Certified Organic Meat

Why it makes sense for our bodies and our environment

Certified organic meat labels are applied to animals raised without antibiotics, growth hormones or genetically modified feed. These animals have accesss to pesticide/insecticide-free pastures, as well as as access to fresh air, sunshine, water and exercise. The mothers of organically raised animals must also have been feed organic feed for at least the last third of gestation. Feed destined for organically raised livestock must be 100% organic, and it must be free from animal parts of any kind. The feed must not contain plastic pellets for roughage, or contain urea or manure – all allowable practices in conventional agriculture.

The production of certified organic is based on the philosophy that livestock and the land on which it is raised, must be in conditions as close to natural as possible. This means allowing the animals to have free access to the outdoors, and feed which is free from animal parts – since cattle are by nature vegetarians. It also means that the land used to grow feed crops for organic animals must be free of non-organic products for a period of 3 years prior to the harvest of the first organic crop. The certified organic standards also specify the manner in which crop rotation must be conducted on the farm producing organic feed crops. The combination of these and other crop management standards ensures that farms producing organic crops for livestock are also very ecological and environmentally friendly.

Strict standards are also applied to the plants processing livestock for organic meat certification. The plants must be cleaned and maintained so that they are free from meat from non-organic animals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. if the plant is also used to process non-organically raised livestock. There are specific cleaning products that are allowed for cleaning multi-use meat processing facilities. The certified organic process allows a clear chain of traceability to be established for the meat from the farm, to the processing facility, to the retail outlet where it reaches the consumer.