Learn to Find Green Lamb: Grass-Fed vs. Organic and More

Lamb is a traditional dish served at a lot of Easter and other holiday tables (and it's pretty good other times, too). The small ruminant can be a delicious alternative to red meat, but if you aren't careful about where it comes from, it can have a larger contribution to global warming, and a pretty horrible life to boot. If lamb is on your menu over the holidays, be sure that you know where yours came from, and arm yourself with the right info to make a green choice.

Before we get too far, let's get the caveat out of the way. The production (and eventually consumption of) lamb, like any other meat, has a not insignificant impact on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. While not quite as high as beef, this means that, like all things, lamb should be enjoyed in moderation, if you choose to eat it at all; often, that means it should be reserved for pretty special occasions, when you can take the time to properly source and honor the animal.

So, that said, here are the labels to look for when it comes time to find the lamb for your upcoming event.

Certified Organic Lamb

As of a few months ago, meat joined the list of foods that are certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As with other organic foods, this means that there is a long list of requirements that must be satisfied before the animal in question can earn certification. Animals can only be fed organic foods, antibiotics and hormones are prohibited, and the slaughterhouse where it's processed must be inspected and certified as well.

All that stuff is pretty good, in theory, but allows for a few loopholes that don't rate highly on the sustainability scale. While many of the rules are very explicit, some are not; "only organic food," for example, means that everything they eat also has to be certified, but makes no provisions for what it might be, meaning that lots of corn and soy-based products, as well as grain and other products that their ruminant tummies haven't evolved to process very well, can make up the bulk of their diet. So, it's "organic," but it isn't necessarily very healthy for the animal, and that affects the quality of the final product.

However, when you go with certified organic, you know that it's been very carefully measured and monitored, and that hormones and antibiotics have been kept out of the equation, so it's definitely a step or two up from conventional offerings. Use it when you can't find grass-fed lamb.

Grass-Fed, Pasture-Raised Lamb

Just what it sounds like, lamb raised in these conditions has the benefit of eating out in the pasture, where they can munch grasses and clovers and foods that their bellies can handle with much more ease. Since they get to hang out outside, and eat what they might were they not ticketed for your plate, these lambs are purported to have a variety of benefits.

These include (but aren't limited to) less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories, and more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, according to EatWild.com. Because the idea is that these animals spend most of their time frolicking about grassy pasture, they grow more slowly and live relatively stress-free, so they require less intervention from undesirables like antibiotics.

Again, this sounds almost too good to be true, and, in some cases, it might be. There isn't a technical certification for "grass-fed" or "pasture-raised," so seeing it on the label doesn't really guarantee anything. The good news is that, in many cases when your purveyor is local to you, you can go to the farm and check on the conditions yourself. While it's difficult to verify all the organic practices that go in to your organic lamb, it's much easier to see if the lambs are actually grazing, and if they have sufficient and comfortable living space. And, the good news is that many farmers who raise grass-fed livestock also follow organic practices (even though some don't spring for the full certification). Bottom line, though: Transparency makes this possible; if you run up against someone who doesn't want you to see what they're up to, that isn't a good sign and you should probably move along to someone who won't mind if you have a peek at their lamb before you buy it.

The best of both worlds, then, would be certified organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised lamb. If that isn't available to you, check in with Local Harvest or organizations like the Food Alliance to see which lamb purveyors pass muster with them; chances are you can find one that's available at a nearby farmers' market or specialty market. And if you can't find one there, and can stomach the carbon emissions associated with shipping, farmers like Niman Ranch and Fox Fire Farms will happily ship it to you.