Good Ranchers

From 2010 to 2017, Randy Constant ran the largest organic feed fraud case in US history.

$120 million in grain sold as organic, but none of it actually was. Over 11 million bushels that would fill 3,000 rail cars made it into the agriculture system, got fed to animals, and then those animals ended up on shelves with an organic label.

It was only caught after the fact, which means you paid the premium and got nothing for it. This is why it matters more than ever to know what you’re buying and who you’re buying it from.

“Organic” doesn’t always mean clean.

Plenty of organic products are still loaded with seed oils, and seed oils are seed oils whether the label is green and pretty or not. They’re inflammatory, cheap, and they end up in products that charge you a premium to feel good about what you’re buying.

Flip the package over and read the ingredients. Once you know what to look for, shopping for real food gets a lot easier.

12,000+ lbs of bacon just got recalled from Grocery Outlet in ID, OR, and WA. Not because it was contaminated. Because it never went through the reinspection U.S. law requires when meat crosses the border. Nobody checked it before it hit shelves. That’s the risk of a long supply chain: more hands, more steps, more chances something gets missed.

Beef stick labels will tell you the protein count. They’ll tell you it’s grass-fed. What they won’t tell you is where the beef actually came from.

Over 85% of grass-fed beef in the U.S. is imported. That means most of the beef sticks on store shelves, and probably in your pantry right now, are made with overseas meat.

90% of avocado oil labeled foods tested positive for other oils, seed oils specifically.

So even if a product says “cooked in avocado oil,” that’s not a guarantee you’re actually getting avocado oil. These sneaky labels are making it harder, not easier, to shop for what you actually want.

That’s exactly why we had our avocado oil tested and got Seed Oil Free certified. The chicken nuggets are cooked in 100% pure avocado oil, and we can prove it.

No funny business.

Owning a business comes with a weight nobody really prepares you for.

But somewhere along the way, the responsibility of it starts to feel less heavy and more like an opportunity. To create jobs. To build a place people actually want to show up to. To make decisions that reflect what you actually believe about how people should be treated.

Family has always been the core of what Good Ranchers is about, and that shapes everything, including how we take care of the people who work here.

Organic feed fraud is a multimillion dollar problem, and most people have no idea it exists.

Conventional feed gets passed off as organic, fed to animals, and that meat ends up on shelves with an organic label and a premium price. Over 50% of organic feed used in the U.S. comes from overseas, which makes the whole system harder to verify than most people realize.

$46 million in feed sold as organic. Not a dollar of it actually was.

Worth knowing before you pay extra for the label.

“Beef stick” on the label doesn’t mean it’s mostly beef.

A lot of what’s on store shelves is packed with binders, fillers, starches, and extra moisture. They’re added to cut costs, extend shelf life, and stretch the product further. You’re paying for beef and getting a fraction of it.

Check the label before you buy.

MorningStar Farms just recalled two products for plastic contamination.

Plant-based meat was already a tough sell on taste and ingredients. Now there’s plastic in it. At some point the grocery store aisle just becomes a reason to go back to basics and buy real meat from people you can trust.