Learn About Why Non-GMO is Important!

 

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HAPPY NON-GMO MONTH!

October is Non-GMO Month! It’s a chance for to spread awareness about GMOs and why non-GMO is so important!

Crofters has always been committed to nutrition, quality, and organics. We do, indeed, create tasty spreads, but every time we get in more fruit, or start the boilers, or cap another batch, we have health in mind too. Because your taste buds’ happiness should never be separated from your body’s wellness!

Organic also means NO genetically modified organisms allowed,  and we take this seriously.💯 It’s why we proudly display both the Organic and the Non-GMO Project Verified seal on all of our jars.🌱 It’s our promise that every ingredient in every jar has been verified to a rigorous standard for avoidance of GMO’s.😎🥄

 

WHY IS NON-GMO IMPORTANT?

GMOs have not always been in our food; they were introduced in the 1990’s and became common in the early 2000s. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. For example, Corn is the most commonly grown crop in the United States, and most of it is GMO. The DNA structure of the plant (GMO corn) has been altered in a way that would never occur in nature to resist insect pests or tolerate being sprayed with pesticides/herbicides. Companies sell GMO ready crops which are designed to survive several applications of these chemical sprays. These crops are harvested and put in the food supply chain.

 

The main ingredient in these harmful sprays is glyphosate. Glyphosate is a chemical known to cause cancer (a 2019 meta-analysis study showed glyphosate increases the risk of cancer by 41%!).

Strawberries continue to lead the “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits and veggies that contain the highest levels of pesticides. Other fruits include nectarines, apples, grapes, cherries, peaches, and pears. Also,  sugar cane is often directly sprayed with glyphosate to help ripen the crop before harvest. Currently, there is no scientific consensus on the safety of GMO foods, but the long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment these organisms can’t be recalled.

 

We don’t want any pesticides or herbicides sprayed on the ingredients we use to make our tasty spreads, and GMO farming practices inevitably result in higher levels of chemical residue. Therefore, it’s important for our ingredients to be certified organic AND verified non-GMO . It’s healthier for you and our planet!

 

WHAT DOES NON-GMO PROJECT VERIFIED MEAN?

The Non-GMO Project Product Verification Program is North America’s only third-party verification for non-GMO food and products. Third-party verification is the highest quality system when it comes to product labeling and certifications. It ensures products have been comprehensively evaluated by an independent party for compliance with the Non-GMO Project Standard.

The USDA estimates that up to 80 percent of groceries in North America contain GMOs and GMO derivatives, which reflects the fact that more than 90 percent of our farmland is planted in GMO commodity crops.

Corn and soy alone provide an almost infinite number of ingredients and additives found in many processed foods.

This is why consumers know, trust, and seek out the Non-GMO Project Verified mark in every aisle at the grocery store. Consumers know that preserving and building the non-GMO supply chain is a critical step of transitioning toward a non-GMO food supply for future generations.

(Source: The Non-GMO Project)

 

WHY ARE YOU NON-GMO PROJECT CERTIFIED IF YOU ARE ALREADY CERTIFIED ORGANIC?

Organic regulations clearly prohibit the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in organic agriculture and organic processing; however, this restriction has not been well communicated to consumers. Crofter’s Organic wants to be sure our commitment to non-GMO foods is loud, clear, and double checked by an organization that only focuses on making sure foods are GMO-free: the Non-GMO Project. Because we care!

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Learn More From The Non-GMO Project:

www.nongmoproject.org/

Shop Crofter’s Organic Online:

https://www.vitacost.com/crofters-organic-fruit-spread

Learn More About Crofter’s Commitment to Sustainability:

https://croftersorganic.com/blog-category/sustainability-2/

Being Eco-friendly is Our Jam!

Here is How We Manage our Waste Water!

 

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Crofters Organic is based in Parry Sound, ON, a small rural community in Northern Ontario, Canada. We are fortunate to be surrounded by stunning freshwater lakes, truly one of Mother Nature’s hidden gems. Despite having an abundance of freshwater at our doorstep, we have implemented unique strategies for reducing our water usage. Being eco-friendly is our jam, so let’s dig a little deeper into how we manage our waste water…

Water is a resource humans, wildlife, and plants can’t live without it! There is no question that it’s mother nature’s more valued resource and unfortunately, also one of the most abused…

While 70% of the earth’s surface is water, fresh water makes up only a microscopic 2.5%. We’re talking about 1% of the earth’s water being available for consumption—a staggeringly small number! Despite being located in an area abundant in fresh water, we do not take this resource for granted.

The food industry is among one of the heaviest users (and abusers) of fresh water. So, we knew we needed to find a way to be eco-friendly, reduce our impact on the environment, and help conserve this vital and finite resource.

