How can you be sure you are buying the healthiest meat? Many companies label falsely with vibrant colors, graphics, and words that give the illusion of a healthier, more environmentally friendly product. This happens in the food industry, but also can happen with personal care products, clothing, or any item that would be more desirable to someone with environmental or health concerns. It helps companies reach a wider audience by claiming to be friends of the environment.
This article will briefly describe how you can avoid this scam.

Greenwashing on meat labels can be green in color, contain imagery of open fields or vast landscapes suggesting free range for the animals, and use words like “grass-fed” or “humanely raised” or ”natural.” These products use words or images that are not direct lies, but stretch the truth. A cow could technically be “grass-fed” if it has been given only a few blades of grass. A chicken could be “humanely raised” if it was living in better than the worst conditions .

It can sometimes be difficult to tell what is good, and what is not. One way to do this for beef is to look for products that say “100% grass fed” or ”grass-finished.” This way you know the cow was fed grass or natural forage for the duration of their life. Even when a cow is grass-fed, but grain-finished, the profile of the meat can be less nutrient dense than a cow that is 100% grass fed.

The USDA Organic label is also a good indication of whether or not the cows are organic. The federal government has regulations that are required if a cow is to be considered organic. Some companies cannot afford to acquire the Organic stamp, but can still be organic according to the government standards. They can sometimes have better standards than the USDA. According to the USDA, a product cannot claim to be “organic” if it has not been approved by the USDA. The information panel, however, can identify organic ingredients as organic.

It still is tough to know exactly what you’re buying. Greenwashing certainly doesn’t help. Along with these tips, we think it’s best if you know your local farmer. If your farmer has free roaming livestock, and is a 100% grass fed establishment that you can see with your own eyes, you know what you’re buying is safe and healthy.