My mother has an old saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s supper.” Let’s just say that cooking has never been the forte of the women in my family. But we try, really we do. My sister tells me that she’s even won a pie baking contest or two. Me? Well, I decided that I ought to start cooking healthy meals for my family; I want my kids to eat nutritious foods, I want to eat nutritious foods, and I try too woo my husband with nutritious food (masquerading as something else, hee hee). Anyway, here’s what’s cookings:

Whole roasted tomatoes with fresh thyme from my garden, garlic, olive oil, ground pepper and coarse salt,

served over tomato spinach pasta with parmesan cheese

or over traditional shells

When I cook chicken, turkey or fish for my husband and daughter, I pour my love into it.  As you might remember, I’m a vegetarian, but I love two omnivores . . . so I’m doing my best to give them good foods they like and have some peace too.  I rolled the chicken in olive oil and then lightly seasoned it.  It’s one of Annabelle’s favorites.

And last, but certainly not least, are these sweet peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes.  We substituted 1/4 cup applesauce for butter and oh my, these were so moist and delicious.  Since I didn’t have a frosting, we topped these off with organic creamy peanut butter.  Annabelle gave it two thumbs up.

So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?  Any simple recipes you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear since I’m just learning my way around here . . .

Over the last eight months, my life has changed. Eight and a half months ago, I gave birth to my son Levi; weeks later though, I found myself in a terrible place and I knew that I needed help. Thankfully, so many people and organizations stepped forward to hold my hand and lift me up, one step at a time. Each individual helped me in their own. Neighbors brought meals and watched my daughter so that I could attend my postpartum therapy sessions, Adrienne Griffin, the founder of Postpartum Support Virginia, called, e-mailed, and coached me through my first days back at home with my family after I spent two days in the hospital and then another two days away with my husband while I battled the dark feelings and emptiness I was experiencing. My mom, sister, and mother-in-law came into town, taking time off from work, to take care of Levi and Annabelle, and friends, so many friends, stepped forward and made time for playdates, to talk, and to offer a helping hand when I needed it. We also welcomed a wonderful babysitter into our lives who came several days a week to give me time to sleep, take care of household responsibilities, or simply spend time doing something for myself. As you can see, these angels on earth helped me get through a very hard time.

Meanwhile, I was learning how to take care of myself; depression is an energy sapper; I knew that if I was going to have the energy to heal, care for myself, for my children, and for everyone else in my life, I was going to have to make some changes. My best friend initially introduced me to the idea that food could help my brain combat its imbalances: I could feel better simply by eating. She bought me a bag of flaxseed to mix into foods like oatmeal, cereals, yogurts, and smoothies, and she also brought me a large bag of walnuts. Since I received these awesome gifts of food from her, I have started eating a diet that is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, protein, and Vitamin D. Here is what a typical day of eating looks like for me:

Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal, 3 to 6 tbsp. of flaxseed, sliced strawberries, bananas, or apples, and 1/2 cup of soymilk or Omega 3 organic milk

“Oatmeal is one of the best foods to nourish the central nervous system and help with depression.”

“Flax, says Udo Erasmus, PhD, has a mood boosting ingredient: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that is essential for the proper function of brain cells, yet up to 85% of women aren’t getting enough of it. Early research conducted by Dr. Martha Clare Morris of Chicago’s Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center notes that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids is believed to be important for brain development.”

“Numerous studies connects dietary consumption of omega-3 fatty acids with depression. Countries with high consumption of seafood, high in omega-3 fatty acids, have lower rates of bipolar and unipolar depression, post-partum depression, and seasonal affective disorder.”

Snack

1 oz. almonds, 1/2 cup of dried cherries or cranberries

“Poor diet can have a disastrous effect on memory, co-ordination, concentration, powers of reason, behaviour and mood although this is very rarely recognised or looked into by medical professionals. Mental distress is linked to a deficiency of iron, magnesium and B-complex vitamins. Zinc deficiency can also be a major factor in causing depression and leads to loss of appetite, subsequent poor nutrition, inevitable chronic fatigue and finally, depression. Many people who go to their doctor complaining of fatigue are often wrongly assumed to be suffering from depression and prescribed anti-depressant drugs which doctors often use as a first line of treatment. Unfortunately, many of these drugs can interfere with zinc absorption. Low levels of zinc in the body can not only lead to a loss of appetite and fatigue (which can be exacerbated by anti-depressants) but can also be a factor in the cause of depression itself. It is therefore important to get adequate amounts of zinc in your diet in order to prevent a downward spiral from forming. Sources of zinc include: shellfish, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, soya beans, wheat products (especially wheatgerm and wheat bran), sesame seeds, cocoa, sunflower seeds, sweetcorn, rice, wholemeal bread, oats, cheeses (especially cheddar and edam), legumes (especially aduki beans), peas, barley, nuts (especially almonds), peanuts and peanut butter, wholegrain flours, buckwheat and brown rice.”

