Organic or not??? That is the question.

Should I spend more to buy organic animal products? Some would say YES some would say it doesn't matter. Let's get down to the facts. If you are purchasing meat say from a local grocery store, it is nicely packaged and a good price... do you EVER think about where it came from and what the animal had to endure to become our next meal?? Well, even thinking about it for me made me do a bit of research, which is WIDELY available online. There are many, many meat manufactures that DO NOT treat the animals with any sort of care. They are fed steroids and hormones to make them grow fatter and produce more meat. This in turn is extremely uncomfortable for the animals and can even cause them to not be able to walk. They are herded into small, confined places and killed. The quality of life for these poor animals is unbelievably miserable and it is all so that we can grill a hamburger on the 4th of July. A lot of the ground beef that you find in the store is a mixture of 1000's of different all ground together...tasty!

If you don't have a weak stomach I suggest watching Food Inc. You will see first hand how cows, chickens, hens and pigs are treated in some manufacturing plants. Now these movies do have a lot of shock value but there is defiantly some truth to it. Even if one manufacture out there was treating animals this way, I would avoid conventional meat at all cost just to be sure that I didn't eat one of these defenseless animals. So what can WE do about it? Short of going to congress and trying to convince them to have stronger laws in regards to this we can do one thing. Buy from a farmer that has the best interest of the animals in mind. This is widely available in this day and age. Again, Whole Foods is a great place to purchase meat that you can be certain is safe and that the animals you eat are being treated fairly. In this concern for my family it is about our health but also about the animals.

You can also buy Organic chicken and ground beef at Costco. I have researched these brands, they are not as strict as Whole Foods but it is better than nothing.

Now keep in mind that it is more expensive to eat organic meat, it in fact INFURIATES me that we have to pay more to make sure what we are eating is NOT TORTURED! ARG! However, you have to decide for yourself if this is a sacrifice that you are willing to make for your family.

I suggest doing a lot of research on your own.

Here is what you will find at the Whole Foods meat counter. They always have certain things on sale so you can always plan your meals around those items. The same goes for seafood!!!

Animal Welfare

At Whole Foods Market, we're dedicated to helping you make informed choices about the food you eat. It's often easy to forget that the burger, steak or drumstick on your plate was once an animal. How was that animal raised? How was it treated? Where did it come from? What about added hormones and antibiotics? Was its growth artificially accelerated to get to market sooner and reduce feed cost? We are committed to answering these questions.

The 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Standards

We've chosen to partner with Global Animal Partnership to certify our producers' animal welfare practices. We're rolling out their 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Standards in every Whole Foods Market store in the United States and Canada.

Global Animal Partnership is a non-profit organization dedicated to continually improving the lives of farm animals. They have developed the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards that rate how pigs, chickens and cattle are raised for meat. Standards for other species (turkeys, lambs and others) are in development, so stay tuned and be sure to look for Global Animal Partnership 5-Step ratings the next time you stop by our meat department.

It's important to note that getting to Step 1 is a great accomplishment! Step 1 requires more from our farmers and ranchers than we have ever asked before. The Step ratings are assigned by independent third-party certifiers using auditors trained by Global Animal Partnership.

Look for this rating system when you choose our beef, pork or chicken. It's your way of knowing how the animals were raised for the meat you are buying.

See our Frequently Asked Questions about the 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Standards.

Step 1 No crates, no cages	Step 2 Enriched environment	Step 3 Enhanced outdoor access	Step 4 Pasture centered	Step 5 Animal centered; all physical alterations prohibited	Step 5+ Animal centered; entire life on same farm
Animals live their lives with space to move around and stretch their legs.	Animals are provided with enrichments that encourage behavior that's natural to them — like a bale of straw for chickens to peck at, a bowling ball for pigs to shove around, or a sturdy object for cattle to rub against.	Pigs and chickens might live in buildings but they all — yes, each and every one of them — have access to outdoor areas.	When living outdoors, chickens get to forage, pigs get to wallow and cattle get to roam.	Animals get to live their whole lives with all the body parts they were born with.	Animals raised to Step 5+ standards must be born and live their entire lives on one farm.