Food Quality Guide
Understanding Food Labels
This course emphasizes the importance of quality foods and ingredients. With numerous health claims on labels, it can be challenging to navigate through them all. To make better food choices for your health, it's helpful to understand what these terms mean. While whole foods without labels are ideal, it may not always be realistic. Being aware of these terms will assist you in making the best choices based on your needs and means.
Produce
- Good: Local or organic
- Great: Local AND organic
- Excellent: Local, organic, and seasonal!
Look for local and seasonal produce at farmer's markets, farm stands, and most supermarkets. Refer to the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists for guidance on when to prioritize buying organic produce and when conventional options are acceptable.
Seafood
- Good: Humanely Harvested
- Great: Wild Caught
- Excellent: Wild Fish
Differentiate between "wild fish" and "wild-caught." Wild fish means the fish lived its entire life in the wild, while "wild-caught" may indicate that they spent a portion of their life in a fish farm before being released into the wild. Larger fish are more likely to be contaminated with heavy metals and toxins. Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch website for more information: Seafood Watch
Eggs & Poultry
- Good: Cage-Free, organic
- Great: Free range and organic
- Excellent: Pasture-raised and local
"Pasture-raised" indicates that the chickens are free to roam in their natural environment, consuming their natural diet of grasses, bugs, and plants. This is the cleanest and most humane option for eggs and poultry.
Dairy
- Good: Grass-fed
- Great: Raw or unpasteurized
- Excellent: Grass-fed, raw, and unpasteurized
When consuming dairy, opt for full-fat and high-quality products. For assistance in finding raw milk near you, visit Real Milk's Raw Milk Finder.
Understanding these labels will help you make informed choices when shopping for food.