Definitions

There seem to be a lot of different terms when it comes to local food systems, and most of us haven’t encountered them by walking into our local chain supermarkets. Here are some definitions we have found which help make sense of it all:

Antibiotic-free
This means that no antibiotic drugs have been given to the animal in its feed or by injection.

Free-range
Often used to describe poultry and sometimes pork, “free-range”usually means that the animals have room to run around outside. It does not necessarily mean that the animals can go anywhere they please. Fences may be used to keep the animals from destroying crops or to protect them from predators.

Grain-fed
Some livestock producers use this term to mean that the grain fed to their animals is 100 percent grain, and contains no animal by-products such as rendered fat or blood meal.

Grass-fed, grass-finished, grass-based, or grazing-based.
This is a production system for grazing (grass-eating) animals such as cows, bison, goats or sheep in which the animals spend nearly all their time outside eating grass or other plants in a pasture. They are fed little or no grain. If animals are 100% grass-fed, no grain is fed to the animals at any time.

Hormones not used
In beef production, this means that the animals have not been given synthetic growth hormones to make them grow faster. In dairy, this means that the cows have not been given injections of bovine growth hormone to increase their milk production.

Natural
This is a word that has been used to mean so many different things that it is now almost meaningless. If you hear this, ask for more specific information.

Organic
Food that is labeled as organic has been grown according to the National Organic Standards. Synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides cannot be used on crops. Antibiotics and growth hormones cannot be used on livestock, animals must eat organic feed, and animals cannot be fed animal by-products. Genetically modified organisms are prohibited. In addition, organic farmers are to have a management plan to improve their soil and to manage weeds and other pests without harming the environment.

Beyond Organic
While no one term seems to sum up “Beyond Organic”, many agree that it means combining organic, local and sustainable.

Pasture-raised
This is a production system in which the animals spend most of their time living on a pasture, with access to shelter. Pasture-raised is a little different from grass-fed. Pork and poultry can be pasture- raised, but because hogs and chickens have a different digestive system from grazing animals like cows, they do not eat just grass. Hogs and chickens will eat some green plants, but usually get a grain ration as well.

Pastured Eggs
Pastured eggs and meat are chicken products which have been harvested from chickens allowed to roam in open pastures. Advocates of pastured eggs believe that the chickens are happier and healthier, and nutritional analysis has shown that pastured eggs are also richer in useful nutritious elements like omega 3 acids and vitamin C. As a result of more labor intensive production techniques, pastured eggs are more expensive than conventional ones, and they are rarely available in conventional supermarkets, which order eggs in such high volume that small farmers cannot meet the demand.

Some consumers confuse the concept of free-range eggs with pastured eggs. Many conventional egg supply companies encourage this confusion, because consumers are sometimes willing to pay a premium price for products that they believe were harvested in humane and sustainable ways. However, the two terms are not synonymous. “Free range” eggs, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, must come from chickens which are offered access to the outside. Many commercial production companies provide this access in the form of a small door which is opened a few times a day; used to being confined indoors, the chickens make no move to explore the outdoors. Pastured eggs, however, come from chickens which are raised on pasture, with mobile coops to roost in at night.

Buying Club
A group of people placing a combined order for food. There are varying degrees of formality.

Community Supported Agriculture [CSA]
The farmer sells shares or subscriptions for the year’s crop of vegetables (some farms also include fruits or flowers). Customers who buy a share usually pay for it early in the year and then receive a weekly box of produce for a set number of weeks.

Direct Marketing
When a consumer buys a product directly from the farmer who produced it, that is direct marketing. Farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture, roadside stands, and direct meat sales are all forms of direct marketing.

Farmers’ Market
Usually in the open air, usually on a regular schedule of time and day (or days) of the week, these are gatherings of farmers who set up displays of products for sale.

Regional Food
Food that is produced in a certain region may come to be identified as a regional specialty. People can buy this food to get a “taste of place.”

Roadside Stands
A “Farmers’ Market”of one farmer, these stands are usually set up along roadsides that border the farmer’s property. They display farm products for sale and may be staffed, or unstaffed and on the “honor system” for payment.

Seasonal Food
This refers especially to fresh fruits and vegetables, which are available from local farmers only at certain times of the year. For example, rhubarb, and asparagus are some of the first fresh foods available in the spring.

