To participate (and earn a chance to win a year’s supply of Country Choice Organic products), oat fans can submit a picture that shows how oats fuel their active lifestyle.  Whether it’s a photo of a power-packed recipe or a pic of you and your friends refueling with an Oatmeal on the Run bar after a long run, we want to know how oats help you stay active and healthy. 

Submit your photo before September 10 for a chance to win. A panel of Country Choice Organic employees will select the winning entry.  To enter, visit: http://www.facebook.com/CountryChoiceOrganic

It’s a shame that Earth Day has been relegated, along with Christmas and Back to School, to an annual sales event.  Earth Day is a secular, multi-generational opportunity for everyone to contribute to a greater good.  The message for Earth Day is simple: the little contributions we all make add up to big changes for the environment. 

Here’s the ad I’d like to see:  “Happy Earth Day…Buy Less Stuff”.  I know there’s a recession and we’re a consumer-driven economy, but do we really need a new phone every two years or a 4WD Bushwhacker for our 3-mile paved drive to the mall?  Here’s another thought: align yourself with companies that do the right thing every day, not as a marketing gimmick once a year.  Chipotle, Patagonia and 7^th Generation are all examples of mission-driven organizations having built sustainable, low-impact businesses.

So happy Earth Day.  Celebrate.  Eat a burrito or plant a tree.  Just don’t buy the car.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (February 2010)

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal makes it easy for kids to eat a heart warming breakfast every morning by making whole grain, high fiber cereal taste delicious to the pickiest of children.   “At Country Choice Organic, we constantly review our products to find ways to improve our nutrition profile”, says Sharon Herzog, Research and Development Director at Country Choice Organic. “Reducing the sugar in FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is a perfect example of tweaking a formula to improve nutrition while still delivering the great taste kids want at breakfast.” 

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is made with whole grain organic oats and fortified with calcium and iron, and available in kid-friendly flavors including, Chocolate Chip/Cinnamon Toast and Caramel Apple/Berry Blast Variety Packs. Found in organic food aisles nationwide, each package contains eight servings for a suggested retail price of $4.29. Every serving is a good source of fiber, protein and iron and contains no trans fat.   Find more information at www.countrychoiceorganic.com

Whether eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack, oatmeal provides a warming, nutritious meal for everyone…male or female, children and adults alike.  Everyday, millions of Americans start their day with some variety of oats: creamy instant oatmeal, traditional old fashioned oats, nutty steel cut oats.  There are even “on the run” options for those who prefer their oats to go.

 You can check out other super foods at Health magazine.  Then download a money saving coupon for Country Choice Organic Oats to help you keep your New Year resolutions.

The problem is too many of us choose to not think about the food we eat, abdicating our decision-making to people who may not have our best interests at heart.  Instead, we approach most meals like a NASCAR pit stop, stopping just long enough to slam down some “fuel”, while mostly ignoring the health impact (or benefit) of our choice.  So if Jeff Gordon burns high octane super-premium, why do so many of us run on low-test and expect it to not affect performance? 

Instead of relying on industry-supported health standards, shoppers need to take responsibility for making their own smart choices.  The good news is, with very little effort, you can find places with more to offer than empty calories.  The outer ring of most grocery stores is a good place to start.  Likewise, farmer markets and natural food co-ops offer healthy, sustainable food plus have knowledgeable staff to help you understand the difference between whole grains and donut holes. 

So next time you need to refuel, take a second to think about what you’re doing.  After all, your smartest choice might be to ignore the nutrition claims on the carton and instead focus on the secret spy decoder ring inside the box.

However, the growth of the organic industry has created a new commitment to product quality.  Driven by consumers’ unwillingness to sacrifice taste in their quest for better health, organic foods today taste as good as—and often better than—their mainstream counterparts.

This leap in quality and taste is linked to the involvement of mainstream manufacturers and retailers.  The dynamic growth of the organic industry has attracted most major food companies, who bring advances in development, manufacturing and quality control for improved products.  In many instances, organic products are manufactured on the same line as conventional brands, so it’s not surprising that product quality is comparable.

Organic industry growth has also attracted major food retailers, including club stores and mass merchandisers.  With retailers stocking only the most-appealing products, organic manufacturers, including small private producers like Country Choice Organic, need to create products that can compete for discriminating palates and tight budgets.

So, next time you think you know what to expect with organic food, think again. Bad taste has gone the way of the carob chip spelt cookie. And that, as they say, is a good thing.

When it comes to “Natural”, however, companies’ commitments are sometimes lacking.  While it’s generally accepted that natural products contain no artificial ingredients, preservatives or flavors, the definition of artificial remains a little fuzzy. That’s because there is no natural products standard, leaving manufacturers to write their own rules and shoppers left reading the fine print. A “natural” label offers no insight into how the ingredients were grown, so natural growers can use persistent and toxic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, sewer sludge, GMOs…you get the picture.  This lack of commitment to the process allows for cheaper ingredients, but at what cost?

This confusion is on sale daily in “Natural/Organic” sections of grocery stores everywhere.  The serenity of fake wood floors and soft lighting blurs the real differences between natural and organic products and makes it difficult to know what you’re buying.  In an ideal world, agriculturally unique organic products would have their own section and natural products would live with their conventional cousins.  However, we don’t live in an ideal world, which means each of us needs to make informed buying decisions for our families.

Complicated food labeling and lack of natural standards only harms shoppers, as natural foods are becoming even more pervasive. In a recent article, the Chicago Tribune tackled the increasing popularity of natural labeling, “When the “natural” label is applied to processed foods, the picture grows even more complicated. According to market research firm Mintel International, “all natural” was the second-most common claim on food products launched in 2008. But with few regulations, the term is pliable enough that many brands apply it to products with ingredients not available to the average home cook.”

For the record, Country Choice Organic is committed to organic agriculture and believes choosing organic products benefits our customers and the Planet.  This belief is displayed on every carton in the form of the USDA Organic seal.  What about you…are you ready for a commitment?  Share your personal food commitments by sharing what matters to you and your family below.