This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 8:48am and is filed under Meat, Local, Labels, Agriculture, Farming, Food Production. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
About six weeks ago, Wild Type Ranch (our family business) harvested its first European-style, pasture-raised, milk-and-grass-fed veal. It’s been a lesson in the workings of ag-bureauracracy.
99% or more of the veal harvested in this country is “milk-fed veal”, meaning it is primarily from dairy bull calves removed from the cow at birth, fed only milk replacer (or sometimes milk) and confined. This produces the very pale, very tender veal Americans have come to expect.
Pastured veal is left on its mother and is free to graze alongside her in the pasture up to the point of harvest. Pastured veal is darker and has more flavor than confinement veal, but is still very sweet in flavor and very tender. The first of our own veal loin chops we tasted were some of the best, most elegant meat I’ve ever had.
For our first harvest, I was told by our local inspector (with whom I have a positive relationship) that I could not use the word “veal” to label the cuts on the package. The chief inspector for the state said veal had could not be raised on pasture, based on the FSIS FAQ on veal, which talks only about the commonly available veal. Never mind that the USDA specifially defines 4 classes of veal, including “non-special fed veal” that includes pasture-raised. So, that first harvest got labelled “ground beef”, “beef cutlets”, etc. At each farmer’s market I had to explain to each customer buying the veal that it really was veal, and that they should write on the label (I’m technically not allowed to add anything to the approved label), to make sure they didn’t get it mixed up with their beef.
Not willing to give up, I persevered and ended up speaking to a woman in D.C. at FSIS. As it turns out, FSIS has approved a national label for Strauss Free-Raised veal, which is very similar to ours. She kindly backed up my assertion that our pre-weaned calves were indeed veal. I thought my problems were solved.
Round 3: I have submitted my “production protocol” that documents our veal is veal and have been granted permission to use veal cut names on the label. The catch: Now that it is veal, I can no longer use my “Wild Type Ranch pasture-raised natural Angus beef” label. The reasoning: This is veal, so it can’t be beef. So, now I have to go through the time and expense of designing, submitting for approval and printing a new label.
What was beef 6 weeks ago because it wasn’t veal now isn’t beef because it is veal.
In another 6 weeks, maybe I’ll get to label it as such.
See our previous post on veal for background information.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:50am
Couldn’t you get approval for a Wild Type Ranch pasture-raised natural Angus” label with checkboxes for either “beef” or “veal”?
Have fun with the bureaucracy.
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:43pm
How much money do you lose by not being allowed to convey the premium nature of this product by calling it “veal?”
September 14th, 2009 at 7:10am
Bill: Good thought, but I still have to go through a new label approval process. As long as I’ve got to get a new one approved, I’ve opted to drop the “Angus” to leave the option open for trying some of the other grass-friendly breeds, such as Devon.
September 14th, 2009 at 7:11am
Matt: Since I sell face-to-face with most of my customers, I don’t lose all that much at the moment. It’s primarily a big hassle to explain. As we expand, however, it will be critical. I’m confident we’ll be resolved soon!
December 21st, 2009 at 1:46pm
Glad to hear that you were given the newest veal labeling rules from FSIS. When Strauss first began the development of Strauss Free Raised veal we ran into the same labeling roadblocks that you described above, like you, we were also undeterred. Veal was originally raised in a pasture, drank it’s mother’s milk and was completely free to roam, why shouldn’t/couldn’t it be raised that way again? After all it has actually only been tethered and confined since industrialized agriculture. After many months of hard work and communications with the Labeling office of USDA, we were able to assist the USDA in defining “pasture-raised veal”. We received the first official USDA label approval for pasture-raised veal in January 2008. We too love the tenderness and authentic flavor of our Free Raised veal and hope that others will embrace and enjoy authentic pasture-raised veal again.
Best Wishes,
Randy Strauss