Sustainable
A farming system or any other kind of system that is sustainable is one that can continue far into the future because it does not overuse its resources. Sustainable agriculture is a farming system that balances economic, environmental, and quality of life benefits for the farmers and their communities.

Intercropping – Intercropping is the agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time. A practice often associated with sustainable agriculture and organic farming, intercropping is one form of polyculture, using companion planting principles.

Strip Farming/Strip Cropping – Strip farming is a method of farming used when a slope is too steep or too long, or when other types of farming may not prevent soil erosion. Strip farming alternates strips of closely sown crops such as hay, wheat, or other small grains with strips of row crops, such as corn, soybeans, cotton, or sugar beets. It is also known as strip cropping. Strip Farming helps to stop soil erosion by creating natural dams for water, helping to preserve the strength of the soil.

Polyculture – Polyculture is agriculture using multiple crops in the same space, in imitation of the diversity of natural ecosystems, and avoiding large stands of single crops, or monoculture. It includes crop rotation, multi-cropping, intercropping, companion planting, beneficial weeds, and alley cropping.

Polyculture, though it often requires more labor, has several advantages over monoculture:

• The diversity of crops avoids the susceptibility of monocultures to disease. For example, a study in China reported in Nature showed that planting several varieties of rice in the same field increased yields by 89%, largely because of a dramatic (94%) decrease in the incidence of disease, which made pesticides redundant.
• The greater variety of crops provides habitat for more species, increasing local biodiversity.

Crop Rotation – Crop rotation or Crop sequencing is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same space in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped. Crop rotation also seeks to balance the fertility demands of various crops to avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients. A traditional component of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. It is one component of polyculture. Crop rotation can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants.

Allelopathy - Allelopathy refers to a plant’s ability to chemically inhibit the growth of other plants. Rye is one of the most useful allelopathic cover crops because it is winter-hardy and can be grown almost anywhere. Rye residue contains generous amounts of allelopathic chemicals. When left undisturbed on the soil surface, these chemicals leach out and prevent germination of small-seeded weeds. Weed suppression is effective for about 30 to 60 days. If the rye is tilled into the soil, the effect is lost.

A positive use of plant allelopathy is the use of mow-killed grain rye as a mulch. The allelochemicals that leach from rye residue prevent weed germination but do not harm transplanted tomatoes, broccoli, or many other vegetables.

Silvopasture – Silvopasture is the practice of combining forestry and grazing of domesticated animals, in order that they be compatible. Advantages of a properly managed silvopasture operation are simultaneous production of trees and grazing animals which leads to an increase in income, enhanced soil protection, and long term economic stability by maximizing potential economic benefits.

Alleycropping - Alleycropping involves growing crops (grains, forages, vegetables, etc.) between trees planted in rows. The spacing between the rows is designed to accommodate the mature size of the trees while leaving room for the planned alley crops. When sun-loving plants like corn or some herbs will be alleycropped, the alleyways need to be wide enough to let in plenty of light even when the trees have matured.

Riparian Buffer Strips – Trees, grasses, and/or shrubs planted in areas along streams or rivers are called riparian buffers or filter strips. These plantings are designed to catch soil, excess nutrients, and chemical pesticides moving over the land’s surface before they enter waterways. Such plantings also physically stabilize stream banks. On cropland that is tiled to improve drainage, polluted water can flow directly into streams; constructed wetlands installed in the buffers can capture and clean this drainage water before it enters the stream.

Biorational Inputs – non-petrochemical pesticides, herbicides, or fungicide.

Farmscaping - “Farmscaping” is a whole-farm, ecological approach to pest management. It can be defined as the use of hedgerows, insectary plants, cover crops, and water reservoirs to attract and support populations of beneficial organisms such as insects, bats, and birds of prey.

Biological Pest Control – Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests (including insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases) that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

Rotational Grazing - Rotational grazing is the practice of dividing up available pasture into multiple smaller areas, called paddocks, and then moving the animals from one paddock to the next after a number of days. By keeping the animals in this one small area, the trampled and grazed plants in other previously occupied parts of the field are given time to recover and re-establish themselves.

Additionally, constantly moving the animals every few days between paddocks prevents animal wastes from building up to extreme levels in small areas. It also permits time for the wastes to naturally break down so that there is minimal odor from a field of paddocks, as opposed to a feedlot that is constantly trampled into a wet smelly mixture of mud, manure, and urine.