Check out this great article featuring Horizon Organic producer, Marilyn Gardner, from Pownal, Vermont and learn how she has managed the challenges of combining motherhood and farming.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/news/ci_23219969/motherhood-vermont-farm-style
We’re excited to announce the launch of Horizon® Organic’s new single serve milk boxes with 32 mg DHA Omega-3. As the first shelf-stable milk box with 32 mg DHA omega-3, these new milk boxes are perfect for packed school lunches and busy families. Take them to the park, the pool, school and playdates. They pack all of the nutritious benefits of milk, including 8g of protein, Vitamins A and D, and calcium, with the added benefit of DHA omega-3 to support healthy brain development.
DHA omega-3 is a long-chain omega-3 fatty acid that has been studied for its role in supporting healthy brain development. Most children currently don’t get the suggested intake of DHA omega-3, and each serving of Horizon Organic Milk with DHA omega-3 provides 32 mg of DHA. Yummy yummy for your tummy (and your brain).
Have questions about DHA Omega-3? Check out Horizon’s website for more info and great videos.
Jos and Deanna Poland both have dairying roots that reach back to their grandparents on both sides. Jos is originally from Holland, and moved to Oregon in 1993 to start a dairy farm near Eugene. Deanna grew up on an Oregon dairy farm. The Polands moved to Madras, Ore. in 2005 to start an organic dairy because they wanted to have their cows out on pasture, as grazing was a common practice in Holland when Jos was growing up.
“We think grazing is much better for the cows, and less stressful on us,” Jos says. “The cows are healthy and their immune systems are strong because they’re outside all of the time,” according to Jos.
In addition, Jos also has a deep belief in the importance of soil health and its connection to cow health and ultimately human health. “You are what you eat,” he says. Deanna agrees, “If organic is good for the cows, it’s got to be great for us! We’ve put in an organic garden, and buy more organic products now,” she says.
Jos and Deanna have three children: seven-year-old son Johan and five-year old twins Maija and Maikel, who all help out on the farm.
The Polands were the recipients of Horizon’s 2008 National Quality Award, which recognizes the Horizon farmer who consistently delivers the highest quality organic milk of all Horizon family farms in a given year.
At Horizon Organic, we strongly believe that by choosing organic food and beverages, we’re making the best choices for our families and the planet. And it is for this reason that we’ve been a longtime supporter of The Organic Center, a leading research institute focused on the science and educational benefits of food and farming.
The Center’s research into the nutritional and health benefits of choosing organic has helped provide many of us organic shoppers with the information we need to make informed decisions about the food we feed our families. At Horizon, we’re grateful for this work and its role in supporting and advancing the organic community.
As a newly appointed member of The Center’s Board of Trustees, I’m looking forward to working with this groundbreaking organization to help guide its mission to convene credible, evidence-based science on the health and environmental benefits of organic food and farming, and to communicate these benefits to the public.
The Center’s work is incredibly important to continuing to grow the organic community and provide more organic choices to families. I’m proud to serve on The Center’s board and to support its commitment to organic research and education.
Horizon Organic milk was recently mentioned on The Colbert Report. What do you think Happy the Cow thought about this?
We know it’s hard to find time to go grocery shopping, let alone read all of the labels while you’re at the store. we have good news for you – Prevention Magazine recently put together Eat Clean 2013: Prevention’s 100 Cleanest Packaged Food Awards where they reveal the best, healthiest, and cleanest boxed and bagged foods on the market. Prevention’s editors ate their way through mountains of food in search of the most nutritious, delicious choices with the cleanest ingredients.
How clean do these foods need to be to make the list? Check out the criteria for foods to even be considered for the 100 Cleanest Packaged Food List.
We’re proud to announce that Silk Pure Coconut® was named to this list under the breakfast category. And, Horizon Organic® Cream Cheese, reduced fat was named to the list under the lunch category.
You can check out all 100 foods named to Prevention’s 100 Cleanest Packaged Foods list here: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/100-cleanest-packaged-food-awards-2013
How nice of Prevention to read the labels for us!
At Horizon Organic, we were happy to see several of the benefits of organic milk highlighted in a recent Health.com article about the different types of milk available to consumers today.
Specifically, the article noted that, compared to its non-organic counterpart, organic milk can contain higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, beta-carotene, vitamin E, and conjugated linoleic acid. The article also pointed out that organic milk comes from cows that eat feed grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
While we certainly appreciated the article sharing many of the benefits of organic milk, we noticed that it didn’t mention the environmental benefits of organic farming, which, we believe, are worth talking about and celebrating.
Organic farming has many proven environmental advantages, and is a big reason why many of us choose to purchase organic food and beverages. Some of these benefits include farming without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and other pollutants, as well as encouraging sustainable farming practices that contribute to the health of the land. At Horizon Organic these farming practices were responsible for removing 20 million pounds of synthetic pesticides from the environment in 2011 alone.
What’s more, choosing organic milk means choosing to support a better environment for the dairy cows that produce it. Organic farmers nurture their animals with attentive daily care, clean living conditions and a wholesome organic diet including pasture grazing for at least a third of the year. Just like people, cows thrive in a low-stress environment, so organic farms also allow plenty of access to the outdoors for exercise.
If you’re interested in learning more about how we produce our Horizon Organic products, we encourage you to check out our website. And, the next time you’re standing in front of the dairy case and see Happy looking back at you on your favorite carton of Horizon Organic milk, you can feel good knowing that choosing organic means happy cows, happy people, and a happy planet.
We, at Horizon Organic, believe that by choosing organic food and beverages, we are making the best choices for our families.
