Concerns about food safety, the environment and farm animal welfare are prompting increasing numbers of consumers to seek out ethically produced food, including meat, dairy and eggs from humanely raised animals, even if it means paying more. A new survey from San Francisco-based Context Marketing shows that almost 70 percent of American food shoppers are willing to pay more for food that is safe, humane and environmentally sound.

Education, consumer advocacy and lifting the veil from the practices of industrialized agriculture are transforming shopping habits. Despite industry efforts, concern for farm animal welfare is gaining significant strength. The study finds that the importance of animals being humanely raised is exceeded only by food safety concerns, and animal welfare scores well above “natural” and “organically produced.” Consumers who have grown up more aware of how food is produced are intensifying the demand for meat, dairy and eggs from humanely raised animals: Forty-four percent of shoppers aged 20 to 34 always look for cage-free eggs.

Some of you will hopefully have read my previous blogs on the benefits of grassfed beef. In particular, the fact that grassfed beef is not only good for animal welfare and the environment, but that it is also better for our health.

While scientists have now shown that cattle from feedlots are much more likely to carry the deadly E. coli O157:H7 (along with other unsavory food poisoning bugs), they have also conducted studies which found that cattle fed forage and grass diets did not carry E. coli pathogens that are known to be harmful to humans. So supporting grassfed beef operations – as championed by Animal Welfare Approved – is a great way to help ensure that America’s beef supply is better for the environment, as well as safer and healthier for you.

But here at AWA we are often asked if other naturally farmed products, such as pasture-raised eggs, are also better for our health. The good news is that scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports our argument that pasture-raised is better for you.

Most people have heard the old saying “a bit of dirt never hurt anyone.” When my kids were little and they dropped a piece of apple on the floor, I would run it under the tap for a second or two before passing it back to them for a (usually unsuccessful) second attempt to eat it. I did it almost without thinking–instinctively perhaps. And I remember my parents doing the same for me–and no doubt my grandparents did exactly the same for my parents when they were young.

Of course, the underlying principle here arguably has its roots in basic human biology: the more germs we are exposed to when we are younger, the stronger our immune systems are in later life. And this very same principle extends to the way many of us choose to farm.

People who eat meat are putting aside their cookbooks to explore the very beginning of meat preparation—slaughtering and butchering. OregonLive.com’s recent article “Conscious Carnivores, Ethical Butchers are Changing Food Culture” is a great look at the burgeoning movement to get really hands-on with your meat. People are signing up in droves to learn to butcher meat themselves and to learn about the slaughter process so that they can be assured their meat really comes from humanely raised animals. Of course, this is music to our ears—AWA has long advocated for the highest birth-to-slaughter standards and believes people should be well-educated about every step of the production process. Thoroughly knowing how meat gets from farm to table is the responsibility of everyone who enjoys a grassfed hamburger or pastured bacon.

Organic Pastures is a fourth generation, family owned and operated, vertically integrated organic farming operation. Their Grade A dairy is 100% organic and 100% pasture-based. Mark, Aaron, and Kaleigh McAfee, who work respectively as Founder and CEO, Operations Manager, and Marketing Manager, value the high quality of milk that comes from a humanely managed herd. Organic Pastures cows are never confined to feedlots and always graze freely on abundant grass pastures.

Kallan Maxwell received his first introduction to organic farming as a child. He recalls, “Dean Swenson, an organic farmer for 25 years, had a farm up the road from my parent’s house. When I was 12 years old he knocked at our door and said he needed help unloading hay. So I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll unload hay.’ I thought I was tougher than I was and I made it through about a load and a half and I had to quit. Dean gave me a hard time so I thought well, I’ll show him.” Kallan began working for Dean after school and fell in love with farming and working with the animals. He knew that someday he was going to have a farm of his own.

For most of human history, our relationship with cattle has been about the foods they produce: milk, meat and cheese. Today, a new bovine “product” has captured our interest and may indeed affect the future production of the others. This new product is gas.

Cow burps are the most recent in the list of accused contributors to global warming from the livestock sector. However, a simple measurement of methane production does not tell the whole story. A new report by the Soil Association reevaluates greenhouse gas production in agriculture, taking into account the grazing system – not just the “end product.”

This controversy erupted in recent years as figures emerged about agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. As we discussed in our November 16, 2009 blog, “Beware of Bad Science,” grassfed cattle actually produce fewer emissions than those finished in feedlots, simply because of the carbon sequestration in their pasture-based systems. The new Soil Association report confirms this and adds new data to support the position.

We wish you and your families a happy holiday season.

As another season of farming and caring for their animals and land draws to a close, we would like to offer a sincere thank you to the visionary farmers in our program who provide us with better food raised a better way. We are only as strong as our farmers and they are an amazing group!

To the people who support them, and to everyone working to create a better food system for the mutual benefit of our shared environment, farm animals, and ultimately for ourselves, we offer our thanks for your dedication and encouragement.

In response to many ongoing requests asking whether Animal Welfare Approved products are available in Whole Foods Market stores, the answer is YES!

This holiday season, in addition to purchasing your AWA meat directly from the farm, CSA, farmers’ markets, co-ops, or buying clubs, you can shop at more than 130 Whole Foods Market locations and find Animal Welfare Approved grassfed beef and pastured pork products.

While Animal Welfare Approved farmers supply numerous Whole Foods Market locations, typically it has been difficult for consumers to find Animal Welfare Approved products at these stores because most AWA products will lack the familiar AWA label. And since Whole Foods Market stores offer a variety of meat products from a host of different sources, consumers need to ask for Animal Welfare Approved products by the specific farm or farm group where the animals were raised on pasture or range.

In a major move for the Obama administration, the US Department of Justice (Antitrust Division) and the US Department of Agriculture have opened an investigation into whether any illegal monopolies exist among the dominant agricultural companies. The focus is primarily on three sectors: seed companies, beef packing and dairy.

With a history of exemption from antitrust regulation the industry as a whole has become extremely concentrated. For instance, the the top four beefpacking companies currently control 83.5% of the market. As part of this investigation, a series of public workshops will be held across the country. Read on for dates and locations, as well as information about submitting comments online or by mail.