GREEN & SUSTAINABLE

Green Choices: Meat & Poultry Buyer's Guide

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Certified Organic Label

Certified Organic label: What does it mean?

When it comes to buying meat and poultry, the greener choices are not always obvious.

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Certified Organic (beef, pork, lamb, bison, poultry)

Organic standards prohibit all use of antibiotics and hormones. (Hormone use in poultry and pork production—even conventional—has been banned since 1959.) All feed is vegetarian and certified organic—including pastureland—which means that it is not treated with pesticides or herbicides and cannot be genetically modified. Animals have access to pastureland, sunlight and enough land for exercise, and grazing is done in a manner that does not degrade the land through erosion or contamination. Animal cloning is forbidden.

Health benefits: Since USDA-certified organic labeling requires that animals be traced from birth to slaughter (including feed sources and medications), problems related to animal diseases and human foodborne illness can be easily traced to the source.
Eco-benefits: Organic standards ban the use of antibiotics and growth hormones, which leach into groundwater and ultimately end up in public water supplies.
Is it regulated? The USDA regulates the Certified Organic standard and independent agencies conduct farm inspections.
Keep in mind: Organic doesn’t necessarily mean grass-fed; however, certified organic livestock generally graze on open-range land three to six months longer than conventionally raised livestock to reach market size.

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