A recent report from the American Academic of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that choosing organic produce—even for just five days—can significantly lower traces of pesticides in children’s bloodstreams. And, by purchasing organic meat, families can reduce their exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. While the recent study points out many clear benefits of organics for growing children, especially from meat and produce, the researchers also question whether organic milk in particular is worth the cost. We, at Horizon Organic, are sure that it is.
The AAP report found that low-input farming styles, like organic farming, can produce milk with higher concentrations of antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Other recent research [Kummeling et al 2007] suggests that organic milk, which is produced without the use of added growth hormones and comes from cows not treated with antibiotics, may offer benefits for children in particular. A recent study [Palupi E et al. 2012] indicated that organic milk can contain higher levels of nutrients such as protein, omega-3 fatty acids and other fatty acids.
Many consumers choose organic milk for their families because it’s produced without antibiotics, without added growth hormones, without pesticides, without GMOs, and from cows that spend at least 120 days per year grazing on pasture.
In addition to the above benefits of organic milk, organic farming also has proven environmental advantages. This includes farming without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and other pollutants, while encouraging sustainable farming practices that contribute to the health of the land. In fact, Horizon Organic’s farming processes were responsible for removing 20 million pounds of synthetic pesticides from the environment in 2011 alone.
At Horizon Organic, we take great pride in providing consumers with a variety of organic dairy products that are good for people and the planet. As always, we encourage you to check out our website to learn more about our approach to organic farming and our products.
References:
Kummeling I, Thijs C, Huber M. et al. Consumption of organic foods and risk of atopic disease during the first 2 years of life in the Netherlands. Br J Nutr. 2008 Mar;99(3):598-605. Epub 2007 Aug 29.
Palupi E, Jayanegara A, Ploeger A, Kahl J. Comparison of nutritional quality between conventional and organic dairy products: a meta-analysis. J Sci Food Agric. 2012.
Last month we shared a few videos highlighting what food in the fridge, thinks about food in the lunch box. All seemed to agree that the milk box is a pretty good alternative to the juice box. Another thing they didn’t mention, but that we’re sure the food also agrees with, is that packing a lunch can be tough work. Especially when you try to make each and every one special for your kids (or yourself).
So to help out, we asked a few super creative lunch box artists to share a few of their own creative ideas over on the Horizon Organic Pinterest page. Check it out for some brown bag inspiration, and feel free to share a few of your own.
This blog post is contributed by Ashlie Hardy, 18, whose parents are Horizon Organic family farmers Henry and Teresa Hardy. Ashlie was recently chosen as one of this year’s four recipients of the HOPE (Horizon Organic Producer Education) Scholarship, which was established by Horizon to encourage young people to enter the field of organic agriculture. As a recipient, she received $2,500 to use toward her college education. The Hardy family also received the HOPE Award last year, which is given out annually to farmers who advocate for organic agriculture.
As the daughter of a Horizon Organic dairy producer, I’ve helped my family on the farm since I was very little and couldn’t imagine growing up any other way. Now that I’ve graduated from Mount Blue High School in Farmington, Maine, I’m looking forward to utilizing my HOPE Scholarship to further my education. In the fall, I’ll attend MacDonald College’s Agricultural and Environmental Sciences program at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. I plan to major in Farm Management and Technology with a dairy focus so that I can hopefully continue to do what I do best – working hands-on to raise and show organic cows and calves. As a result of my education, I also want to be able to teach people about the benefits of organic farming, especially since the public is increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from and how it’s grown or produced.
In fact, earlier this year I got to share my organic farming experiences and perspectives during the Organic Trade Association’s “Policy Hill Days” in Washington, DC, which I attended in April with my dad and other representatives from Horizon. I spoke in front of industry leaders and elected officials who work to positively influence organic legislation. It was an amazing experience, and I was privileged to represent my family farm and the next generation of organic farmers.
My interest in farming stems from my family roots. My dad Henry was born and raised on our farm, and he’s actively managed it since he was just a teenager himself. He met my mother Teresa while showing cows at 4-H fairs in Maine and after graduation, they married and started running the farm together. My sister-in-law Ashley also helps out part-time on the farm. We started shipping to Horizon in 2003 and have been proud organic producers ever since.
When I’m at college this fall, I’ll miss the farm, as well as my involvement with my high school’s FFA chapter and 4-H. FFAis an organization dedicated to helping prepare the next generation of leaders in agriculture. Focused on middle and high school students, it enables today’s youth to get to learn about the various facets of agriculture – not just how to raise and take care of cows, but also how to economically run a farm, repair equipment and tell which crops are best given your geography and weather, as well as helping out with the business aspects, by teaching communication and presentation skills.
My family and I helped start the local FFA chapter in Farmington so that we could give students and others not involved in agriculture a chance to understand and learn about what we do. This has included teaching people about the benefits of organic agriculture, helping them understand why we chose to transition our farm to organic, and why people should choose organic food.
In addition, I regularly compete at the local, state and national level of FFA, and have won a variety of awards over the years, including a gold in the dairy cattle evaluation and a gold in extemporaneous speaking, which I won last May at the state competition. And last October, I received a bronze in extemporaneous speaking at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. I also won the supreme showman at the New England level for 4-H at the Eastern States Exposition, last September, recognizing how well I trained and presented my show calf. This was a prestigious honor and one that I’m particularly proud of. And lastly, I served on the National 4-H Conference’s Operations Team, helping plan and execute a conference for over 500+ 4-Hers.
For anyone else interested in organic agriculture, my advice is simple: Pursue it. Ask questions. Start small as soon as you get curious, and as your interest grows, let your involvement grow. The organic community is made up of really nice people that want to help others, their animals and the environment.
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