Lunch

2 slices Ezekial bread, avacado, tofu, and pepper slices

1 cup soy milk or hot tea (kava, kava)

Snack

Lara bar (made with real fruit, nuts and no preservatives or additives and is loaded with walnuts, almonds, and cashews)

Dinner

Whole wheat pasta, organic tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, brocolli, and nuts, stir fried tempeh or tofu

“The connection between carbohydrates and mood is linked to the mood-boosting brain chemical, serotonin. We know that eating foods high in carbohydrates (breads, cereal, pasta) raises the level of serotonin in the brain. When serotonin levels rise, we feel a calming effect with less anxiety.

So don’t shun carbs – just make smart choices. Limit sugary foods and opt for smart carbs, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, which all contribute healthy carbs as well as fiber.”

4 oz. of red wine (2 nights a week and not on days when I drink kava kava tea), 1 serving of 85% dark chocolate

* I drink a dry red wine and limit myself to 2 4 oz. servings each week.  When I was first diagnosed with depression, I avoided alcohol and caffeine and have only in the last two months started to incorporated small servings into my diet.  Here is a wonderful article from Yale New Haven Hospital discussing the benefits of red wine for your health.

Eating a healthy diet makes me feel good both physically and mentally.  My favorite part of my day is relaxing at night with my family while I drink a cup of tea or wine and eat a few bites of dark chocolate.

What are your favorite relaxation and feel good foods?

So we’re back, :-)  This past week we visited Siesta Key Island in Florida, a tiny place that is sort of like home away from home.  I took so many pictures (thank you honey, thank you Annabelle, thank you Levi, thank you Nikon), caught up on sleep, rolled around in the sand with my kids and my hubby, wore lots of sunscreen, walked among flamingos and petted sting rays (so soft), and sipped wine while watching the sun set each night.  Let’s just say that it was a very much needed vacation.

And now . . . we’re home.  Which I really am happy about.  As much as I love the adventure and restoration that is vacation, I thrive on ritual, routine, my real day to day life.  Though coming back to reality after a break is a whirlwind (a much welcome one); I am currently trying to sort out:

a) how to manage a fully mobile Levi; little man is crawling and climbing at 8 months old; he’s even pulling up to standing . . . I know this guy is going to really make me work, really keep me on my toes . . . my little boy is a bruiser.  With Annabelle, she always wanted to be with her mom, always nursing, never to pulling open cabinets and banging things around.  Levi is definitely his own person, that’s for sure.

b) how to manage a 3 year old who is going on 13.  Phew!  I really didn’t think I would have to deal with hormones, mood swings, and attitude until my kids reached their teen years, but suddenly, my baby, my toddler, my preschooler, knows far more than her dear old mom.  And she’s so smart, she really is . . . so I find myself picking up parenting book after parenting book trying to find the answers, the formula, the instructions that were supposed to come with my kid but didn’t.  I find myself praying that I don’t screw up, that I don’t screw her up, that she turns out okay even though her mom doesn’t know what the heck she is doing.

c) keeping up with myself.  I have a wide range of interests: if you follow my blog, you know this . . . I kind of wander around from subject to subject (which I’ve read is not very good for a blog’s traffic, ah, oh well), delving head first into whatever is fascinating . . . which means that my interests sort of pile up, and even though they all add to my life and make me more interesting (at least I think so), it can be sort of overwhelming.  Yes, I am actually complaining that I have too many good things in my life.  Currently I’m trying to figure out how to organize my time so that I can pursue photography, keep up with my blog (it is so good for my soul to write it out), practice daily yoga, learn how to cook healthy veggie/omnivore meals for my family, make one on one time for each of my loved ones, keep Toby healthy (he just returned from his yearly physical and we learned that Toby is obese and at risk for things like heart disease and diabetes . . . I am putting him on a prescription cat food and then we’re going to have his teeth cleaned (poor kitty also has gingivitus)), stay on top of my leadership duties for Attachment Parenting  as well as starting up a postpartum support group, and then on top of it all, stay connected with family and friends (near and far).

