Eco-Food Buzz Words: What Do They Mean? (PHOTOS)

Local. Organic. Cage Free. Free Range. What does it all mean?

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of labels out there for your food, and more importantly, to know which ones to trust. As part of our Week of Eating In challenge, we've compiled a list of the biggest eco-food buzz words that will help guide your choices at the grocery store. Which food product/philosophy do you think is the best way to eat?

Organic

Organic refers to how agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, grains) are cultivated. Organic farming steers clear of conventional methods of farming, which involve chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and animal antibiotics/growth hormones. According to the Mayo Clinic, organic farming opts instead for natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, and uses beneficial insects and birds, while livestock are fed a diet of organic foods.


If a food has a USDA organic label, it means that the product is at least 95 percent organic.

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Comments

[Maud Lyn]

04:58 AM on 02/10/2010

Eco-food buzz words...what do they mean? Most of the populace has never bitten into a free-range chicken thigh or organic vegetable stew, so has no idea of the instant gratification of tasting really good food. They also don't receive the health benefits of a fantastic night's sleep, a rosy color to their cheeks, good lab results on yearly physicals, and an overall power and strength of healthy food choices. Healthy foods used to be the the norm, now most will never taste them without education, due to the politicitization of foods. We all deserve healthy foods.

[bothpartiesareworthless]

02:44 AM on 02/10/2010

The Penn and Teller series called Bull #### had a really good show on Organic food you should check it out.

[Anastasia]

08:36 PM on 02/09/2010

I'm free range but I'm not grass fed. Not ready to embrace vegetarianism - yet. ;-)

[OMG1]

07:52 PM on 02/09/2010

The Corporation and Food Inc are 2 great documtaries that will change how you eat and what you eat.

[Marcia Davis]

09:06 PM on 02/12/2010

I totally agree. First, Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" got me thinking. Then, "Food, Inc." sealed it for me. So I started a blog about happy food: http://lifeisfare.wordpress.com/.
I could barely get through Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals" this past fall--the horrific ways animals have to suffer in factory farms is enough to make me boycott industrialized meat (not to mention avoiding the rest of the industrialized food system.)

[kvass]

07:17 PM on 02/09/2010

The majority of egg producers consider the term "Free Range" to mean the chicken can roam about the barn. Going outside is another term which escapes me at the moment but the time outside is usually one hour and even then it is in a controlled chicken run.

[RButler]

04:36 AM on 02/10/2010

One hour in the yard??? Sounds like a prison.

[eastjame]

06:42 PM on 02/09/2010

organic isnt just a buzz word that anyone can put on a label. my parents farm is organic and it was a huge process for them to get organic accreditation. they've have had their entire farming process throughly examined. also it takes 3 years after going organic and stopping the use of pesticides, herbicides and other sprays before they could call themselves organic, as it takes that long for the sprays to have disappeared.

i've also noticed the affect that going organic has had on the environment within our farm. there are many more birds and insects and a greater diversity of wild native plants. the whole farm looks much healthier. it isnt easy though and it creates a lot more work as sometimes it would be much easier to spray a patch of weeds rather than dig them out for example.

i used to think that organic was a meaningless word, but i can insure you its not.

[yemaya]

07:09 PM on 02/09/2010

thank you for sharing your story! We need more farms like yours here in Georgia! We have some, but not enough. It's a tough battle here in the US as most Americans aren't that aware of where their food comes from.

[eastjame]

06:28 PM on 02/09/2010

here in new zealand all cows and sheep are kept in large open fields where they only eat grass. it was only a few years ago that i found out that other countries keep them penned up in small enclosures and feed them corn and grain. grass fed meat not only tastes much better, but is also much better for the environment. grass fed beef grown in new zealand and shipped to the other side of the world can actually create in less carbon dioxide than locally grown beef. the amount of carbon dioxide created in the production of animal feed is huge and so locally grown food is often not actually better for the planet.

[yemaya]

07:10 PM on 02/09/2010

grass fed beaf is healthier as it has more Omega 3's

[BannedNBoston]

05:35 PM on 02/09/2010

http://conservationreport.com/2009/11/30/industrial-farm-animal-production-the-cost-of-feeding-cattle-corn/

GROSS: Is this where the antibiotics come in?

