Lucid Food_ Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life - Louisa Shafia [13]
BIODYNAMIC
The label “biodynamic,” which you will see on food as well as wine labels, refers to a method of agriculture that is much more stringent than what the USDA requires for organic certification. It is a highly developed approach to growing that calls for raising animals and plants on the same farm, using the stars to determine the planting and harvesting calendar, and applying only natural preparations for weed control and fertilization. Many of the practices used in biodynamic farming sound like witchcraft to modern ears, such as making a compost preparation from oak bark that has been placed inside the skull of a domesticated animal and buried underground. But studies have shown that certified biodynamic farms tend to have highly fertile soil, and their environmental track record is usually outstanding.
CAGE FREE
This is a marketing term applied to eggs from chickens that have been raised in open barns instead of battery cages and that have continuous access to the outdoors. This is not a term defined by the USDA, so it is not regulated, and farms that claim to be cage free are not inspected. “Access to the outdoors” can mean that there is one small door for thousands of hens, or that the outdoor area is a concrete lot. According to the Humane Society, a cage free environment is a step up from cages, but it basically means that thousands of chickens are crammed into an open space rather than in individual cages, so it doesn’t ensure sanitary conditions or a cruelty-free environment.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
The website www.carbonfootprint.com defines the term as “a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation, etc.” For example, if someone eats a lot of meat, drives a gas-guzzling car, chooses old-growth wood products for home furnishings, and leaves the air-conditioning on when not at home, that person will have a larger carbon footprint. The “footprint” is a convenient image for measuring an individual’s environmental impact, and for figuring out ways to make it smaller.
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
In a Community Supported Agriculture plan, known as a CSA, members pay a fee to join a farm, and in return receive a weekly box of food. CSA members invest in the farm with their membership money, so the farmer has start-up funds to begin the season. The “share boxes” are the return on the investment. When joining a CSA, it’s possible to buy into just one farm, or a group of farms, so members can conceivably get produce, eggs, dairy, and meat all from one CSA. There are more than two thousand CSAs in the United States, mostly serving urban centers. For help finding a CSA in your area, see the Resources section.
CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS (CAFO)
This is the official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) term for large factory farms where animals are stocked in high density. Since their inception, CAFOs have been widely criticized for their treatment of animals. Recently, however, the CAFO system has been identified as one of the worst environmental offenders, and as a major culprit responsible for endangering the food supply. The huge amounts of corn and soy grown to feed animals in CAFOs—a drastic altering of their natural diet—account for a large percentage of the petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides used in this country.
Antibiotics are routinely used in livestock feed, bringing