower income to the farmer.
So, although organic farmers use fewer inputs, and so save some money, they also miss out on the much greater financial benefits and increased production levels of modem farming inputs.
As a result, in order to remain financially viable, organic farmers must receive more for their produce than a conventional farmer.
The more intensive conventional farming methods are, the more organic farmers need to receive to give them reasonable levels of income.
For example, the premium on organic beef is much less than that for poultry.