Food Label Glossary

Every day we run into new terms for food.  Sometimes there is a new certification, other times its a new way to process or farm the food.  Occasionally its a new “marketing” ploy to get you to buy a particular type of food. It can get very confusing for the conscious eater.

Here are a few terms to help you as you vote with your dollars what types of food you will eat.

Farming Terms

Certification for Small Farmers

CERTIFIED NATURALLY GROWN: Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) products are certified by an independent organization as having been produced in approximate accordance with national organics standards, a program involving fewer paperwork requirements and lower certification fees for farmers than the USDA’s National Organic Program. This certification program is geared to the small farmer. After October 21, 2002, any farmer selling over $5,000 worth of produce may NOT refer to their produce or growing methods as “Organic” unless they have been certified by a USDA accredited certification agency. Failure to comply with this order is punishable with fines up to $10,000 per violation per day. [NOP Final Rule: 205.100]

The claim “natural” is unregulated and is often used as a marketing tool when not used with the CNG certification.

Biodynamic Certification

BIODYNAMIC: Biodynamic farming is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner.  In addition to organic practices such as crop rotation and composting, biodynamic farmers rely on special plant, animal and mineral preparations and the rhythmic influences of the sun, moon, planets and stars.

Biodynamic agriculture goes beyond organic, envisioning the farm as a self-contained and self-sustaining organism. In an effort to keep the farm, the farmer, the consumer, and the earth healthy, farmers avoid chemical pesticides and fertilizers, utilize compost and cover crops, and set aside a minimum of 10% of their total acreage for biodiversity. The entire farm, versus a particular crop, must be certified, and farms are inspected annually.

CONVENTIONAL: Refers to standard agricultural practices that are wide spread in the industry of farming.  Can include use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, “mono-cropping,: antibiotics, hormones and other agribusiness approaches.  Convention farming in the US may also include the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

DRY-FARMED: Produce grown using a tilling technique that seeks to retain moisture in the soil and to minimize or eliminate the use of irrigation.

Fair Trade

FAIR-TRADE: Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Farmer’s receive a fair price, workers on a Fair Trade farm enjoy safe working conditions and living wages, forced child labor is prohibited. Fair Trade also maintains environmentally sustainable farming method  that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.  Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited but some chemicals may be used.

Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, rice, and vanilla.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMO’S): GMO’s are plants and animals whose genetic make-up has been altered to exhibit traits that they would not normally have, like longer shelf-life, different color or resistance to certain chemicals and pesticides.  In general, genes are taken (copied) from one organism that shows a desired trait and transferred into the genetic code of another organism using a virus to break the genetic barrier.

GENETIC MODIFICATION IS CURRENTLY ALLOWED IN CONVENTIONAL FARMING WITH NO LABELING REQUIREMENTS TO INFORM THE PUBLIC. Learn how to identify GMO Foods here

HEIRLOOM: Heirloom crop varieties, also called farmers’ varieties or traditional varieties, have been developed by farmers through years of cultivation, selection and seed saving.  They are passed down through generations.  Generally speaking heirlooms are varieties that have been in existence for a minimum of fifty years in use prior to the mono culture of agribusiness and suited to grow in a specific area.

The term heirloom is defined by the grower or seller, but the good news is, there are at least a couple agreed-upon points:

• heirlooms must be “open pollinated” (pollinated by natural methods instead of artificial methods used to develop hybrid plants)
• are generally “indeterminate” growers (sprawlers instead of being able to be easily trained within cages).
• It’s also pretty much agreed that heirlooms won’t have any GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM):  A pest management strategy that aims to reduce the use of chemical pesticides through careful monitoring for actual pest threats.  Pesticides are applied in such a way that they pose the least possible hazard, and are used as a ‘last resort’ when other controls are inadequate.