In Labels We Trust

Danielle Nierenberg, Food Tank president, contributed to this article.

How food certification labels, seals and standards can help eaters make better choices

Even before the pandemic, choosing what to eat was difficult. What’s healthy? What’s not? Do workers get a fair wage? What’s better for the planet? For eaters looking to purchase products that are fairly traded or BIPOC owned, it can feel exhausting to find delicious foods from producers they believe in.

Certification labels and standards can be useful and necessary ways to help consumers, but they’re often confusing. “Unfortunately, the burden is always on the consumer in terms of evaluating the veracity of the label, doing the research to see whether the information on these labels is properly supported and accurate,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, says.

Focusing on one issue helps, says Jerusha Klemperer of FoodPrint, an organization that educates consumers about food production practices. Decide which issue you’re most passionate about and look for a label that upholds those standards. Labels can help increase transparency and provide insight into how food was produced. They can help eaters vote with their wallets for food choices that support the environment, climate solutions, animal welfare, workers’ rights, and healthy and sustainable diets. But even conscientious eaters can get overwhelmed by the number of choices they face.

Choosing certified labels is a way to avoid empty claims, Klemperer says. But not all certification processes are created equal. Klemperer advises consumers to “do the research before you get to the store.”

PROTECTING WORKERS

In 2020, the World Economic Forum/Ipsos found that 86 percent of people want a significant change towards a more equitable and sustainable world post-pandemic.

Standards from the food sector are working to eliminate forced and child labor, improve workers’ conditions, promote gender equity and ensure better pay. Many fair-trade companies are helping growers shift to environmentally sustainable practices.

“While not a silver bullet, the Rainforest Alliance certification is designed to provide methods and a shared standard for creating a more transparent, data-driven, risk-based supply chain…to make responsible business the new normal,” says Alex Morgan from the Rainforest Alliance.

For foods from the United States, it’s more difficult to find companies upholding fair working conditions.

“Farm employees are still not equally protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act and do not have a federally protected right to a weekly day of rest, overtime pay, sick time, collective bargaining rights or even the right to a federal minimum wage on small farms,” says Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm, an Afro- Indigenous centered community farm in New York.

Rosalinda Guillen, founder of Community to Community, says the Food Justice Certified label by the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) is the most comprehensive label for protecting workers. “We call it the gold standard,” says Guillen, who has provided input on AJP’s certification since 2000. Her BIPOC-led organization fights for better farm working conditions. She trusts the label because farm workers were deeply involved in setting the standards from the beginning.

Soul Fire is one of just six farms using Food Justice Certified. And it’s advocating for the Fairness for Farm Workers Act. “The exploitation of farm labor is so deeply entrenched in the DNA of this nation that it can feel daunting to confront it, and yet we must,” says Penniman.

IS ALL NA TURAL MEANINGLESS?

One of the most familiar labels is all natural. It sounds good—even healthy—but it’s an empty marketing tool.

Klemperer says, “Ignore it.” Look for labels like USDA Certified Organic, which is two decades old. According to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic foods can be found in almost three out of every four conventional supermarkets.

To meet USDA standards, foods must be grown in soils that have not been treated with artificial fertilizers and pesticides for at least three years. And organic farmers cannot plant genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Newer labels, like the Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) label, encourage farmers to further improve animal welfare, fairness for farm workers and soil health. The label’s three-tiered system allows producers to earn bronze, silver or gold certification to incentivize action.

This label is also designed to be adaptable. “As science and culture morph and change, we can incorporate that into a flexible or dynamic standard that can adjust at that level,” explains Jeff Moyer, CEO of the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit group dedicated to growing the organic movement.

NON-GMO LABELS DEMY STIFIED

Many growers avoid GMOs without using USDA Certified Organic practices. GMO products are derived from plants and animals, the genetic makeup of which has been altered, often to create resistance to pesticides, herbicides and pests.

Consumers can look for the Non-GMO Project Verified label, which indicates that produce or products containing fruits and vegetables are not produced with GMOs. For meat and dairy products, this label means that animals were fed a non-GMO diet.

In 2022, products containing GMOs must use a new Bio-Engineered label from the USDA. But some non-GMO advocates argue this label doesn’t go far enough. Many products derived from new modification techniques, including those having undergone CRISPR gene editing and crops meant for animal feed, will be exempt from the label.

HUMANE LABELING

“I think everybody cares about animals and nobody wants to see animals suffer unnecessarily,” says Ben Goldsmith of Farm Forward, a nonprofit striving to improve farm animal welfare. It can be easy for us to imagine ideal scenarios—healthy animals that are free to roam in open pastures—but unfortunately, Goldsmith explains, few animals are raised this way.

According to the nongovernmental organization, Food and Water Watch, 1.6 billion farm animals live on 25,000 factory farms, or concentrated animal feeding operations, in the U.S. These animals face overcrowded and stressful conditions and are regularly subject to physical alterations like tail docking and beak clipping.

To avoid meats from animals subject to inhumane practices, look for the Certified Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) label. Farmers and ranchers qualifying for certification cannot use cages, must provide access to pastures and must ensure animals are treated humanely when they are bred, transported and slaughtered. Producers may also add a Certified Grass-fed label to this certification, meaning animals were fed a 100 percent grass and forage diet. Goldsmith says he appreciates the AWA label because it helps to “support and encourage small producers.”

