Global ChangeIntersection of Nature and Culture

“Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide”

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Nicolette Niman has a new column, Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide, this week at Huffington Post.  This follows her NY Times column last week, Carnivore’s Dilemma, of which I was somewhat critical for the notable absence of land use concerns in the sustainable meat industry.

It’s a personal story that complements Jonathan Safran Foer’s recent thoughts on vegetarianism as a response to factory farming.  I was surprised to learn that someone known for her family’s more-sustainable livestock ranch network is actually vegetarian.

Here are her main points on avoiding factory farmed foods.  Her article provides more details on each:

General advice:
1. Be prepared to pay more.
2. Plan on reducing consumption.
3. Seek food from a known source.
4. Ask questions (even if it sometimes seems futile).
5. Know your labels (and their shortcomings).
6. Baby-steps are OK (as long as they’re in the right direction).
7. Consider it an adventure.

Where to look:
1. Stop being a supermarket zombie.
2. Explore alternative stores (independent grocery stores and co-ops).
3. Frequent your local farmers markets.
4. Look for CSAs.
5. Look for farms online.
6. Seek chefs committed to sustainable sourcing.

What to look for with all animal based foods:
1. Domestic, please.
2. Pasture is the gold standard.
3. Grass fed is very good (but the label is weak).
4. Organic is very good, (but the label isn’t perfect).
5. Free range is okay (but the label is seriously flawed).
6. Antibiotic free doesn’t mean much.

Related posts:

• In defense of sustainable meat production
• Jonathan Safran Foer: Eating Animals

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Photo credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatmandy/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0