Food Terms & Labels

The best way to find out how your food was produced is to simply ask the farmer who raised the livestock or grew the crop. In practice, it’s often difficult to do so; although you can usually talk to farmers at a farm stand or farmers market, it’s tough to find a producer while wandering the aisles of your local grocery store. As a result, we all need to pay close attention to the information on food labels.

Unfortunately, food labels can be confusing for even the savviest shoppers. These days, a mind-boggling array of terms, claims, and certifications are used by producers to try to convince consumers that their foods are good for people, animals, and the environment. While some terms on food labels provide a reliable indication that the food was produced in a socially responsible manner, other terms are less meaningful – and in some cases, can be downright deceptive.

Visit Sustainable Table’s Sustainable Dictionary for simple definitions of many terms commonly found on food labels – the dictionarly indicates which terms are meaningful and which terms are just marketing hype.

Learn the basics of food labeling at the FDA.
Learn more about changes and trends in food labeling at Consumer Reports.
Learn to read beef labels from the National Geographic Green Guide.
Understand meat production terms and processes with a guide from the Sustainable Table.