Meanwhile, Levi is teething.  Ouch (for all 3 of us . . . Matt and I are up all night long).

But life is good . . . I list all the parts of my life that both enrich who I am and tire me out; isn’t it that way for most of us?

My prayers have been answered. On Tuesday night, we welcomed our second bundle of joy, Levi Matthew. I gave birth to Levi at home in our bedroom. It was an awesome experience, a quieting and stirring one. When the words come, I promise to share my birth story. Right now, I feel tired. My mothers are taking care of me, as is my husband. I think it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, I feel so blessed.

Levi is a big boy, physically larger than expected. I am still in disbelief that my body produced such a big baby, especially since I’d been told that babies made by vegetarian mammas tend to be a bit smaller . . . Levi weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches. He also has a big quiet soul and likes to sleep as much as his dad does (I am thanking the stars).

Annabelle met her brother the morning after his birth; she stood in the kitchen getting breakfast with her grandma when she heard Levi’s voice. We heard her yell out, “What’s that? It sounds like a kid.” We laughed and told her to come upstairs to meet her brother. She giggled, covering her mouth when she saw him and she kept repeating, “He’s beautiful. He’s beautiful.” Then she asked to hold him so we set her up in a chair and she held her brother for the first time.

Meanwhile, my husband and I are learning how to take care of a baby all over again, though we both agree that it feels so much easier this time . . . we’re both so relaxed. I keep telling him how grateful I feel for having had Annabelle because she taught us so much about how to parent (she insisted on being held, being nursed, being loved); Levi likes to be held too, though he is content to just lay down on his back and take the world in . . .

Again, when the words come, I want to share more. Here is our beautiful Levi.

Coinciding with my and Annabelle’s last “days of you and me,” I received a large shipment of giveaways from the folks over at Barefoot Books.  Among Barefoot Books’ many virtues as publishers of children’s books is an investment in the global community and the environment (which makes my heart feel all sorts of good inside).   Of course, the best part about Barefoot Books are the books themselves: they’re full of bright and colorful illustrations as well as meaningful stories that work with the worlds and imaginations of our children.  Annabelle and I have several BB books on our bookshelves, and well, in the coming years, we hope to add a few more . . .

This week, I’m giving you all the chance to add a Barefoot Book to your home library; in fact, over the coming weeks, I will offer 5 BB giveaways that appeal to a range of ages: books for young environmentalists, kid yogis, vegetarians, and more.

As it turned out, I was searching for an additional “day of you and me” because Annabelle and I had combined a few activities into a day’s worth of fun . . . so, we decided to try out one of the great recipes from the Barefoot Books’ Kids Kitchen (see below).

Simply leave a comment at the end of this post and you’ll be entered to win a free Kids’ Kitchen.

And now, a little bit about our cooking adventures . . .

We made cinnamon-ee sweet baked bananas:

First, I sliced the skin of 4 bananas.

Then Annabelle used a fork to smush up the inside of the banana.

We mixed up brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

While pouring is likely Annabelle’s favorite food prep skill, mixing is another fave.

She scooped her mixture of sugar and cinnamon into the smushed up bananas,

wrapped each banana into a foil pocket,

and voila!  was ready to bake!

We baked our cinnamon-ee sweet bananas at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  We cooled them for another 5 minutes (which didn’t bother Annabelle in the least since she was performing a dance/yoga/martial arts piece that she put together on the spot), and then,

Ta-dah!  Yummy, sweet, cinnamon-ee baked bananas.  You can eat them like this or for an even tastier adventure, spoon the banana over vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice cream.  Mmm, mmm, yum!  Or at least that’s what my husband and I said of our banana treats . . .

Yeah, after all that, Annabelle wouldn’t touch ‘em, which I suppose doesn’t sound like much of a promotion for the kids’ kitchen, but my 2 1/2 year old takes a bit of coaxing with new foods, so we’ll just have to bake and try try again.  But seriously, the recipe turned out delicious and I bet your older, wiser, and more worldly eaters will eat these up too.

