Demystifying Food Labels: Does Organic Matter?

_‍65% of consumers say they want to make greener choices at the grocery store, yet only 26% follow through on those choices. This is called the intention-action gap. It's the difference between what we say we would like to do and what we actually do.
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One reason for this gap is that it is hard to know what is sustainable and what is not. Food labels theoretically help consumers make informed decisions about what to purchase, but they can be difficult to navigate. We hope these guidelines will make your next trip to the grocery store a little less intimidating.

Food Labels to Know

We analyzed labels based on four criteria:

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• Good for health: Food is nutritionally sound and produced without synthetic pesticides.
• Good for the planet: Foods that products produce less carbon emissions and have less negative impacts on land and water resources.
• Good for animals: Foods are produced taking the full lifecycle of the animal into account (e.g. humane treatment, animal food, etc).
• Good for workers: Foods are prodcued with positive worker health and quality of life (e.g. less exposure to pesticides and a liveable wage).

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USDA Organic

Most important for produce, meat, and dairy. Good for people, planet, animals, and workers.

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The USDA Organic indicates that a product is free from synthetic pesticides, growth hormones, and antibiotics. USDA Organic does not necessarily mean the product is healthier, causes less emissions, or that the producer kept strict ethical guidelines for animal products.

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USDA Organic is one of the most important labels to look for because the products under this label are kept to rigorous standards that take steps to preserve the health of ecosystems and the farmers who harvest the food.

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USDA Organic foods support all four categories in that it protects people, the planet, animals, and workers from harmful chemicals. However, USDA Organic does not account for fair worker wages, humane treatment of animals, or nutrient value. Look for other labels alongside USDA Organic  Fair Trade to ensure your purchase aligns with your values.
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Buying organic is especially important for the dirty dozen: strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, potatoes, and hot peppers. Look for this label in the produce, dairy, and meat section (for meat and dairy, consider additional labels like “certified humane”).

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Fair for Life or Fair Trade

For coffee and chocolate. Good for workers.

Fair for Life products guarantee safe working conditions on farms and prohibit child labor and harassment (similar to Fair Trade). Producers place a premium price on these products to benefit the community from which they were developed and ensure farm workers not only receive a livable wage, but that their quality of life is good.

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Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the equator, or the “bean belt” and is often grown in suboptimal conditions for farmers and associated communities. Similarly, 70% of the world’s cacao is grown in four West Africa countries and worker pay is not commensurate to chocolate profits.

Look for the Fair for Life or Fair Trade label when you purchase coffee and chocolate to ensure your purchase helps improve the life of the farmers around the world.

Animal Welfare Approved and Certified Humane

For animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy. Good for people and animals.

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While the exact criteria of these labels slightly, both require animals to live in comfortable conditions and without unnecessary inhumane practices, like docking pigs’ tails.

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Nearly 60% of the world agriculture land is used for beef production. If you eat meat, one way to reduce your impact is to choose products that protect the land that animals graze on.

Animal Welfare Approved is the top rated animal welfare label. ‍Products with these labels are from animals who live and graze outside, in pastures, away from pesticides. Look for this label in your meat and dairy section. These animal products are good for both animals and for you because an animal free from pesticides is a human free from pesticides.

Like Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane requires animals to live in comfortable conditions, however the requirements are less restricted. For example, farmers still trim hen’s beaks to keep them from pecking one another to death. Under the Animal Welfare Approved label, they likely would have enough space that trimming beaks would not be necessary.

The Certified Humane label is especially helpful when choosing eggs since “cage free” and “free range” do not necessarily mean the laying hens are raised outdoors.

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Seafood Watch Labels

For aquatic foods. Good for the you, the planet, and workers.

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Seafood Watch labels help take human and planet health and worker wages into account. While you will not see these labels on your seafood at the grocery store, Seafood Watch provides consumer guidelines based on location to help you make better decisions.

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Americans eat 16 pounds of fish per year. Pescatarian diets produce less carbon emissions than diets consisting primarily of meat and dairy. Eating fish has positive health benefits too. Fish contain good fats like Omega-3 and tend to lower blood pressure and risk of heart attacks.

Unfortunately, this does not mean all sea products are sustainable. For example, farm-raised shrimp creates wastewater that in turn wreck’s havoc on our ocean’s ecosystem. Ocean aquaculture, while not always bad, can negatively impact open water fishermen's ability to earn a living wage.

Download the Seafood Watch Guide or App to choose seafood that is good for you, the planet, and workers.

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Food Labels to Ignore

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GMO and Non-GMO

Almost all of our food is genetically modified, and it’s not necessarily “bad”

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Nearly all the food we eat has been genetically modified. The label exists due to public pressure, not because the label indicates substantial health benefits. We suggest ignoring the non-GMO label.

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Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs, are largely accepted as a safe way to feed the growing world population and deliver essential nutrients to communities who otherwise would not have access to good food. About 90% of scientists believe GMOs are safe, and in 2016, over 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter to Greenpeace to “Quit the GMO-bashing.”

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100% Natural

Food products that are “natural” are not necessarily healthy or sustainable

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The 100% Natural label is about as useful as Non-GMO. The FDA Natural label means “nothing artificial or synthetic has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.” This label does not take food production or nutritional benefits into account.

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For example, fruit drinks might be 100% Natural but laden with sugar and produced in a way that strips soil of essential nutrients for future agriculture. We suggest ignoring this label.

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GrassFed

These animal products do not take the full production process into account

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The Grassfed label applies primarily to cows, but you may see it on other meat products too. It does not take the full production process into account and therefore does not necessarily mean humane treatment of the animal.

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In addition, grassfed means very little if it refers to large herds of cattle. In a system that overproduces cattle products, grassfed does not take into account the direct impact of cattle grazing on the land and water resources or their carbon emissions.