Certified AWA farms walked away with national awards at the recent 2016 Good Food Awards ceremony in San Francisco as recognition of their leading contribution to creating vibrant, delicious, sustainable local food economies across the U.S.

Jude and Topher Sabot, Suzy Konecky and Matthew McMahon of Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown, MA, won a Good Food Award for their Certified AWA Maggie's Round. Dan and Becca James of James Ranch Artisan Cheese in Durango, CO, won for their signature Belford aged raw milk cheese. Kathryn Spann and Dave Krabbe of Prodigal Farm in Rougemont, NC, won for their Certified AWA Field of Creams goat cheese. And David Jablons and Tamara Hicks of  Toluma Farms and Tomales Farmstead Creamery in Tomales, CA, won for their Teleeka.  Congratulations to all four Certified AWA farms. To read more, click here. 

The high-welfare, sustainable farm management of Tom and Sue Moore at M&M Farms in Rudy, AR, was featured in Arkansas News, My Informs, Pine Bluff Commercial and Times Record. Tom and Sue raise Certified Grassfed by AWA cattle, and M&M Farms are the first farm in Arkansas to achieve this highly acclaimed certification. "We're holding ourselves to the highest standards," Tom explains, "because there are going to be a lot of people who are going to try figure what is the least they can do. We'd rather be known as doing the best that can be done." Way to go Tom and Sue! 

Did you catch Serenity Acres Farm in Parade Magazine? Not only do Julia and Wayne Shewchuk lovingly craft soap using milk from their Certified AWA dairy goats, but they have also teamed up with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to certify one of their goats, Aloe Vera, as a therapy goat to visit hospitals, nursing homes and schools! Click on the following link to learn more about the Shewchuks' and their Certified AWA goat's milk soap at Serenity Acres Farm in Pinetta, FL.

A Greener World would like to thank everyone who generously supported us throughout 2015. As we make our way into 2016, we are more committed than ever to promoting solutions like AWA, but we need your help. Please share this email with a friend or follow us on social media--the more people that we can inform about the real-world outcomes of food purchasing decisions, the more we can grow our mission-critical programs. And don't forget, as a nonprofit we are always grateful for donations in any amount. For more information on donating, click here. 

"Humane" label claims are widely used to convince consumers the food manufacturer is making a special effort in the way animals are raised. Yet there is no legal definition or minimum agreed welfare standard for the term "humane." So this label claim is increasingly found on products where animals are confined on dirt feedlots or indoors, and where antibiotic use and mutilations--such as beak trimming or tail docking--are routine practices. Unless the product is also verified by an independent third-party farm certification (such as AWA) according to high welfare and environmental standards, you're almost certainly still buying industrially farmed food.

For more on what food labels mean--and don't mean--get our FREE Food Labels Exposed smartphone app, available from the App Store or Google Play. Or download a PDF version of Food Labels Exposed here.

Radish & Rye Food Hub carries exclusively local foods, sustainably produced by family farmers and producers, and is proud to supply Harrisburg and Central PA with Certified AWA beef from Jujo Acres in Loysville, PA; and Certified AWA milk and butter from  Apple Valley Creamery in East Berlin, PA. Open: Thursday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday  7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Broad Street Market, Brick Building, 1233 N Third St., Harrisburg, PA.