As many of you well know, I am a vegetarian.  That said, I am in love with a man and am raising children who will eat animal products (I am hoping that someday my children, of their own will, will decide to be vegetarians, however, similar to my husband’s and my own approach to teaching our children religion, we are not going to push a specific philosophy or lifestyle).  So, after a bit of research, I decided that I would feel best if my family ate meat from farms where the animals were loved and had led a good life.

I then stopped over at Local Harvest to find the closest market or farm that sells local meats and animal products.  I know that this sounds like a promotion (it’s not, and in any case, it’s just me sharing a bit about my lifestyle with you all), though if you and your family are not already eating locally in one way, shape, or form, you might want to check out this little diddy on why you might want to buy and eat local.

Ah, now getting back to the story.  I drove 40 minutes or so from my town to a small market that specializes in selling local products.  There I met a wonderful small business owner who eagerly showed me around her store and helped me find excellent quality meat from farmers that she deals with personally (I realize the best option is to purchase directly from the farmer, though, in this case, I have to say that her store makes eating local quite convenient, especially for my family, since we don’t always plan out our weekly menus so well).   She also introduced me to Trickling Springs Creamery‘s certified organic milk that is produced by grass-fed cows, is chemical, antibiotic and synthetic free, and well, tastes absolutely delicious.  Have a previously shared how as a former soy milk lover, I have only drank cow’s milk in my current pregnancy?  Whatever the reason, my body just seems to crave milk this time around.

Another neat thing about drinking (and thus purchasing) milk from a local creamery is that the milk is stored in glass containers . . . it tastes awesome and not to be preachy, but these containers are used over and over again, and well, we all know that “reuse” is one of those green keywords.

As for local meats, I selected free range, hormone and antibiotic free meats from Fields of Athenry, which is a family farm in Purcellville, Virginia (just a few towns over from where we live).  And yes, even though I am a vegetarian and often will not handle meat, I cooked up a few lamb sausage links for dinner this evening.  My husband says it is the best sausage ever.  Can you believe he said that about something I cooked? :-)  Sorry folks, but cooking is not my forte.

So, being that we have to (and like to) eat, I am wondering, do agricultural practices and/or a commitment to the environment influence the way your family shops and eats?  If so, what kinds of local products do you find or have you had a hard time finding? I’m hoping to expand my family’s palate and make a better effort to eat what grows around here.

This morning as I was eating my cheerios and checking my e-mail, I learned that Abbie, the Farmer’s Daughter, gave me and 6 other fine bloggers the Kreativ Blogger Award. I am stoked! The rules, taken directly from Abbie’s blog are as follows:

1. List 7 things that I love
2. Link back to the blog that awarded it to me
3. Choose 7 blogs to award as “Kreativ Bloggers”
4. Comment at each blog to let them know they’ve been chosen

Seven Things I Love

1. Cozy snuggling in my big bed with my husband, my 2 year old, and our cat Toby. The carrot cake frosting on the cake? Laying there with them for an hour or so after we’ve all woken up. Such a sweet way to start the day.

2. My family. Matt, Annabelle, Toby, and my growing baby boy.

3. Laughing. Life is good, and life is even better when you’re having fun.

4. Mother Nature.

5. Do-it-yourself projects. Painting, crafting, and any sort of home improvement brings me back to my childhood; funny the way I cherish these projects now and yet, as a kid, grumbled. Thank you Mom and Dad.

6. Photography and writing. These arts let me frame the beauty around me, just so, the way I see the world. Thank goodness for adjectives, verbs, and a variety of lenses.

7. Places. I want to absorb as much about the earth as I can, in this lifetime; its people, its creatures, its cultures.

Seven Kreativ Blogs (daily sources of inspiration)

1. woowoo mama. beautiful prose. beautiful reflections on life. lovely photographs.

2. Sunny Day Today Mama. photojournal and prose written by a devoted mama.

3. MmMelody. Beautiful photography and prose. Melody is a gifted photographer specializing in maternity and birth photography, as well as portraiture. She’s also a great mom and friend.

4. Montessori Mama. A talented artist, writer, teacher, and a loving parent. An inspiration. Her enthusiasm for learning and creating with our children gives me the energy to try new things with my little one.

5. Creative Kismet. Regina is a longtime blogging friend and inspiration. She a fine writer, a caring humanitarian and vegan, mother, and artist. Today she is a featured crafter on the Martha Stewart Show. Congratulations Regina!

