Sustainability
Life Choices has always been committed to creating products that are healthy, convenient and great tasting. As seen with the launch of our organic products, along with our Breaded Fish Fillet and Fish Sticks made with fish from Certified Sustainable Fisheries, Environmental Sustainability is something we are strongly committed to and support.
For all of our breaded fish products, Life Choices is proud to partner with fisheries that have been third-party certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. The MSC is an international, non-profit organization with offices in the UK, US, Australia and Japan. The MSC seeks to reverse the decline of fish stocks, safeguard livelihoods and deliver improvements in marine conservation worldwide. MSC works with fisheries, seafood processors, the foodservice sector and retailers to change the way the seas are fished, and raise awareness through consumer outreach and media relations. Their award-winning green-business partnership has been praised by world leaders.
For more information on the MSC, visit their website at www.msc.org
Our new Italian Beef Meatball is made with Prairie Heritage Beef – beef raised by an eco-committed group of ranchers in Western Canada practicing sustainable farming methods, raising beef the old-fashioned way; predominantly pasture-raised, without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones or feed containing animal-by products, and with full traceability to ranches of origin. Ranches such as Spiritview Ranch have been third-party certified for their sustainable farming practices by Food Alliance.
Food Alliance Certified farmers and ranchers meet the following standards:
provide safe and fair working conditions
Ensure the health and humane treatment of animals
No use of hormones or non-therapeutic antibiotics
No genetically modified crops or livestock
Reduce pesticide use and toxicity through integrated pest management
Protect soil and water quality
Protect and enhance wildlife habitat
Continuously improve management practices
For more information on our sustainably-farmed beef, please visit www.prairieheritage.ca or visit the Food Alliance website at www.foodalliance.org.
Our new Italian Turkey Meatballs are made with organic turkey. All organic farms practice Sustainable farming and are all third-party certified. For more information, please see below and/or visit www.ota.com
Definitions:
Synthetic pesticides
Man-made chemicals that are used in agriculture to kill insects and pests that would otherwise destroy agriculture crops. The main classes consist of organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. Exposure to pesticides can cause acute (short term) or chronic (long term) effects on animals and humans, especially in the reproductive, endocrine, and central nervous systems.
Synthetic Herbicides
Man-made chemicals used in agriculture to kill plants that are unwanted. Selective herbicides kill only specific plants, while leaving the remainder of crops undamaged.
Soil Fumigants
A class of pesticides that form a gas when applied to soil. These gases kill pests that live in the soil that could otherwise disrupt plant growth and crop production.
Irradiation
A process where a food item is exposed to radiation (x-rays), an ionizing energy, for a length of time in order to kill harmful bacteria and protect against foodborne illness.
Food Additives
Any natural or chemical substance added to food in order to preserve, enhance flavour, colour, or appearance.
Sewage sludge is an end product of the wastewater treatment process and is spread on agriculture fields to enhance the growth of crops. Sewage sludge can contain heavy metals and other toxic chemicals that can not only adversely affect crops, but can leach into the water supply detrimentally affecting water quality.
Directly manipulating an organism’s DNA by inserting or removing genes in an organism in order to enhance the size, quality, flavour, or uniformity of the organism.
Artificial
When used in cows, artificial growth hormones are otherwise known as rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin) or rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), these drugs artificially cause cows to produce more milk.
A substance, natural or chemically produced, that can destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The use of antibiotics in animals has caused concern for the spread of antibiotic resistant microorganisms.
A naturally occurring form of soil degradation caused by water and wind contributing to a significant amount of soil loss.
Natural and Biological Systems for Pest and Weed Control
The process of allowing natural predators and natural pesticides to control a moderate level of unwanted pests and weeds as part of a natural ecosystem in agriculture.