Mr. POLLAN: Yeah. The only way you can keep a cow alive getting this much corn would be with antibiotics. And they get large quantities of antibiotics with their feed every day. They get rumensin, which is technically an ionophore. It’s a kind of antibiotic that helps with the bloat and the acidosis. And then they get tylosin, which is in the erythromycin family. And that antibiotic cuts down on the incidence of liver disease, and without that, they would all have liver disease probably

[Attikai]

04:47 PM on 02/09/2010

"Factory farms are not only cruel to animals, but they also contribute to climate change due to the large amounts of manure they create, polluting the soil, air, and water, according to the Humane Society. "

I think factory farming sucks for various reasons. However, do they somehow produce more manure in a factory setting than do free range animals? I don't think so.

[siralfred]

06:53 PM on 02/09/2010

The difference is that the factory-farm model allows for many more animals per acre (or whatever unit of area), so all the environmental hazards are more highly concentrated.

[yemaya]

07:12 PM on 02/09/2010

at least the manure in organic farms can be compostable. In a factory farm, it's full of antibiotics, hormones and the genetically modified feed they eat. It all ends up in our water supply, soil, streams and rivers. organic manure vs. chemical manure, hmmmm....

[jl4141]

04:40 PM on 02/09/2010

You gotta know your fish, too. Maybe that will be the next article.

[Tulka2]

04:39 PM on 02/09/2010

When the Republicans say government "doesn't work"...? It means they mean to make sure it does not work because that would mean they would have to pay more taxes. This is what we get after eight years of the Republicans taking government agencies apart. And... many of the safety agencies remain packed with Republican appointees even in the administration of Obama. Tic, tic, boom. They make sure none of it works.

All of that to say there is no enforcement, no inspectors. My best advice as far as buying meat of any kind is to go organic. Organic means the farmer has to maintain a certain level of hygiene. If farmer is not passing out antibiotics with every meal, it means the animals must be kept at a certain level of comfort that is not consistent with factory farming. Animals being raised organic have a better life than the ones labeled "free range" or "grass fed" simply because there are no daily antibiotics.

[scottowego]

03:31 PM on 02/09/2010

We are trying to start a Food Cooperative here in Owego, NY. Any and all are welcome to join. It's free. Meetings are held at the local community center here in Owego.
See: http://www.meetup.com/Owego-NY-Food-Coop/

[opprobrious]

03:11 PM on 02/09/2010

They mean nothing. Trust me. I vend at a farmers market. You need to know the something about vendors themselves.

[Brendan H]

03:44 PM on 02/09/2010

Amen. It's amazing how fast people who are rightfully critical of the food corporations will suddenly believe poorly regulated buzzwords.

[colonpowwow]

06:38 PM on 02/09/2010

I assume you're not talking about the word "organic" as it appears on the green and white sticker on the label. The companies that are given the right to display that seal have been closely monitored by third party certification organizations for many years before the labeling requirements even came out. There is very little, if any, chicanery attached to the US organic labeling program.

[wm1066]

01:21 PM on 02/09/2010

Grass feed implies free range but it doesn't mean the cow gets to walk around munching on grass, they could just as easily be fed grass in a pen. I grew up in farming country in Minnesota and grass fed cows with out corn silage makes the meat tougher. Plus the cows like the corn and they are happier. So just grass feed isn't that big a deal. But with the GMO corn out there it might be better the cow isn't fed that kind of corn.

[scottowego]

03:36 PM on 02/09/2010

Thank you! Your comment made me do a little research..... Pastured beef is really what most people think of when they see grass fed. And (this is where your comment came in) Grass fed does not necessarily mean pastured animals- just that they have been fed some grass- they might still have been raised in a small pen.
http://www.grass-fed-beef-101.com/definition_of_grass_fed_beef.html
FANNED!

[yemaya]

07:14 PM on 02/09/2010

This is true which is why you need to do your research

[FranklinCat]

04:04 PM on 02/09/2010

Over cooking is what makes good meat tough.

[Attikai]

04:44 PM on 02/09/2010

Boeuf Bourguignon is cooked at low temperatures for a very long time and melts in your mouth.

[seajewel]

12:40 PM on 02/09/2010

Those were poor choices of stock photography! Cage free is NOT nowhere near 2 chickens roaming the backyard. Please, please, please use a realistic approach. This stuff is important and you educating the public.

To see what Cage Free really looks like: http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_chickens_flesh.asp