"ranch" news and stories

Canada does not have a country-wide organic certification system - not yet, anyway. Organic farming and ranching is an almost $1 billion dollar industry in the country, but currently, the farmers cannot seek certification from a central source. Some are certified by the US Department of Agriculture, which would be required for export to the US anyway, and farms in Quebec and British Colombia are regulated by rules put in place by the individual provinces.

A new system would allow for a "Canada Organic" label, increasing awareness of the farmers nationally and internationally and the country has been working on developing a standard set of guidelines and regulations since 2004. Recently, the process was sped up to meet a deadline set by the EU that would prohibit uncertified organics from trade after December 31st. Such a ban could cost Canada millions of dollars, so after much deliberation, a draft of the new rules was published on September 2. It will be up for discussion and revision for 75 days, at which point it will become law.

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It's Labor Day Weekend, so the side salads are going to be coming out full-force at BBQs around the country. Thankfully, the San Francisco Chronicle's Taster's Choice taste-tested bottled Ranch dressings so you can pick up a good one to save yourself a little time and energy. Strangely enough, their top two picks were store brands, Safeway and Albertson's, with the Safeway brand scoring enough points to earn itself a spot in the Taster's Choice Hall of Fame. Bottled Ranch; who knew? The dressings and their scores out of 100 are listed below:

• Safeway 81
• Albertsons 68
• Toby's 58
• T. Marzetti 57
• Hidden Valley 56
• Wish-Bone 35
• Ken's Steak House 30
• Litehouse 27
• Marie's 24
• Kraft 21
• Annie's Naturals 20
• Newman's Own 15
• Trader Joe's 14

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