Food Labels continued from page 15 the farm, and ultimately opens more markets for their products. Ideally, you should make an appointment to visit the farm and learn about their farming practices. Know your farmer, know your food. Food Safety The USDA-inspected label is found on any meat sold commercially. This means that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Agriculture Marketing Service have officially evaluated a meat product for class, grade, or other quality characteristics. It also requires that the safe handling instruction sticker be placed on the final packaged product. For produce, a newer program called good agricultural practices, or GAPS, is beginning to grow in popularity. This is a voluntary audit that focuses on best agricultural practices to verify that fruits and vegetables are “produced, packed, handled, and stored in the safest manner possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards.” Farmers complete a certification checklist and farm inspection to ensure the methods they use uphold the integrity and safety of their produce. Food Product Labels A variety of labels are used for poultry, livestock, and eggs to explain the condition under which animals are raised. Two similar animal welfare certification programs are ‘certified humane’ and ‘animal welfare approved.’ Certified humane is a third-party certification and labeling program that requires the humane treatment of farm animals from birth through slaughter. Animals must be provided ample space, shelter, gentle handling, fresh water and a healthy diet. Crates, cages, and tie stalls are forbidden, and animals must be free to do what comes naturally. Animal welfare approved (AWA) is also a third-party verification process through which the nonprofit audits and certifies only family farms who raise their animal outdoors on pasture or range according to specific handling and welfare standards. AWA has the strictest animal welfare standards of all labeling programs. Naturally-raised is yet another term denoting how livestock is raised. It requires that livestock used for the production of meat and meat products be raised entirely without growth promotants or antibiotics and may not be fed animal by-products. This label does not, however, provide guidelines on the welfare or living conditions of the animal. Cage-free means that poultry raised for eggs or meat are not housed in cages. However, they may still be kept in large, crowded warehouses with no access to the outdoors. I’ve heard this term best described as “not saying anything about the environment they are in, but just saying something about the environment they’re not in— cages.” Free-range or freeroaming poultry is another term used for broiler chickens or laying hens. Producers must demonstrate that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside—meaning the poultry may still live in a warehouse, but there must be a door to some outside space, which the poultry may or may not decide to use. When it comes to ruminant livestock, we commonly see the label grass-fed. Grassfed means that 100% of the animal’s diet consists of freshly grazed pasture during the growing season and stored grasses (hay or silage) during the winter months or drought conditions, and that no grain is fed throughout the animals’ lives. Finally, we have the label pastured. Pastured implies that animals were raised outdoors on pasture. Laying hens and broiler chickens are raised on grass and bugs, cows are raised on grass, pigs are raised on woodland forage. While there is no regulatory process to ensure this claim, it has become a popular label to describe a farmer’s commitment to raising their animals with health and happiness as a top priority. The best way to learn about the food you purchase is to talk to your farmer. Farmers are always willing to educate customers about how they raise their animals or grow their produce, so don’t be wary about asking questions. The more you know as a consumer, the better food purchasing decisions you can make. You can also view PEC’s 2013 Buy Fresh Buy Local guides which include a ‘Labels Defined’ box listing definitions to many of these food labels along with contact information for many farms throughout the region. (www. buylocalvirginia.org). Jessica Palmer is the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Coordinator for the Piedmont Environmental Council. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband and dog. In her spare time you can find her out in her backyard garden and in the kitchen trying out tasty new recipes. Does your child meet expectations for ….first words....more words....conversation? How well is your cHild communicating? Happy, Confident, and Socially Engaging. Ready for a Burst of Speech! tHe Heart of communication for kids Colette Reynolds, M. A. CCC Speech Language Pathologist 183-4 Keith St., Warrenton, VA 20186 • (540) 347-1239 Speech Assessment and Therapy www.talk2colette.com 16 Piedmont Family Magazine 2013 • Issue 4