Whole foods are now heralded by leading nutritional authorities as the most effective dietary approach. This intensive course—with two additional trainings this year—includes in-depth diagnostic methods that assist you in making custom nutrition and lifestyle plans. You will be shown how to recognize imbalance and restore harmony, using the principles and information in Paul Pitchford’s classic text, Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition.

In addition to a wealth of nutritional information, this intensive features training that opens one’s mind to the experience of life force healing energy (Qi) and to the guidance by our highest intelligence (Spirit), creating a sense of unity in all aspects of life. This program is based on the assumption that to succeed in whole foods nutrition, mindful awareness must merge with diet so that one’s attitude, desires, and emotions support quality food choices.

From Healing with Whole Foods .com

Which eggs should I buy for my family –– “cage free,” “free range,” or “natural”? What about beef –– “organic,” “hormone free,” or “grass fed”? If you feel overwhelmed by the growing number of labels on the meat and dairy products in grocery stores, you are not alone. Driven by consumers’ growing concern about food safety, the food industry is labeling its products with more and more claims about how it produces what we eat.

Unfortunately, not all labels are created equal. The increasingly abundant information and claims on food labels should help us navigate the maze of choices, but, in reality, they often leave us wondering just how to sort it all out. This guide is designed to help by going behind the scenes to explain what these labels really tell you (or don’t tell you.)

Before we get into specifics about the different labels you see on meat, dairy and eggs, here are a few general recommendations.

Some labels describe one aspect of meat or dairy products (“cage free”) while others make multiple claims, typically through a certification program (“organic”). The only government certification is the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic seal. Although private programs also certify meat and dairy products, the quality of their standards can vary. For example, some private animal welfare certifications are operated by advocacy organizations that select advisory boards to establish detailed standards, while other animal welfare labels are less forthcoming about the basis for their label. This variation means that consumers have to do their homework in order to distinguish between food produced using sustain-able methods and products of industrial agriculture that might be trying to cash in on consumer’s good intentions.

So if a grocery chain or food brand claims its product is approved by some agency or meets some impressive sounding standard, go to the company’s website and look for more information. Find out who sponsors the certifying agency and consider potential conflicts of interest with the funding sources. Look to see if the standards are well explained. If not, contact the customer service department and request the certification criteria.

In addition to researching labels, it’s important to prioritize which aspects of meat, dairy and egg production are most important to you. Do you care about animal welfare, antibiotic and hormone use, access to pasture, farm size, food miles, labor standards or all of the above? Look for the labels that will guide you to products that best match your priorities. This may not result in the perfect product that meets all of your ideals, but it should help you minimize the paralysis that results from label–reading overload.

And there are a few pieces of information are common to all meat, dairy, and egg product packaging:

All USDA–inspected meat and poultry (the vast majority of the meat in grocery stores) should have a USDA seal of inspection and a code for the producing establishment.
Many meat and egg labels have a grade (such as USDA Grade A beef or Jumbo eggs). This is a quality ranking performed by USDA employees or by company employees under USDA supervision. Product grades give information about the quality and size of the product, not how it was produced.
This guide divides common labels for meat, dairy and eggs into three categories according to how much information they provide.

From Food and Water Watch