Another label is Certified Humane from Humane Farm Animal Care. Minimum space allowances and environmental enrichment must be provided for animals raised under Certified Humane standards. That encompasses the treatment of breeding animals, animals during transport and animals at slaughter.

These labels are better for animals—and farmers can find them more rewarding. “You get to see animals exhibit natural behaviors,” says Ron Mardesen, a livestock farmer for Niman Ranch, a beef, pork and lamb company with Certified Humane products.

For products like eggs, terms like humane raised, free range and hormone free sound good, but lack a clear definition. The U.S. prohibits the use of hormones in all poultry, veal, eggs, bison and pork production, so claims of hormone free don’t mean much.

AWA, Certified Humane and USDA Certified Organic labeling standards prohibit the use of antibiotics and synthetic hormones in animal production. Consumers looking to buy meat products raised without these inputs should buy certified labels.

SOMETHING FISHY

The seafood sector is rife with labor exploitation, overfishing, ecosystem damage, fraud and intentional mislabeling. Mark Kaplan, of the company Envisible, calls the challenges in the industry “appalling.”

Envisible works to make supply chains more transparent and equitable. Using blockchain, the company can trace a product from a fishing vessel all the way to the supermarket. Data entered at every point along the supply chain cannot be changed, helping eliminate fraud.

Kaplan recommends consumers look for the Global Seafood Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices label, a third-party certification that addresses environmental health, social wellbeing, food safety and animal welfare along the aquaculture supply chain.

The Fair-Trade Certified seal, a label given to various species of fish that meet certification requirements, is also helpful. Certification focuses on supporting economies, improving working conditions and protecting ecosystems.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is a tool to help guide more sustainable choices on a case-by-case basis. Its website allows users to search by species to understand the best options and alternatives, and which species to avoid.

CARBON LABELING

According to Nature Food, more than one-third of greenhouse gas emissions can be traced to the food system. Many eaters are seeing this connection between global agriculture and the climate crisis, and they want to purchase more climate-friendly food. Some businesses are seeing labels as part of the solution.

Numi Organic Tea has Climate Neutral Certification. It helps companies measure, offset and reduce their carbon emissions to reach carbon neutrality—a balance between the amount of carbon emitted into and absorbed by the atmosphere. Climate Neutral also tries to account for the entirety of the supply chain—emissions caused by on-site facilities, purchased electricity, employee transit, shipping and transporting materials.

Instead of specific products, Climate Neutral certifies entire brands once they achieve zero net carbon emissions for one year and requires them to commit to emission reduction targets annually. Jane Franch of Numi prefers this approach. She believes that allowing companies to label individual products as carbon neutral “can give a green halo to that company without necessarily committing to or investing in enterprise level change.”

Numi plans to print on each tea box the precise estimate of greenhouse gas emissions associated with it—something Oatly and Quorn are currently also doing with their packaging.

UNWRAPPING LABELS

Emily Moose, executive director of the nonprofit A Greener World, argues that it’s important for consumers to continually ask for sustainable products. “It can be easy to just say, ‘Oh, there’s too much, it’s too overwhelming, it might not matter.’ But that’s really not true,” says Moose. “That only benefits an opaque food system and practices that will never improve.”

If you care about workers, speak with store managers about carrying products with AJP’s label. For environmental concerns, email store buyers to let them know you’re happy they purchase organic or local products but wish they had more.

And eaters don’t always need labels to do the right thing. BIPOC and women-owned businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Consumers can look to local farmers’ markets or Yelp and Google for businesses with a Black-owned or women-led badge.

Ultimately, labels and certifications are helpful tools, but don’t tell us everything about how food is produced. As eaters, though, we have the opportunity, every time we pick up a fork, chopsticks or a spoon, to choose more economically, socially and environmentally just food systems.

Closing Thoughts From Our Founder

Thank you for joining us on these pages, the fourth in a series of thought leadership pieces from Edible Communities. We would like to send a special thanks to our partners for this issue, Elena Seeley, Danielle Nierenberg and the team at Food Tank, who made this story possible.

Exploring, investigating and changing our food system have been guiding principles of Edible Communities since we first began. And while I know our work has impact and is valued, there is still a lot more to do! In the case of labeling, for instance, it would be so easy if there were one label, one certification, one set of guidelines, one choice to make when it comes to our food, but alas, only one option would allow a broken food system to stay broken. Therefore, we hope you find this thought-provoking and thorough coverage on the topic informative and useful.

As you are reading this, Edible Communities is fully into our 20th anniversary year as a media company. We are approaching 100 titles throughout North America and reach over 20 million readers each year. Those are statistics we don’t take lightly. We are grateful for you, dear readers, who help guide and sustain us. And if you’re an Edible reader, we feel you will enjoy being a Food Tank reader as well. Part of its mission statement says: “We aim to educate, inspire, advocate and create change,” and it certainly does that. I encourage you to visit foodtank.com, to listen, learn, join and be part of the conversation.

Tracey Ryder, Co-Founder & CEO
Edible Communities