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1 First Flock of Certified Organic Chickens Arrives in Western Markets PETALUMA. Calif.(April 23, 1999) Today, retailers and consumers in ten states are welcoming the unveiling of the latest in chicken choices as "Rosie the Organic Chicken" arrives in stores across the West. "Rosie," a product of Petaluma Poultry, is the first USDA-approved, certified organic chicken. After working on USDA approval of organic poultry for more than seven years, Petaluma president Allen Shainsky is happy to finally be launching Rosie on the marketplace. "We love being first out the door with a certified organic choice." Petaluma Poultry began raising organic chickens ten years ago, but was unable to market them as such due to the USDA ban on labeling meat and poultry products "organic." Unlike many of his colleagues, Shainsky continued to develop and test new methods for raising chickens more naturally, avoiding many of the practices common in conventional poultry husbandry. After years of lobbying, Shainsky and the organic industry were elated on January 14, 1999, when Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that meat and poultry products would finally be allowed to carry a certified organic label.  "I set out to create an old-fashioned, cleaner-tasting chicken
than is normally found in today's meat cases because I have a passion for poultry,"
said Shainsky, who, literally grew up in the poultry business, and has spent the past 13
years developing a superior natural chicken. The results can be tasted in the exceptional
flavor of "Rosie the Organic Chicken" and in her natural "siblings”, ”Rocky the Range Chicken," and "Rocky Jr."
"Rosie the Organic Chicken" is different from conventionally
grown chickens in many ways. She is fed a certified organic, 100 percent vegetarian diet
of corn and soybean flakes, is never fed feed containing animal fat or animal by-products,
and is never administered antibiotics. "Rosie" is humanely raised in a spacious
chicken house and is given access to fresh air in outside yards for roaming and foraging,
as mandated by organic standards. No synthetic chemicals or preservatives are used in the
handling or processing of "Rosie the Organic Chicken." Petaluma Poultry's
organic practices, from hatchery through production are third-party certified by Oregon
Tilth.  "Rosie the Organic Chicken" will initially be available in specialty and natural supermarkets in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Missouri, Utah and Washington. While 150 million conventional chickens in this country are produced weekly, Pataluma Poultry will produce a mere 1 1,000 Roses each week . Currently, officials at the USDA will allow the use of "certified organic by Oregon Tilth" on Rosie's package, but will not allow Petaluma Poultry to label its organic fryer "Rosie The Organic Chicken," on its packaging. In 1990, Shainsky faced a similar labeling challenge when USDA told him not to call his free-range chicken "Rocky The Range." After an outpouring of media attention on the "de-ranged" chicken from California, USDA changed its decision and allowed for the use of the word "range" in Rocky's packaging. Shainsky and the organic industry will continue to lobby for the ability to bring expanded labeling information on organic meat and poultry products to consumers. Petaluma Poultry Processors is the nation 's leading natural chicken producer and the first certified organic chicken producer. Under the labels, "Rocky the Range Chicken, " "Rocky Jr., " and "Rosie the Organic Chicken, " Petaluma Poultry Is mission is to offer healthier chicken choices to consumers. |
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2  Allen Shainsky Allen's first memories of being in the chicken business are from the early age of three when his mother would catch him playing in the family's chicken houses. Having literally grown up in the poultry business in Sonoma, Calif., Allen Shainsky is renown today as a pioneer in his industry. His parents first moved to Sonoma in 1920, Jewish immigrants looking for a place to take root in their newly adopted country. That same year, Allen's father, Israel Shainksy, made his first foray into selling chickens when he began buying chickens in Sonoma County, then a prime region for chicken production. Israel Shainsky drove chickens in the family truck to San Francisco, where Chinatown provided excellent opportunities for poultry and duck sales. The Shainsky chicken business grew to include egg sales, and eventually Israel built his first chicken house near the family home, making the Shainskys both growers and distributors. Allen eventually moved away from the family farm (and the chicken house) to study at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelors of Science degree in poultry husbandry. By the seventies, Allen and several business partners had assumed responsibility from his father for managing the business. Allen kept the family tradition of tight controls by maintaining a vertically integrated business, through acquisition of new chicken ranches around the county, building a state-of-the-art feed mill and production facility, and in the early nineties, building a high-tech hatchery. In 1985, as many of Sonoma County's top poultry producers shut their doors or moved their operations out of the wine country, Allen Shanks decided the company needed a new direction, a direction that was both an agricultural and business decision. Allen decided to "go natural." He accepted a challenge from leading a Bay Area chefs to develop a fresh, free-range chicken similar to what they had tasted and cooked with in Europe. His