Due to our rural location (don’t believe us, check out some of our pictures), we had to come up with a creative way to deal with the large volume of contaminated water from cleaning our equipment and surfaces. We had to get creative with our waste management system because we do not have access to municipal sewage services. And boy, did we ever! Partnering with experts in the water treatment industry, Crofter’s was able to develop a micro-sized wastewater treatment system that is located right on our property! This allows us to collect, treat and reuse nearly every drop of water that ends up in the floors collection drains! BOOM, the eco-friendly wastewater treatment plant was born. The Crofter’s bear is proud (#CroftersBearApproved) to say that our water treatment system has:

Reduced water consumption by over 85%

Has a 97% water return rate to our facilities

 

We Know What You’re Thinking, ‘But, How?!’. Well, Since You Asked…

First, water transfers through hundreds of feet of piping from floor grates to our treatment plant. Once there, water goes through initial filtration steps removing physical contaminants like debris and pieces of fruit. From there, water heads to equalization tanks in which any other physical contaminants settle to the bottom of the tank.

 

The Real Magic Happens in the Membrane Bioreactor!

With a name like that, you know it’s going to be cool, right? In the process of cleaning up our sticky jam mess, sugars present in the spreads dissolve in the water. Since there is no way to physically filter the dissolved sugar from water, we rely on our army of specially selected microorganisms to literally “eat” the sugar. The waste water enters a large vat filled with billions upon billions of good bacteria. These good bacteria consume the sugar (talk about job goals)! Ultimately, leaving it free of dissolved contaminants.

Once the bugs have had their fill of sugar, the water continues through the final purification steps which include filtration, ozonation, and reverse osmosis. And there you have it! What was once dirty sugar water, is now perfectly clean and safe water. Indefinitely reused for cleaning or cooling hot jars of spread! Although the water is clean enough to use in our fruit spreads, we use only pure, crisp water from our 400’ deep fresh water well!

Here at Crofter’s Organic, our heart is in the conservation of the environment and the wellbeing of all living things—bear, bee, plants, and human. That’s why we make conscious efforts to be eco-friendly by integrating sustainable processes like waste water management into our daily production—making it a bear approved facility!

 

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Let us know all the cool ways you’re being environmentally friendly and contributing to reducing water consumption by tagging us on social, @CroftersOrganic #CroftersBearApproved

Being Eco-Friendly is Our Jam!

Here is How We Manage our Energy

 

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Fruit spread making calls for a lot of energy for both heating and cooling, see how our approach to energy management is a cut above! It’s no secret that manufacturing plants use tons of energy. Energy is key making any product and is vital for production. The manufacturing sector accounts for nearly 33% of all the energy consumed. Now, that’s a lot of energy! Fruit spreads, in particular, require significant energy inputs due to being fairly dense. The denser the product, the more energy it will take to heat/cool.

One of the key food safety processes in producing our spreads is “pasteurization”. By heating our products to a minimum of 87°C (189°F), we can ensure to destroy any potential pathogens, ensuring that nothing but sweet, fruity goodness makes it to your toast! However, to achieve this requires roughly 4,000,000 BTU/hour of energy input! That’s the equivalent of about 60 home heating furnaces! Unfortunately, there is no way around this. The product must be heated and energy is the only way to do it. But, it’s what we do with this energy after the jars have been filled that is really unique! Stick with us here, things are about to get a little heavy, but you can do it!

Alright Brainiacs, Time to Put on Your Physics Thinking Cap!

The first law of thermodynamics states that the total energy of a closed system remains constant. That’s to say, once the energy is imparted, it does not disappear, it can only be transferred from one body to another. So, after we fill our glass jars with piping-hot fruit spread, the energy which we imparted as heat in the cooking process remains. Because we need to cool the jars down quickly to label and package, they pass through a cooling tunnel which is over 100 feet long! In the tunnel, cool water sprays the jars to reduce the temperature of the glass in preparation for labeling. But this is where the ingenuity begins…

Remember What We Said About Conservation of Energy?

Well, most of the energy, previously held by the jar of jam, is now transferred to the cooling water, significantly raising its temperature. This, again, raises a problem, as we need the water to be cool to cool off more jars of spread! You can see how this cycle can become extremely wasteful. In conventional operations, the now warmed water would pass through refrigerating equipment (which requires energy to run) to cool it back to a useable temperature. This was just an option we were not going to consider.

To cool the water, we have two unique systems, which we use depending on the season.

In the winter months, it gets cold in our Northern community. We mean REALLY cold, as cold as -30°F. Obviously, this requires us to heat our buildings significantly. So, instead of using MORE ENERGY to heat, we installed in-floor heating loops that run through our entire production facility. When the warm water from the cooling tunnel passes through these loops, the energy (heat) is transferred through the floors and into the surrounding environment, eliminating the need to heat the building almost entirely!

In the summer, when its not inhumanely cold outside, we have a different way to cool our precious water. Buried deep under the property which our facility sits on are hundreds of feet of tubing. These tubes act as a geothermal cooling mechanism, using the cool temperature of the earths soil to reduce the temperature of the water. Although the energy from the warm water has now been lost, we at least do not require additional energy to reduce the temperature of the water through refrigeration.

Wow, thanks for making it this far, we know that was a bit dense, nice work!! In conclusion, we weren’t joking about being a cut about in our approach to energy management!

As a family-operated company, we enjoy holding ourselves to higher standards than the industry average! Curious about our family-owned roots, check out Our Story to learn more.

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Tell us what you’re doing to reduce your energy use by tagging @CroftersOrganic #CroftersBearApproved on social.

We know that every little bit adds up to a BIG difference which we’re all about!