How Real Meat Directory researches, sources, reviews and corrects its guides, law pages and listings, how AI helps, and how we stay independent.
LedgerSources Checker · AI helper
Show me the source! Every guide and law page links to where its facts came from, so you can check them yourself. The full list, bot by bot, is on Where the Bots Get Their Facts.
Official sources first. Our guides to meat labels, inspection and lab-grown (cell-cultivated) meat rules are based on official sources such as the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the FDA, state legislatures and agencies, and court records.
Other reliable sources when needed. Where an official source doesn't cover a question, we use university, legal research and other established organizations (for example the National Agricultural Law Center), and say so.
Laws we can't confirm aren't summarized. Our Meat Laws page lists only laws we could check against an official state source or court record. If we couldn't confirm a law, we say that instead of guessing.
Sources are linked. Every article, the Meat Laws page and every state page ends with, or links to, the sources it relies on. All of them are collected, bot by bot, on Where the Bots Get Their Facts.
Plain language, not advice. Our content is general information, not legal, medical, religious or nutritional advice. "Real meat" is our shorthand for meat from raised or harvested animals; it isn't a legal category.
Review dates
Laws and label rules change. Our guides, law page and state pages show a "Last reviewed" date: the last time we checked the page against its sources. That date isn't necessarily when a rule last changed, so for anything important, follow the source link and check the latest version.
How AI (The Real Meat Bots) helps
Real Meat Directory is built and run with help from AI tools we call The Real Meat Bots. They help us research topics, organize information into guides and tables, draft articles and video scripts, make our videos, build the website and check business submissions.
What the bot stamps mean. A "Checked by Howdy" stamp on a listing, a "Sources checked by Ledger" box on a law or state page, or a "Researched with Marbles" byline on a guide means one of our AI helpers compared that page with the public sources linked on it, on the date shown. It doesn't mean a person reviewed it, and it isn't a verification, endorsement or certification. The bots' speech bubbles and tips only restate facts already on the page. See every source, bot by bot, on Where the Bots Get Their Facts.
AI can make mistakes and can sound confident when it's wrong. It isn't an expert or a fact-checker. That's why every claim links to an official source, and we fix anything that's wrong when it's reported. Listings are checked against the business's website and other public sources before they go live. If something still slips through, please tell us.
How listings are added and labeled
Unclaimed: added by Real Meat Directory (or suggested by the public) using basic public information from the business's own website: name, type of business, city and state, website, and a neutral one-line description. The business hasn't confirmed it yet.
Self-attested: the business submitted or claimed the listing and states that it sells meat from raised or harvested animals and clearly identifies any plant-based or cell-cultivated alternatives. These listings can show the "Self-Declared Real Meat" badge.
What we don't do: we don't visit businesses, test products, or verify certifications, practices or sourcing. A listing is not an endorsement, audit or certification. We only describe things like kosher or halal when a business's own website states them, and then only as "its website describes it as…".
Privacy: we never publish the name or email of anyone who suggests or claims a listing.
Found a mistake, an outdated rule, a broken source link or a wrong listing? Email [email protected] with the page, what's wrong and, if you can, a source. We review every report. When we confirm an error, we fix it and update the page's "Last reviewed" date. Businesses can ask to correct or remove their own listing at any time; we remove a listing promptly once we've confirmed the request comes from the business. Every page also has a "Report an error" link in the footer.
Independence and sponsored content
Basic listings are free. Payment never affects whether a business is listed, how it's checked or whether it keeps its badge, and we never sell a badge or verification.
We don't currently offer advertising or sponsored placements. If we do in the future, any sponsored placement will be clearly labeled "Sponsored" and shown separately from free listings and from our guides. Terms will be published before any paid option is offered.
Our guides aren't paid for or reviewed by the businesses, agencies or organizations we write about. Links to outside websites are for information only and don't mean those organizations endorse us.