first order of business was a visit to the Loire Valley in France with Grimaud Farms to study with the country's top chicken and duck producer. The journey proved to be a milestone. Allen learned first-hand from the French how to feed chickens for truer flavor. He took note of the space allotted to chickens as well as the access to grass and fresh air. Upon return, he transitioned his chicken production to a French model, including the elimination of antibiotics. Today, Allen Shainsky is considered a leader in the organic poultry industry. He has spent the last seven years lobbying the USDA for the right to label his chicken "organic" and he has served on the Livestock Committee of the Organic Trade Association. Finally, on January 14, 1999, the USDA Iifted the ban on labeling meat and poultry "organic," and allowed Petaluma Poultry to use the wording "certified organic by Oregon Tilth" on its products. At 68, Allen Shainsky is still going strong, pioneering new, healthier ways to produce chicken. Why not just retire and take more cruises with his wife Marsha? In his words, "I know it sounds kind of silly, but I have a passion for poultry." These days Allen can be found at the company headquarters in Petaluma, calling around the (country to track down rare, certified organic feed, or convincing organic rice growers to sell him their rice hulls l )r the floors of his grow out houses. Allen's philosophy about the poultry business must be working. Today, Petaluma Poultry is the last surviving chicken producer in Sonoma County. |
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3 YAM POWER - AN IMPORT FROM JAPAN
Message by M. Kamio Yams do not have boarders, but they do choose soil. Yams cannot grow anywhere. They will grow well if the soil is rich. Without saying, yams are a representative health food. Its robust nourishing effect has been recognized in the past by the native people who are born and raised in each country such as Japan, China, Indochina, Middle East, Spain, South American, Africa. Our company's yam products are an ideal processed food. Because . . . We value the growers of the yams. Because of that, we value earth and its environment. Furthermore, we take into consideration opinions of our consumers when making our product. Hoei & Co. is constantly looking to meet the needs of the consumers. We do value nature's blessings. We, Hoei & Co. Ltd., are the company that has the technology to use the blessings. I hope you continuously enjoy our company's yam products. A product description of Yam
Power Name used: Frozen grated yam . . . . . . . . For Business purposes Yam salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For individual consumers Yam salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For export to the United States. Characteristics The main ingredient is a high quality yam produced in the Aomori prefecture. Production Process
Quality Maintenance
Latin Name: Dioscorea Opposita Thunb Japanese Name: Yamaimo, Nagaimo, Yamanoimo Chinese Name: Shyoyo, Sannyaku English Name: Yam Yamaimo ? Jinennjyo (Yamaimo): The Latin name is Dioscorea Japanica. It was originally produced in Japan and was an important source of energy for the Yamato people before agriculture began.
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The leading home food service chain, Yoshikei-Saitama, will change its poultry supply source from the conventional chickens to the U.S. natural chicken legs, i.e. the high quality "Petaluma Rocky the Natural Chicken". The new service will start from June 28, 1999. Rocky, the Natural Chicken grown in California, has old fashioned chicken flavor and fed a high quality, flavor-enhancing, corn and soybean meal vegetarian diet containing no animal fat or animal by-products. ( extracted and partially translated from brochure)Link to Yoshikei home page, please click here (Japanese language only) YOSHIKEI HAS SEARCHED ABOUT A TRULY QUALIFIED HEALTHY AND NATURAL CHICKENS ROCKY THE NATURAL CHICKEN FROM PETALUMA IS THEIR ANSWER A story behind the delicious healthy chickens Rocky the Range Chicken was created when California super-star chefs searching for the equal of the flavorful free range chicken they had used while cooking and training in Europe.With these chefs, Allen Shainsky of Petaluma Poultry, has started his challenge of producing such a chicken in the United States. Allen, with his partner and practicing nutritionist, recreated an all natural feed using only the vegetable proteins of corn and soy and containing none of the animal by-products and fats so common today. After approximately a year experimentation, with the chefs testing each lot of birds for taste and quality, Rocky was ready and pronounced superior in flavor to the French free range chicken. Two years later, in 1988, Rocky junior was created to provide a smaller sized version of antibiotic-free, flavorful chicken. Rocky Junior is several weeks younger but enjoys the same feed and living environment except that he may roam only. NO STRESS IN ENVIRONMENT ENSURES THE SUPERB QUALITY The chickens are grown from one day of age without the use of any antibiotics, also excluding the use of sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics for enhancing growth that are commonly used in conventional chickens. They are fed a nutritionally balanced diet of corn and soybean meal, without the use of animal fat, and animal by-products grown in uncrowded spacious houses with natural daylight, and the chickens should be able to roam freely throughout the growing house. In such a way chickens are grown and handled in a humane manner at all times.
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