Glossay

• Animal welfare – Definitions vary. According to the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), the welfare of animals depends on their freedom from hunger and thirst (with ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor); from discomfort (by providing an appropriate environment with shelter and a resting area); from pain, injury, and disease (by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment); to express normal behavior (by providing sufficient space, proper facilities, and company of the animal's own kind); and from fear and distress (by ensuring conditions and treatment that avoid mental suffering).¹> Various groups offer certification or seals of approval for producers in relation to their procedures for animal care, but standards vary. For example, with poultry, "Animal Welfare Approved" standards include that hens spend their adult lives outside and that beak cutting is prohibited while "Certified Humane" standards can apply to hens uncaged inside barns or warehouses without access to the outdoors and beak cutting is permitted.²
• Biodiversity – The sum total of all the plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms in a particular area; all of their individual variation; and all the interactions between them.³
• Cage free – Refers to hens that live outside of cages in barns or warehouses but usually without access to the outdoors.² Carbon footprint – A representation of the effect human activities have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases* produced (measured in units of carbon dioxide) .³ The term "greenhouse gases" is often used to refer to gases from natural sources and human activity that trap heat in the earth's atmosphere. The principal greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere because of human activity are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.⁴ *Greenhouse gases refer to atmospheric gases that absorb radiation and contribute to the greenhouse effect of trapping and reflecting heat to the earth's surface, thus contributing to global warming.
• Certified organic – A legal term used with agricultural products that are produced and processed in accordance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program (NOP) standards. Organic crops are raised without using most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Animals raised in an organic operation must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors, and they are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. NOP regulations prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge in organic production and handling. As a general rule, all natural (non-synthetic) substances are allowed in organic production and all synthetic substances are prohibited. For a product to be labeled "organic," a government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to local supermarkets or restaurants must be certified, too.^5-7 An online USDA handbook that gives guidance for certification is available at www.ams.usda.gov/NOPProgramHandbook.
• Crop rotation – The practice of growing a variety of crops in a sequential system throughout the field, with the intention of avoiding a buildup of diseases and pests associated with monocropping. Crop rotation promotes good soil health by alternating crops with different nutrient needs, therefore avoiding depletion of any one necessary element present in the soil. Crop rotation can also benefit overall soil structure by alternating deep and shallow rooting plants, breaking up subsoil, and reducing the effects of plow pan (that is, an impenetrable layer six to eight inches deep that crop roots typically can't grow through). Crop rotation is ancient in its use and is widely recognized as a cornerstone of good agricultural practice.^8-10
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) – A marketing and distribution arrangement whereby consumers support a farm by purchasing shares of produce or goods at the beginning of the season and receiving weekly shares of the farm's bounty as the foods become available. CSAs help ensure that farms have a market regardless of seasonal disturbances out of farmers' control. Additionally, these advance sales directly to community members provide the farmer with working capital in advance, and growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.³
• Ecological footprint – A measure of how much land and water is needed to produce the resources humans consume and to dispose of the waste they produce.³ The term "foodprint" is sometimes used to refer specifically to the ecological footprint of food collectively consumed by humans.
• Family farm – Definitions vary, but the term generally conveys an agricultural enterprise with majority control, ownership, and labor provided by a family (related by blood, marriage, or adoption)11 versus ownership and operation managed by an agribusiness corporation.¹² Family farms are seen as essential to the viability of rural communities, with family farmers buying most of their inputs from local suppliers and selling most of their products in local and regional markets and with many of the business enterprises in rural towns and small cities connected with these family farms.¹³
• Food miles – The distance food is transported from the place of its production until it reaches the consumer.³
• Free range/Free roaming – Terms used to identify poultry raised outside of cages in conditions that allow access to the outside.¹⁴ There are no specifics, however, as to the amount of time in a hen's lifespan nor the size of space in which the animal is allowed to roam out of doors.²
• Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) – An organism whose genetic material has been altered with genetic material from another (often unrelated) organism in order to produce certain traits or characteristics. The term "transgenic" is also used to refer to organisms that have acquired novel genes from other organisms by gene-transfer methods carried out in laboratories.¹⁵
• Grain-fed/Grain-finished – A descriptive term referring to beef from cattle moved to a feedlot approximately four to six months prior to slaughter where they are fed a diet that includes grain, a regimen that yields a more tender product.¹⁶
• Grass-fed – A term referring to beef from cattle that are fed grass and/or forage for the lifetime of the animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. Grass-fed animals cannot be fed grain or grain by-products and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season.¹⁷
• Herbicide-Free – Crops grown without the use of synthetic chemicals used to kill unwanted plants or weeds.
• Local foods – Definitions vary. Typically, the term refers to foods produced near their point of consumption, but there is no consensus as to what distances constitute "local."18 In general, local food refers to food that is produced, processed, and distributed within a particular geographic boundary that consumers associate with their own community.¹⁹
• Made in Wyoming - The Wyoming First Program is a way to identify and showcase products made in Wyoming. All Wyoming First companies call Wyoming home.²⁰
• Monoculture/Monocropping – The planting of genetically similar or uniform crop varieties over large tracts of land, sometimes without rotation to other crops in space or time. The risks associated with monoculture systems include a narrowing of the crop gene pool, resulting in greater vulnerability to pests , increased dependence on biocides to control pests, and loss of soil and silt buildup in waterways as a result of wind and water erosion in the absence of cover crops.²¹ Monoculture farming has advantages in terms of efficiency and ease of management, but the loss of the crop in any one year can put a farm out of business and/or seriously disrupt the stability of a community dependent on that crop. By growing a variety of crops, farmers spread economic risk and are less susceptible to the radical price fluctuations associated with changes in supply and demand.²²
• Natural (meat and poultry only) – There is no legal definition of "natural" for use with all foods, but in relation to meat and poultry labeling, the term may be used on a product that contains no artificial ingredients or added color and that is only minimally processed (that is, a process that does not fundamentally alter the raw product). The label must explain the use of the term natural (for example, no added colorings or artificial ingredients; minimally processed).¹⁴ The term has no bearing on the way the animal was raised or the food and additives that it was fed.
• No antibiotics (red meat and poultry only) – Claim that can be made about red meat and poultry with documentation that the animal was raised without the use of antibiotics. The label can read "no antibiotics added."¹⁴
• No hormones (beef only) – Claim that can be made about beef with documentation that the animal was raised without use of hormones. The label can read "no hormones administered." Because hormones are not allowed in raising hogs or poultry, "no hormones added" cannot be used on pork or poultry labels unless the label also states it is not allowable to raise pork or poultry with hormones, making it clear that such a claim on pork or poultry is for advertising only.¹⁴
• Pesticide-Free – Crops grown without the use of synthetic chemicals used to kill, prevent, or deter unwanted insects or pests.
• rBGH/rBST – Acronyms for recombinant bovine growth hormone/recombinant bovine somatotropin, synthetic growth hormones often used in dairy cattle to increase milk production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that no significant differences exist between milk derived from rBST-treated cows and untreated cows. Consequently, labels of products made from milk from cows not treated with rBST can make that claim, but to avoid misleading consumers, the label cannot imply a nutritional difference in those products compared to milk from cows treated with rBST.²³
• Seasonal – Refers to the natural growing time of produce that is picked at its natural peak of ripeness or flavor. Foods in season are often at their lowest price and highest nutritional value. Seasonal eating refers to planning meals and cooking in ways that use more foods in season than out of season (for example, eating more winter squash and less green salad in December and vice versa in June).
• Slow Food – A nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, and people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how their food choices affect the rest of the world. With supporters in 150 countries around the world, Slow Food is now global, including several local groups in Wyoming.²⁴
• Whole food – Food that is unprocessed and unrefined or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients such as sugar, salt, or fat. Examples include whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and unprocessed meat, poultry, and fish.²⁵

