Compassionate Conscious Consumerism Part 2

By Meredith Ayan, Executive Director

I’m one of those people who stands in the grocery aisle reading labels. I know I’m in the way, but I’m just trying to understand what I am putting in my body! I always try to buy the healthiest option for my budget, but labels like “farm raised” and “pasture raised” sound similar. Should I choose pesticide-free or organic? And shouldn’t organic be pesticide free anyway? What is the difference? And where can I find legitimate answers? 

If you are like me, you have struggled with the same issues, whether you eat a vegan or an omnivorous diet, this can get confusing. Most of us know a thing or two about factory farming and do our best to avoid the worst products for ourselves and our families, but it is hard to find legitimate answers to the differences between labels. 

In my quest to find some personal clarity and share the information with you, I did a quick google search, and the majority of the sources were paid for by farms or farm and ranch lobbying groups.  These sources didn’t feel quite right to me, so I dug a bit deeper and found Sustainable Table, a non-profit website that explains the meaning of many food labels and appears to be independent of food producers and lobby groups. 

The moral of the story is, if you are struggling to understand food labels, you’re not alone! There are good, honest sources out there – sometimes we just have to dig a bit deeper for them. Cheers to happy, healthy and cruelty-free eating.