Informational Videos

What Is Real Meat, Really?

What counts as real animal meat, and how it differs from plant-based and cell-cultivated products.

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• Real meat: Meat from raised or harvested animals: beef, pork, lamb, poultry, wild game and more.
• Plant-based: Products made from plants such as soy, peas or wheat, designed to resemble meat.
• Cell-cultivated: Also called lab-grown or cultivated meat. Grown from animal cells in a production facility.
• Why clear options? People want to know exactly what they are buying, whatever they choose.
• Our directory: Find butchers, farms and restaurants that sell real animal meat.

"Real meat" is this directory's shorthand for meat from raised or harvested animals, not a legal category. Cell-cultivated products are grown from real animal cells; the directory leaves them out by its own definition.

How to Read a Meat Label in Under a Minute

How to make sense of the words, grades and certifications you see on meat packages.

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• USDA Prime · Choice · Select: Beef quality grades based mainly on marbling and maturity. Prime has the most marbling, then Choice, then Select.
• Grass-fed: "Grass-fed" and "100% grass-fed" mean the same thing: only forage, like grass and hay, after weaning. No grain and no feedlot.
• USDA Organic: Raised on organic feed with access to the outdoors, without antibiotics or added hormones.
• Kosher · Halal: Prepared under Jewish (kosher) or Islamic (halal) dietary law, usually overseen by a certifying agency.
• Plant-based · Cell-cultivated: Plant-based: made from plants, not animals. Cell-cultivated: grown from animal cells.

About "grass-fed": the claim is used for grazing animals (ruminants) such as cattle, sheep and goats. FSIS's detailed grass-fed definition (FSIS-GD-2024-0006) is written for cattle. For other animals, FSIS's general rule for diet claims applies: unless the label is qualified, the animal ate only the claimed diet for its whole life, apart from milk before weaning.

What Do Natural, Grass-Fed and Organic Really Mean?

What each of these common label terms means under USDA rules, and how they differ.

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• Natural: No artificial ingredients or added color, and only minimally processed. It covers ingredients and processing, not how the animal was raised.
• Grass-fed: Cattle ate only forage, like grass and hay, after weaning. No grain, never in a feedlot, and pasture access in the growing season.
• Grass-finished: Not the same as grass-fed. Grass-finished cattle may also have been fed grain.
• USDA Organic: 100% organic feed, no antibiotics, no added growth hormones, and outdoor access year-round. Certified farms are inspected every year.
• Organic cattle: Must graze at least 120 days a year. Organic alone does not mean grass-fed: feed can include organic grain.

About "grass-fed": the claim is used for grazing animals (ruminants) such as cattle, sheep and goats. FSIS's detailed grass-fed definition (FSIS-GD-2024-0006) is written for cattle. For other animals, FSIS's general rule for diet claims applies: unless the label is qualified, the animal ate only the claimed diet for its whole life, apart from milk before weaning.

Prime, Choice or Select: What the Grade Really Tells You

Prime, Choice and Select: what the grades measure, and how grading differs from inspection.

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• What drives the grade: Mainly marbling, the flecks of fat within the lean, and the age (maturity) of the animal.
• USDA Prime: The most marbling, from young, well-fed cattle. Generally sold in upscale restaurants.
• USDA Choice: High quality, with less marbling than Prime.
• USDA Select: Very uniform and normally leaner. Fairly tender, but may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of higher grades.
• Grading is optional: Companies choose to pay for USDA grading. Safety inspection is a separate program. Most ground beef is not graded.

USDA grades describe expected eating quality (tenderness, juiciness and flavor), not safety or healthfulness.

Kosher and Halal Labels, Explained

What kosher and halal claims mean on meat, who certifies them, and where USDA fits in.

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• Two traditions: Kosher follows Jewish dietary law. Halal follows Islamic dietary law. They are separate standards, each with its own rules.
• Kosher: Permitted animals include cattle, sheep, goats and common poultry. Prepared by a trained shochet under rabbinical supervision.
• Halal: Permitted animals include cattle, sheep, goats and chicken, but not pork. Handled according to Islamic law, under Islamic authority.
• Who certifies: Religious authorities and certifying organizations, each with its own symbol. Standards can vary between communities.
• USDA's role: USDA does not certify religious compliance. FSIS checks that label claims are truthful, and a "certified" claim must name the certifier.

Plant-Based or Lab-Grown? How to Spot Them on the Label

How to tell plant-based and cell-cultivated products apart from real meat by reading the label.

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• Plant-based: Made from plants such as soy, peas, beans or wheat instead of animals. These foods are regulated by the FDA.
• Read the name: The product name appears in bold on the front. FDA recommends it name the plant source, such as soy, lentil or black bean.
• Check the ingredients: Every plant source must be listed in the ingredient statement.
• Cell-cultivated: Grown from animal cells in a controlled facility. FDA oversees the cell growth. USDA takes over at harvest.
• On the label: In 2023 USDA approved the term "cell-cultivated chicken." These labels need USDA approval and can carry the USDA mark.