Approaches to Agriculture Based on Holistic Philosophies

• Agroecology – An environmentally and socially sensitive approach to the study of agriculture that focuses not only on production but also on the ecological sustainability of the production system.³
• Biodynamic farming – A concept, practice, and movement that arose out of the spiritual insights and perceptions of an early 20th century Austrian philosopher and scientist (Rudolf Steiner) who viewed horticulture as one facet of the connection among spirit, mind, and body. French intensive methods, including double-digging garden beds (made by loosening soil to a depth of two spade blades), are consistent with biodynamic techniques.³,²¹
• Integrated farm systems – The concept of viewing farms and the food production system as an integrated whole, allowing more efficient use of natural, economic, and social resources.³
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – An ecologically-based approach to pest (animal and weed) control that utilizes a multi-disciplinary knowledge of crop/pest relationships, establishment of acceptable economic thresholds for pest populations, and constant field monitoring for potential problems. Management may include such practices as the use of resistant varieties, crop rotation, cultural practices, optimal use of biological control organisms, certified seed, protective seed treatments, disease-free transplants or rootstock, timeliness of crop cultivation, improved timing of pesticide applications and removal or "plow down" of infested plant material.³
• Permaculture – Short for "permanent agriculture." An alternative agriculture system based on the goal of producing an efficient, low-maintenance integration of plants, animals, people and structure, applied at the scale of a home garden, all the way through to a large farm.³
• Sustainable agriculture – An integrated system of food production and distribution that satisfies human needs while enhancing environmental quality and efficiently using natural resources. Sustainable agriculture addresses the ecological, economic, and social phpects of agriculture. To be sustainable, agriculture can operate only when the environment, its caretakers, and surrounding communities are healthy.¹⁰

