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What Is Naturally Raised Meat?

Posted by Jamie Forrest, January 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM

If you're like me, you see the term "naturally raised" applied rather liberally to various brands of supermarket meat, and you wonder what in Michael Pollan's name that phrase implies. For beef, does it imply that the animals have not been given antibiotics or hormones? Maybe, maybe not. What size cage is a naturally-raised chicken confined to? Are naturally-raised pigs allowed to forage in the woods? In an effort to clarify this vague terminology, the USDA has put out a request for public comments on the matter.

According to the Chicago Tribune, who covered this issue last week, "The label...would attest that a cut of meat came from an animal free of antibiotics and growth hormones...[and that] never consumed feed containing animal byproducts." I guess that's informative, and I certainly only want to eat meat from animals that have not eaten animal byproducts or been given drugs, but the term naturally raised simply does not connote that for me.

The article goes on to discuss the debate over the even vaguer term "natural," which at this point means nothing to me. Basically I want to know that my meat comes from animals who have led a life free from cruel conditions (including access to seasonal pasture), were slaughtered in as humane a way as possible, and were not given any antibiotics or hormones during their lives. To me, that sounds natural. And according to the article, 89% of consumers surveyed by Consumer Reports agree.

But will the USDA's definition match these sentiments? It's up to us to make sure. Submit your comments on or before Jan. 28, 2008 to Regulations.gov. Written comments can be mailed to:

Naturally Raised Marketing Claim
Room 2607–S, AMS, USDA
1400 Independence Avenue, SW.
Washington, DC 20250–0254

Or you can fax them to (202) 720–1112. All comments should reference docket number LS-07-16.

Photo of Beef from Wikimedia Commons

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