Why transparency in food is super important to Miller's.

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January 21, 2022

Why transparency? Why is this something Miller’s Bio Farm believes in so strongly? Let’s see if I can explain…

Miller’s Bio Farm believes that personal choice is paramount. What you put into your body is your choice.

And, no judgment here. Seriously. You can drink raw milk or diet soda… whatever makes you feel good. Everyone is at a different point on their food journey.

Here’s the short version of my story. There was a time when I really didn’t know much about my food. I trusted “the system”. Ignorance is bliss, right?

But then, I started to learn and question… which of course led to more learning and questioning. I came to my own conclusions about what diet was right for my family. Then, I had to figure out where to find the foods that aligned with my values.

This is when I got frustrated. In my hunt for food sources, some answers I simply couldn’t get answers for. “We don’t know,” they said. “It’s proprietary,” they said.

You can read the story about my interaction with Trader Joe’s about free-range chicken here.

Greenwashed labels, companies that protect their recipes, policies that deem certain foods “unsafe” or “unfit for human consumption”, lab-produced ingredients, etc… I felt like the food world was like an eerie sci-fi story come to life.

I was sad. I needed those answers to really know if certain foods were a good choice for my family.

I didn’t give up, because I knew what I was looking for must exist. I mean, clean nutrient-dense foods have been around for thousands of years. I needed to find companies that value transparency and aligned with my beliefs. Otherwise, how would I be able to feel confident in my choices?

Miller’s understands this dilemma.

At Miller's Bio Farm, we choose to provide you with as much information about our products and practices as we can. This is so that you can make educated decisions.

Another term for this is informed consent. In other words, anytime you eat food, you are granting yourself permission with the knowledge of the possible consequences. This term is typically used in medical decisions, but food affects your health, right?

Miller’s Bio Farm does its very best to cut through the noise for our customers. If we don’t know an answer, we’ll try our best to find out. If we find a not-so-great answer, we’ll try to affect change.

We have so much information on our website and in our product descriptions. And, we’re always happy to help answer any questions our amazing customers have.

What’s important to you when it comes to food choices? What unanswered questions do you have?

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us.

Opinion

Farming Practices

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Why transparency in food is super important to Miller's.

Why transparency? Why is this something Miller’s Bio Farm believes in so strongly? Let’s see if I can explain…

Miller’s Bio Farm believes that personal choice is paramount. What you put into your body is your choice.

This is when I got frustrated. In my hunt for food sources, some answers I simply couldn’t get answers for. “We don’t know,” they said. “It’s proprietary,” they said.

I was sad. I needed those answers to really know if certain foods were a good choice for my family.

Miller’s understands this dilemma.

At Miller's Bio Farm, we choose to provide you with as much information about our products and practices as we can. This is so that you can make educated decisions.

Miller’s Bio Farm does its very best to cut through the noise for our customers. If we don’t know an answer, we’ll try our best to find out. If we find a not-so-great answer, we’ll try to affect change.

What’s important to you when it comes to food choices? What unanswered questions do you have?

More from the blog

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566