References

1. Voogd EL. Does Animal Welfare Affect Food Safety? Food Safety Magazine. February-March 2009 (vol. 15, no. 1); pp. 42-53.
2. Schardt D. Walking on Egg Shells. Keeping Eggs – and Hens – Safe. Nutrition Action Health Letter, September 2010.
3. USDA, National Agricultural Library. Publications – Sustainable agriculture: Definitions and terms. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/terms/srb9902terms.shtml. (Note: This Website documents original sources for terms.)
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Climate Change – Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Accessed 12/21/10 at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/index.html.
5. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program. Background information. Accessed 12/10/10 at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004443&acct=nopgeninfo
6. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program. Going Organic. Accessed 11/30/10 at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPGoingOrganic&description=Going%20Organic&acct=nopgeninfo.
7. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program. Organic Labeling and Marketing Information. Accessed 11/30/10 at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004446&acct=nopgeninfo.
8. National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. Western Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Farm Internship Curriculum and Handbook. Crop Rotation. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://attra.ncat.org/intern_handbook/crop_rotation.html.
9. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. The New American Farmer, 2nd ed. Accessed 12/10/10 at http://www.sare.org/publications/naf2/upton.htm.
10. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University. What is the Sustainable Ag? Accessed 11/30/10 at http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/about/sustainableag.htm.
11. USDA, Economic Research Service. Briefing Rooms – Farm Household Economics and Well-Being: Glossary. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/wellbeing/glossary.htm.
12. National Family Farm Coalition. Food from Family Farms Act. A proposal for the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.nffc.net/Learn/Fact%20Sheets/FFFA2007.pdf.
13. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Farming Opportunities and Fair Competition. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://sustainableagriculture.net/our-work/fo-fc/.
14. USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service. Fact Sheets: Food Labeling, Meat and Poultry Labeling Terms. Accessed 11/30/10 at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Meat_&_Poultry_Labeling_Terms/index.php.
15. USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Biotechnology – Glossary of Biotechnology Terms. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/biotech/res/biotechnology_res_glossary.html.
16. Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Explore Beef – Raising Beef – Beef Choices. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.explorebeef.org/beefchoices.phpx.
17. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service. Grading, Certification and Verification. Grass Fed Marketing Claim Standards. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=GrassFedMarketingClaimStandards&rightNav1=GrassFedMarketingClaimStandards&topNav=&leftNav=GradingCertificationandVerfication&page=GrassFedMarketingClaims&resultType=&acct=lss.
18. Martinez SW. 2010. Varied Interests Drive Growing Popularity of Local Foods. Amber Waves, December 2010. Accessed 11/30/10 at http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/December10/Features/LocalFoods.htm.
19. Martinez S, Hand M, Da Pra M, Pollack S, Ralston K, Smith T, Vogel S, Clark S, Lohr L, Low S, Newman C. Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Report No. (ERR-97) 87 pp, May 2010. Accessed 11/29/10 at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR97/ERR97.pdf, p. 51.
20. Made in Wyoming. Accessed 12/22/10 at http://www.wyomingfirst.org.
21. University of California at Santa Cruz, Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Environmental Issues in Modern Agriculture, unit 3.3, p. 6, accessed 12/10/10 at http://casfs.ucsc.edu/education/instructional-resources/downloadable-pdf-files; and Farm and Garden Projects, accessed 12/10/10 at http://casfs.ucsc.edu/about/history/farm-garden-projects.
22. University of California at Davis, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Accessed 12/2/10 at http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm.
23. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food. Voluntary Labeling of Milk and Milk Products from Cows that have not been treated with Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin. Accessed 12/10/10 at http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm059036.htm.
24. Slow Food. Accessed 12/1/10 at http://www.slowfood.com/
25. Wikipedia. Whole Foods. Accessed 12/2/10 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_food.