Is Natural a Food Definition?

Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. The food industry has adopted the word because it has a favorable connotation with consumers.                     

It could generally mean food that has not been processed in a factory. Organic may be a more specific definition when speaking of produce. Organic and natural are the same but organic would mean food was not sprayed with harmful insecticides.  Local farmers tell me they use fertilizers and sprays approved as non harmful and still call foods organic.

Meat is a much different story. It would be immoral to call animals raised in factory type conditions in closed spaces and mostly on grain, natural. They are also given hormones to speed up the growth process and then anti-biotics because of the problem incurred from close quarters and eating only grains.

Some meat producers start adding the term natural if they, for instance, give otherwise closed up chickens a door to the outside to feed on a square patch of grass.  The term then gets very general when applied to those who raise animals by feeding mostly on grass in outdoor and pasture environments.

They want to include the word natural because of the good connotation and acceptance. Their animals may be fed on grass when there is no snow and then often fattened up and tenderized with grain at the end of the harvest. Even animal producers will say that beef or other meats raised entirely on grass does not taste as good to the average consumer.

So fully grass fed animals are called natural and growers who give their animals access to grass sometimes will call their meat natural. If you are particular, you have to investigate the details. Websites for natural meats will be very explicit.

Animal types that are frequently grown by small producers and raised natural, grass fed, and organically are beef, buffalo, goat, venison, lamb, and chickens. These producers will talk about land sustainability by not using pesticides or fertilizers that will get into the water system.  They also point out that animals are humanely handled and harvested as opposed to some brutal factory processes.

A typical advertisement for natural grass fed meat is found on this buffalo site which  claims its beef is (http://wildideabuffalo.com/?gclid=CJfasMbHhK4CFaYaQgodCznX2Q)

• 100% grass-fed only
• 100% antibiotic & hormone free
• 100% free roaming
• 100% non-confined
• 100% humanely field harvested

These natural meats are availabe to anyone, but the costs are greatly increased by the specialized dry ice shipping and containers required.  It becomes more economical when you can order half an animal.  In some communities these grass fed animals are ordered by local markets and restaurants.

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