Sheep: the Givers Written by Lori Wyman, Communication Projects Coordinator, Organic Trade Association Reprinted with permission from Taste for Life Magazine and appeared in Buy Organic! September, 2005

The "Givers"
Sheep help farmers, consumers, and the environment

You may be surprised to learn that you use products made from sheep every day. The fuzz on your tennis balls and the Roquefort cheese on your salad are gifts from our friends, the sheep.

Sheepskin pelts are used for furniture and clothing. People use sheepskin in their cars-and even give it to newborn babies-for its soft texture and wool's ability to regulate body temperature. When the weather is cool and damp, wool absorbs moisture and provides a layer of dry, insulating air next to the skin. When the weather is warm, wool absorbs perspiration, allowing the body's natural cooling system to work better. Wool is also naturally flame resistant, making it a smart alternative to manufactured fabrics that have been linked to environmental toxins.

Fortunately, sheep can be raised organically, without the use of pesticides, growth hormones, and routine antibiotics. In addition, organic fiber processing standards guarantee that the effects on groundwater, the health of the farmers, and above all the health of the animals have as little environmental impact as possible.

Ovine vs. Bovine
Sheep's milk offers distinct nutritional benefits, containing 75 percent more protein than cow's milk and almost twice as much calcium, along with plenty of zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin C. Granted, sheep milk has a higher fat content, which gives it a creamy flavor. But this fat is more easily digested than the fat in cow's milk, making it an option for those with cow's milk allergies. With almost twice as many milk solids as cow's milk and high levels of casein, sheep milk yields twice as much cheese from fluid milk in a shorter amount of time. Most sheep's milk is used in cheese making, and popular cheeses include feta, asiago, ricotta, and Pecorina romano.

Cuts of meat include shoulder, lamb chops, loin, ribs, stewing lamb, and ground lamb. Nutritionists often recommend lamb, instead of beef, for people with food allergies or inflammatory conditions. The term "lamb" is used for yearlings while meat from a two-year-old or older is called mutton.

For your Ba-a-a-ady
Lanolin is the greasy substance extracted from wool sheared from sheep, a cruelty-free process. Cleaned and refined, lanolin is widely used in cosmetics and creams. It provides a natural moisture barrier that allows rehydrating of the skin by slowing down the evaporation of the skin's natural moisture from sun, water, or wind.

From fisherman's hands to baby's bottoms, lanolin has been safely applied with an excellent track record for healing the skin. Dry cracking of the skin can heal when the skin is allowed to retain more of its own moisture. Lanolin can absorb 50 percent of its weight in water, while providing rich sterols to the skin.

Since commercial (non-organic) sheep operations routinely use pesticides for tick prevention, this lanolin can be contaminated with carcinogenic pesticides including DDT, dieldrin, and lindane, in addition to neurotoxic pesticides. These chemicals are likely to migrate through the skin into the bloodstream. The National Academy of Sciences has expressed concern over the frequency of contamination of cosmetics containing lanolin with pesticides.

If you've had problems in the past with lanolin or conventional wool clothing causing skin reactions, try natural beauty products containing organic lanolin or organic wool clothing. In order for wool to be certified as organic, it must be produced in accordance with strict standards for organic livestock production.

These federal requirements include:

• Livestock feed and forage used from the last third of gestation on must be organic.
• Use of synthetic hormones and genetic engineering is prohibited.
• Use of synthetic pesticides (internal, external, and on pastures) is prohibited.
• Producers must encourage livestock health through good cultural and management practices

Organic livestock management differs from non-organic management in at least two major ways:

• Sheep cannot be dipped in parasiticides (insecticides) to control external parasites such as ticks and lice.
• Organic livestock producers must also ensure that they do not exceed the natural carrying capacity of the land on which their animals graze