Today it is very challenging to find real food sources for all living beings. It is a trend that began in wartime to ensure freshness and sustainability of food for our armed forces. We, unfortunately, have allowed this unhealthy way of life to continue by promoting a society where we are consumed by a wide array of processed and synthetic food sources. This hazard has attributed to a massive epidemic of health issues from people and animals alike. This underscores why it is vitally important to support and defend organizations and communities that embrace the idea that health and happiness begin with the food we feed ourselves and our pets.  

One such organization is the National Research Council (NRC). They first released research in 1972 based on the data collected off of scientific reviews, which was then compiled into recommendations of proper nutrient profiles for both cats and dogs. In 1990, AFFCO developed their own standards with the following stipulations to evaluate dog foods by an analysis of the food composition and the ingredients it contains, the food must take part in an AFFCO approved evaluation, or the food can be approved if it is already part of certain brands that have been pre-verified by the organization. As information becomes updated and modified, AFFCO is always publishing new data regarding recommendations. One such example of this can be found in their move to reduce the standard amount of protein in adult dog food from 22 to 18 percent. Of course, all these new standards overshadowed the time, energy, and research the NRC provided years ago. Despite this fact, the raw feeding community still embraced the open-mindedness and proactive nature of the NRC guidelines. This is due to the different nutrient levels the NRC lists in their guidelines which includes minimal, adequate, recommended, and safe upper limit. These basic guidelines provide pet owners, particularly of the raw community, the ability to focus on feeding their pet either for maintaining or returning to optimal health. Conversely, of course, AFFCO is mostly only concerned with putting the minimum requirements on food levels so that pets avoid severe illness or death. They never consider how a pet could be living their best life.

Luckily, it is possible to give your pets the best life by feeding them real, raw foods that are packed full of nature’s most significant vitamins and nutrients. Learn more about the raw feeding revolution at Parsley Pet: https://www.parsleypet.com/