By Goody L. Solomon
The animals move about freely, said Adele Douglass, executive director of the Humane Farm Animal Care, a nonprofit organization supported by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and The Humane Society.
HFAC offers a “Certified Humane” label for foods from animals raised to certain standards. Freedom to roam is one standard. Others include vegetarian feed and absence of antibiotics and hormones.
Vegetarian feed often means a grass diet, which can produce beef so lean it demands careful, quick cooking to be tender. However, Sarah Chaney, of Against the Wind Ranch in Clarksburg, Md., said cattle can be bred to “get good marbling and good fat, even on grass.” Grass is important to cattle, she explained, because “their system is set up to handle low protein forage, eating it and then chewing it as cud.”
Locally, you can buy meat and eggs directly from farmers, whose businesses mostly are too small to sell to supermarkets but who welcome visitors and handle mail and phone orders. Be prepared to buy in quantity and to pay a premium. Against the Wind sells a whole steer averaging 750 pounds for $2600.
More information about “Certified Humane” products can be found at certifiedhumane.org.
The Examiner: Foods Get ‘Certified Humane’
Posted: December 13, 2006 by Certified Humane
By Goody L. Solomon
The animals move about freely, said Adele Douglass, executive director of the Humane Farm Animal Care, a nonprofit organization supported by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and The Humane Society.
HFAC offers a “Certified Humane” label for foods from animals raised to certain standards. Freedom to roam is one standard. Others include vegetarian feed and absence of antibiotics and hormones.
Vegetarian feed often means a grass diet, which can produce beef so lean it demands careful, quick cooking to be tender. However, Sarah Chaney, of Against the Wind Ranch in Clarksburg, Md., said cattle can be bred to “get good marbling and good fat, even on grass.” Grass is important to cattle, she explained, because “their system is set up to handle low protein forage, eating it and then chewing it as cud.”
Locally, you can buy meat and eggs directly from farmers, whose businesses mostly are too small to sell to supermarkets but who welcome visitors and handle mail and phone orders. Be prepared to buy in quantity and to pay a premium. Against the Wind sells a whole steer averaging 750 pounds for $2600.
More information about “Certified Humane” products can be found at certifiedhumane.org.
Category: news