Green Daily

Are you unclear on how exactly your meat and dairy were produced? 'Natural' or 'free range' or 'no animal by-products?' Whether it's at the farmer's market or the grocery store the terms can be pretty loose and non-specific.

Sustainable Table has made a brochure to help you nail down the terminology. The group advocates for sustainable and local food production, they also create educational tools like this one for the public.

The Glossary of Meat Production Methods can be downloaded, printed and taken with you. Diane Hatz is the founder of Sustainable Table. She says the group created the brochure because so many people said food labels got in the way of their attempts to be more sustainable and humane with their food.

Hatz says the term "cage free" is an example of that. She says the terms really just means the chickens weren't in cages. It doesn't mean they went outside or had plenty of room.

"Most often, cage free means the animals were raised indoors in crowded conditions," she explains. "This label is very similar to free range or free roaming – it does not guarantee the animals ever went outside. Because none of these labels, except organic and biodynamic, are independently certified, the only way you're really going to know how your food is produced is to ask the farmer that grew/raised it."

You can download the glossary here.