Factory farms have devastating impacts on the environment, continuously polluting air, surface water, groundwater, and soil with a host of hazardous contaminants. Fortunately, sustainable farms recognize the importance of environmental stewardship, and use responsible agricultural practices to protect the environment for future generations. When you buy meat from a sustainable farm, you help support these efforts.

Understanding labels:

"Grass-fed": Industrial animal farms rely on corn and soy as a cheap source of protein-rich feed. However, ruminants like cows have stomachs that evolved to digest grasses and other forage. As a result, when these animals are fed a grain heavy diet, they often have digestive problems, poor liver health, and, in extreme cases, their diet can kill them. Sustainably raised animals eat grasses from weaning to slaughter. Their diet should not be supplemented with grain, animal byproducts, or synthetic hormones. They should not be given antibiotics to promote growth or prevent disease (though they may be given antibiotics to treat disease).

"Pasture-raised": In general, pasturing is a traditional farming technique where animals are raised outdoors in a humane, ecologically sustainable manner and eat foods that nature intended them to eat rather than being fattened on a feedlot or in a confined facility.

"Organic": In order to be labeled "organic", a product, its producer, and the farm where the ingredients come from must meet the USDA's organic standards and must be certified by a USDA-approved food-certifying agency. Organic foods cannot be grown using synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, or sewage sludge, cannot be genetically modified, and cannot be irradiated. Organic meat and poultry must be fed only organically-grown feed (without any animal byproducts) and cannot be treated with hormones or antibiotics. Ruminants must have access to pasture (but don't actually have to go outdoors and graze on pasture to be considered organic).