holistic food???? - Page 1

Hi I run a pet supply store. Just curious what peoples definition of "holistic" food is.

This is a very good subject. You know that packaging and maketing is everything. Take a good wholesome product, dress it up, change the packaging, call it holistic, and charge more for it. Food manufacturers have come a long way in producing good quality food: Eagle Pack and Royal Canin to name just a couple. They contain human grade beef and chicken in their food along with the probiotics and glucosomine and essential vitamins and minerals. To that end, they are, "Holistic" and cost less than a food labeled as such.

There is an incredible amount of hype out there. Basically, despite the advertising to the contrary, there are no commercial widely marketed holistic foods. It would be too expensive. Perhaps the biggest rip-off artists of all is O & M (Owens & Mandeville). All these specious and bogus claims and what is their #1 ingredient--wait for it---yes, its the wonder holistic food, the greatest find since Archimedes discovered the lever, eureka!--chicken meal, which we all know is the sine qua non of dog food. These folks have a "secret" formula they will not give out because, well, you know...Their sales people make claims like if your dog eats O & M it will not bloat, it will not get cancer etc etc, but I have known many dogs who ate it including their own shills, who did die, and early, of cancer and kidney disease and other maladies. I could name many other companies who are almost as bad--but why bother, all you have to do though is read the labels and you will get a pretty good idea of how bad their food is. There are some small companies out there, all regional, that bake in small batches, and do use organics and foods not treated with preservatives etc but you have to dig and do your homework to find them. Some larger companies do produce reasonably good foods and they have the sense not to hype them as "holistic". In the food biz, calling your product holistic is de rigueur these days. It seems you can sell the mopes almost anything if you call it holistic. It's like buying a car--the sales pitch is, "its "sexy". Now days, if you're not sexy, you're dead. And if its not holistic, its garbage. Caveat emptor.

There is an incredible amount of hype out there. Basically, despite the advertising to the contrary, there are no commercial widely marketed holistic foods. It would be too expensive. Perhaps the biggest rip-off artists of all is O & M (Owens & Mandeville). All these specious and bogus claims and what is their #1 ingredient--wait for it---yes, its the wonder holistic food, the greatest find since Archimedes discovered the lever, eureka!--chicken meal, which we all know is the sine qua non of dog food. These folks have a "secret" formula they will not give out because, well, you know...Their sales people make claims like if your dog eats O & M it will not bloat, it will not get cancer etc etc, but I have known many dogs who ate it including their own shills, who did die, and early, of cancer and kidney disease and other maladies. I could name many other companies who are almost as bad--but why bother, all you have to do though is read the labels and you will get a pretty good idea of how bad their food is. There are some small companies out there, all regional, that bake in small batches, and do use organics and foods not treated with preservatives etc but you have to dig and do your homework to find them. Some larger companies do produce reasonably good foods and they have the sense not to hype them as "holistic". In the food biz, calling your product holistic is de rigueur these days. It seems you can sell the mopes almost anything if you call it holistic. It's like buying a car--the sales pitch is, "its "sexy". Now days, if you're not sexy, you're dead. And if its not holistic, its garbage. Caveat emptor.

Gertrude, What you are talking about is called "organic" food. The ingredients used in "organic" food must be certified. Right down to the water. I agree with the hype thing. Just because a dog food is not mark "holistic" doesnt mean that its not. Holistic food means its good for the whole. Products that have ingredients that address the whole dogs health are holistic.