Natural Meat and Naturally-Raised Meat Are Two Very Different Animals
The newly-minted definition of naturally-raised meat, as specified by The Department of Agriculture (USDA), still does not go far enough according to proponents of natural meat.
First of all the definitions of ‘natural meat’ and ‘naturally-raised meat’ are entirely different — and that is a cause for real confusion. Natural meat is expressly set out as being ‘minimally processed and without artificial ingredients’. Nothing is mentioned about what it is fed during its life.
On the other hand, the USDA requires that meat sold under the ‘naturally raised’ label be from livestock raised entirely without growth hormones or antibiotics. Furthermore, there must have been no animal by-products in the livestock’s feed to have the naturally-raised meat label.
Unfortunately, these definitions do not in any way guarantee that the animals will be raised in a natural environment as they used to be on traditional, small-time farms where pigs, chicken and cattle had access to the outdoors, fresh air and some exercise. And that’s exactly what shoppers expect when they see either natural meat or naturally-raised meat labels: it’s not enough anymore for animals to simply be chemical free or fed quality, contaminant-free food. These days, consumers are not only aware of the brutality inherent in large production farms, but they openly oppose the inhumane treatment as being completely unnecessary.
With the natural meat industry one of rapid growth, pressure from consumers will likely be more effective in bringing about change in how livestock is treated than any stipulations issued by a government agency. Simply put, if people have a choice between two cuts of naturally raised meat, both from livestock raised without antibiotics, hormones and/or animal by-product feed, they will choose the one that is from an animal who was raised in a humane manner.