To earn the seal, poultry raised for meat or eggs must be given 100% organic feed from the second day of life and have some access to the great outdoors. Livestock (beef, lamb and pork) also need access to the outdoors and must dine on 100% organic feed for the last third of their lives. Ruminants—i.e. cows—should have access to organic pasture during that period. Use of hormones and antibiotics is prohibited across the board.

It’s a start, but we’ve got questions: When the door to the confinement area opens, does the animal actually venture out? And for how long? And just what was that cow eating for the first two-thirds of its life?

This is where a slew of meat production labels, evaluated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, come into play: cage free, grass-fed,

free-range and pasture-raised to name just a few. Why all the distinctions? Because organic feed is not necessarily vegetarian feed. Vegetarian feed does not necessarily mean grass-fed. And grass-fed

does not necessarily mean sent to pasture. Local group Chefs Collaborative breaks some terms down nicely.

The best way to find out if your burger once grazed happily on a sustainable farm is to meet your meat—or at least your farmer. In 2006, Brasa chef/owner Tamara Murphy did just this, with emotionally charged results.

Local food expert Jo Robinson has developed a resource to help connect consumers directly to sustainable meat and dairy farmers. Robinson’s Eatwild national directory identifies farms that have signed off on a list of exacting standards. For instance, all animals must spend much of their lives outdoors, ruminants are never fed grain or corn, and surrounding water sources must be protected from harmful animal impacts. Eatwild also allows you to search for restaurants, markets and CSAs in your area that supply meat and dairy from these farms.

According to Robinson, the site currently gets about 8,000 hits daily from around the world. “The demand [for sustainably farmed meat]

has really escalated,” she says. “This January and February, we’ve been adding one new ranch every day. There are just so many people who are starting to raise and market these grass-fed animals.”

To be fair, Eatwild takes the sustainability claims on faith, as the organization’s staff of two has no means to visit and certify each of its more than 1,000 listed farms. Robinson says that in the occasional instances that farms cut corners, she quickly heard about it. “But we encourage people to visit the farms. I think that consumers can be their own verifiers.

Shop for pasture-raised meats at Madison Market, or have them delivered to your door by Pioneer Organics. Get more info on grass-fed meat from the American Grassfed Association.