6. Tabbie’s Garden. A beautiful nature photographer, who pairs lovely images with poetry and prose. I’m so glad to have found her site.

7. hippie dippie bebe. Hope Also writes about environmental issues, parenting, and learning as the devoted mom of 2 (a toddler and a teenager). Hope’s posts always make me think about the way I am living and parenting. She helps me want to be a better environmentalist and mommy too. Thank you Hope!

Now, before I sign off from this post, I’d like to share a little bit about Nancy White Carlstrom’s book, This is the Day.

Inspired by Bible Psalm verse 118:24, This is the Day celebrates the beauty and wonder that is our earth and is ours to see, each and everyday of the week. I will be giving away copies of This is the Day to 4 Green Mamma readers. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, and you’ll be entered to win.

Again, thank you Abbie for the Kreativ Blogger Award, and a big thank you to all the creative writers and artists who make blogging so meaningful for me.   See you this Sunday,

Jessica

As part of my bloggy Oktoberfest week, I thought I’d share a recipe for yummy sugar cookies (that your little ones may beg to help bake and decorate). Since I was (wrongly) under the impression that one of the kiddos in our homeschool playgroup had a gluten allergy, I followed the following gluten free sugar cookie recipe at celiac.com. As it turned out, he has a dairy, egg, and nut allergy, so his mom decided he would sit this one out (sorry!). Now I’m on the lookout for a baking day that includes all of our kids.

To set up for this fun cookie baking and decorating activity, I actually prepared the dough before everyone arrived so that it could cool for a few minutes. I also covered our kitchen table with easy to wipe table cloths because baking, when done well, gets messy. When everyone arrived and was ready to get baking, I sprinkled a bit of the leftover gluten-free flour in front of each child and myself. Then, I distributed a small dough and either a roller or a Mason can (which makes a fine roller in a pinch) to each child. I showed our children how to spread the flour (describing the sensory aspects of feeling the flour), flatten the dough, and roll the dough with their rollers. The other parents assisted their children and modeled how to use cookie cutters to create shapes and fall themed cookies.

We also whipped up our own frosting using powdered sugar (3 cups), melted gluten free butter (1/4 cup), and lemon juice (3 tbsp.). Some of the kids chose to experiment with food coloring, others chose to eat the frosting straight out of the bowl, and everyone else focused on eating their sugar cookies.

Later that day, I used the leftover dough to bake my own sugar cookies and decorate them (hey, I’m a kid at heart). My cookies are pictured in this post. For more photos from our cookie baking with the kids, go here. Scroll down to the boy with the drum; the cookie baking photos begin there.

Image courtesy of Zyance

A few days ago I posted an article on Green Mamma about how to navigate meat and dairy markets; specifically, I set out to understand the meanings and marketing behind the multitude of flesh food labels and seals of approval. From recent conversations I have had and from comments and e-mails regarding this post, I am coming more to believe that the motto “thinking global and eat local” is the way to go; that is, by purchasing produce, grains, dairy, and meats locally, consumers have help offset global warming and may still eat and live in a way that resonates with their culture and values.

On another note, my post took aim at flesh foods and highlighted how eating meats and other animal products can introduce unwanted hormones and antibiotics into our diets (if we do not pay attention to how foods were treated by farmers and manufacturers). My interest in the nutritional value of meat is for sake of knowing how to provide my husband and daughter with a healthful diet, which includes meat. At the same time, my own vegetarian diet includes foods made from soy, which is a food ingredient that may or may not be healthy, when consumed in large quantities, for the long term.

Today, I was forwarded an article entitled “The Evidence Against Soy” published on Mercola.com regarding whether or not soy foods are healthy; below is a segment from this article:

Ever since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a health claim for soy foods in 1999 (which said diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease), soy sales have skyrocketed. In the years between 2000 and 2007, food manufacturers in the U.S. introduced over 2,700 new foods with soy as an ingredient, including 161 new products introduced in 2007 alone.

This has resulted in a booming multi-billion dollar business. From 1992 to 2007, soy food sales increased from a paltry $300 million to nearly $4 billion, according to the Soyfoods Association of North America.

However, the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit nutrition education foundation, submitted a petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January of this year, asking them to retract its heart-health claim from soy in light of the inconsistent and contradictory evidence showing benefits, and its many proven health risks.

