Elite meat

Natural, Free-range, Grass-fed, No growth hormones, No antibiotics added.

The many names for livestock and poultry raised outside the industrial farm system can perplex shoppers. They pay more for such products than conventional ones in the belief they are healthier and better for the environment. But the nomenclature is meaningless unless consumers know exactly how the meat is produced.

" 'Natural' is virtually a meaningless word," says Amiel Cooper, who produces organic beef from his herd of Charolais cattle in South Newfane, Vt. "People aren't aware of the different terms in the labeling of beef; it's very confusing."

The new green USDA "organic" stickers are the shoppers' only guarantee that the meat they buy meets federal organic standards that took effect last October. To qualify for the stickers, growers must raise animals without antibiotics or growth hormones, must give animals chemical-free grass or feed, and must treat them humanely.

So far, however, ranchers have not rushed to win certification, even though food purity and security are reportedly rising public concerns. Less than 1 percent of all livestock and poultry raised in the United States is organic, according to the 2001 USDA census, the most recent government data available.

The pressure may be growing. Concern over antibiotics recently prompted McDonald's to tell its direct suppliers, who provide 20 percent of all its beef and most of its poultry, to stop using antibiotics by the end of 2004. The new policy won't affect antibiotics used to treat sick animals.

But some ranchers say they face too many obstacles to go organic and remain profitable. "We want to be organic, but we'd have to hire someone to do the paperwork, pay twice the price for organic feed, and find a certified slaughterhouse that would take a small amount of animals," says Jon Konove, a Brimfield, Mass., rancher who produces what he calls "premium natural" beef from his herd of Black Angus and Hereford cattle.

Mr. Konove's River Rock Farm ground beef already commands between $4.50 and $5 a pound at local farmer's markets. "If we ask customers to pay more [for organic meat], we'd price ourselves out of the ball game," he says.

Other ranchers share Konove's skepticism about organic meat boosting sales. "It's easier for people to understand a radish or broccoli that's organic than meat," says Mr. Cooper.

Overall, the organic-food market has reportedly grown by as much as 20 percent a year since 1990. Sales of organic meat have recently grown at a faster rate - about 30 percent a year, according to Barbara Haumann, spokeswoman for the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass. But meat and meat products, Ms. Haumann says, still represent only about 4 percent of total organic-food production. [Editor's note: The original version of this story misstated the rate of organic-meat sales.]

In 1997, certified organic livestock in the US totalled 18,500 animals; organic poultry added up to less than 1 million, according to the USDA. Four years later, the totals were 71,200 and more than 5 million, respectively.

"There's been a huge amount of growth in organic livestock since 1997," says Catherine Greene, an agricultural economist with the USDA in Washington. "But it's still a tiny part of the overall organic market."

Specialty-store shelves are more likely to stock "natural" meat products than organic. "The organic meat supply isn't really there," says Craig Nelson, assistant meat buyer for Andronico's, a chain of high-end supermarkets in California. "Customer requests for natural outweigh those for organic, and the higher price [for organic] is a factor, too."

While no government sticker or label certifies meats and poultry as "natural" or "grass-fed," federal officials say they are working to protect shoppers. "Labels must be approved before they're applied to products to ensure they are truthful, accurate, and not misleading," says Robert Post, director of the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service's labeling program.

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