To continue reading “The Evidence Against Soy”, click here.

While the verdict on whether or not soy is a healthful food to eat, vegetarians (and omnivores too) may choose from a wide variety of high protein foods sources that are plant based; a few to consider:

• lentils
• beans
• tempeh (Dr. Mercola says that fermented soy foods have reduced levels of dangerous isoflavones)
• nuts and nut butters
• seeds
• wheat and grains

What are your thoughts regarding whether soy is healthy or harmful? Also, continuing with the discussion of animal food products and their labeling, how do those of you who include meat and animal products in your diets, determine what and where to buy your foods from? Last, I would love to hear suggestions on other plant based protein sources.

Let me begin this post by saying that I believe in making compassionate, healthful, and ethical choices for my and my family’s meals. I am a vegetarian and have been for over 7 years, aside from occasional flesh meals that I ate while pregnant with my daughter. When I am asked why I choose vegetarian foods for myself, I try to avoid taking a preachy route, but usually I end up sharing that I feel it is wrong to take animal life when there are abundant and nutritious food sources available.

As a vegetarian, it was my goal to raise ethical children who would also follow a vegetarian diet; however, due to my husband’s encouragement and our joined concern for our daughter’s health, we recently made the decision to begin introducing flesh foods into her diet. At my request though, we purchase organic and, yes, this reads like an oxymoron, cruelty free slaughtered animals. So, my (our) goal is to serve meat dishes made from animals who led good lives and were loved and were not made to suffer the way that so many animals bred for factory farms have and will endure.

In order to find flesh foods that are organic and that come from animals who were raised in an “animal compassionate” way, and because I am a vegetarian with no prior knowledge about deciphering meat labels, I needed to do a fair amount of reading about how meats are labeled and what exactly each label means. As you might expect, many labels are misleading and confusing and may well be intended as marketing ploys. At the same time, many consumers want to know what it is that they are eating, so based on my current understanding, here are a few explanations on what meat labels mean:

Natural

According to an article published on Suite 101′s Food Resources and written by Laura Everage, a meat label that claims to be natural can mean that it is “minimally processed, does not contain artificial flavoring, coloring ingredients, chemical preservatives, or any other synthetic ingredients.” Everage explains, however, that “natural” does not take into account what processes occur to the living animal, such as the administration of antibiotics and growth enhancers.

Free Range

When it comes to the term “free range,” consumers should pay attention to the integrity of the certifying organization. According to Everage’s article, the USDA defines “free range” as meaning that birds have access to the outdoors to walk around, but that the required amount of outdoor time is limited to only 5 minutes. Notable also, especially to health conscious flesh eaters is that the “free range” label does not necessarily mean that the animals lived without being administered antibiotics or growth hormones.

No Added Hormones

What surprised me about the “no hormones administered” and “no added hormone” label is that by law, poultry and pigs are not supposed to receive hormone injections. That said, sellers of beef can request an audit from the U.S.D.A. who will certify the meat for a fee and with required documentation.

Kosher

According to what I have read on Kosher Blog, animals that are labeled “kosher” must be slaughtered based on exacting religious standards. Jonathan Abbett, the author of the “Is Kosher Meat Better” says that Jewish ritual slaughter is predicated on respect and compassion for the animals. The following is taken directly from Abbett’s entry on the Kosher Blog:

However, a discussion of “what kosher is” must involve a discussion of “what kosher is not.” Animals used for kosher slaughter are raised alongside animals used for non-kosher slaughter, so “kosher” is not a guarantee of cage-free upbringing, or quality organic feed. Independent verification of those factors are still necessary. Thankfully, there are some lines of kosher, organic meat, but they’re more expensive and not widely available.

• Wise Organic
• Rubashkin Organic (product listing from kosher.com)
• Tiferet Organic

The labels that I have discussed in this post are only a few of those that consumers will see on meat packaging. Again, I want to emphasize that I am a vegetarian and am not an expert on how animals who are raised for the food industry are treated (another reason why I am happy to be a vegetarian). At the same time, many of my loved ones eat flesh for cultural and other personal reasons. I welcome the thoughts and input of others who have considered what is behind the many variable labels that appear on meat.

My Sources

U.S.D.A. Food Labeling Fact Sheet

Cooking Resources

New York Times “Meat Labels . . . “

GoVeg.com “Humane Kosher”