Crate free pork, as our Porkology page uses the term, means hogs raised with no gestation crates and no farrowing crates, the single sow stalls used on many farms. This guide says what we mean by that label, what the other pork labels mean, and which ones our pages do and do not claim.
The definitions below come from university pages and USDA. The claims about our own hogs come from our story page, our Porkology page, and our wholesale page. Where a label is not on those pages, we say so.
- What crate free pork means
- Pork labels compared
- Organic labels: what our pages claim
- How to check any farm’s claims
- Questions people ask
What crate free pork means
A gestation stall, also called a gestation crate, holds one pregnant sow. Virginia Tech’s extension review Welfare of Sows Housed in Stalls during Gestation describes typical stalls as about 2 feet wide and 7 feet long, which “physically limit sows to standing, sitting, and lying.” The common alternative it describes is a group pen where sows move and interact.
A farrowing crate, or farrowing stall, is the individual stall used around birth. The UC Davis CLEAR Center explainer Why is a Farrowing Crate Used in Swine Production? says farrowing stalls are used shortly before a sow gives birth and that sows are kept in them for at least 21 days while nursing.
Our Porkology page says: “Our hogs are raised crate free, with no gestation crates or farrowing crates. Giving our hogs ample space to move freely, throughout their lives.”
Our story page lists crate free production and No Antibiotics Ever as standing rules on the small family farms we work with. That is the whole claim. We do not add outdoor or pasture words the pages do not use.
Pork labels compared: crate free, antibiotic free, natural, organic
| Label | What it means, and who says so | On our pages? |
|---|---|---|
| Crate free | No gestation crates or farrowing crates (our Porkology page’s wording) | Yes: Porkology, our story, product pages |
| No Antibiotics Ever | The herds do not receive antibiotics (our wholesale page) | Yes: our story, wholesale, product pages (“antibiotic free”) |
| Vegetarian fed | Feed with no animal by-products (our Porkology and wholesale pages) | Yes: Porkology, wholesale, uncured bacon pages |
| Natural | USDA: no artificial flavor, color, chemical preservative, or synthetic ingredient, and not more than minimally processed; all fresh meat qualifies | Not used as a claim; Porkology says we avoid the phrase |
| Organic | USDA: bacon can be labeled organic only if made from certified organic meat | Not claimed. Our pages make no USDA organic claim |
| Pasture raised | A housing claim about outdoor access | No. Our pages do not describe outdoor access, so we do not claim it |
| Heritage | Our product language: the pages say “Heritage Duroc” and Porkology says “175-year-old Duroc Heritage Breed”; not the Livestock Conservancy standard | Yes, as “Heritage Duroc”; see the note below |
The “natural” line is the one people misread. USDA’s fresh pork page says all fresh meat qualifies as natural, and the term covers ingredients and processing only. It says nothing about crates, feed, or antibiotics, so we make those three claims in their own words.
“Heritage Duroc” is our product language, and Porkology calls the breed a “175-year-old Duroc Heritage Breed.” It does not mean the breed meets the Livestock Conservancy’s heritage swine standard. That standard requires a breed that is or has been on the Conservancy’s priority list, and Duroc is not on it.
We spelled that out in what heritage pork means.
Does the spiral ham or the bacon carry an organic label?
No page on this site claims a USDA organic label for the spiral sliced ham or the bacon, so do not read one in. USDA’s bacon page says bacon can carry the organic label only if it is made from certified organic meat; the organic label is a certifier’s record, and our product pages do not show one.
What the ham and bacon do carry is the set of claims above: Heritage Duroc, crate free, No Antibiotics Ever, and applewood smoke. If an organic label is the thing you need, look for it on a product page before you order; ours do not show one.
How to check any farm’s raising claims
Read the farm’s own pages and look for the claim in plain words, with the practice named. “No gestation crates or farrowing crates” says more than “humanely raised.” Then look for the programs the farm names; our wholesale page lists HACCP, SQF Level III, and PQA+ (Pork Quality Assurance Plus) and describes each one.
Then check that the claims match across pages. On this site the same three raising claims appear on the story page, the Porkology page, and the product pages. Words that go beyond them, like organic or pasture, do not appear anywhere.
Our older posts on sustainable farming and heritage pork and why choosing local pork matters cover the thinking behind them.
Questions people ask about crate free pork
What does “crate free pork” mean?
On our pages, pork from hogs raised without gestation crates (individual stalls for pregnant sows, about 2 by 7 feet per Virginia Tech’s review) or farrowing crates (individual stalls used at birth and nursing). Other farms’ programs may define the label differently, so read each one’s page.
Is crate free the same as pasture raised?
No. Crate free describes the stalls a farm does not use; pasture raised describes outdoor access. Our pages make the crate free claim and do not make a pasture claim.
Does Vande Rose Farms pork carry an organic label?
Our pages make no organic claim. What they do claim is Heritage Duroc, crate free, No Antibiotics Ever, and vegetarian fed, per our story, Porkology, and product pages.
Does crate free mean antibiotic free?
Not by itself; they are separate claims. Our farms make both: crate free and No Antibiotics Ever, stated on the story page and the wholesale page.
Three claims, each in plain words. Crate free pork is one of them, No Antibiotics Ever and vegetarian fed are the others, and organic and pasture raised are not claims our pages make. Every cut we sell carries the same three.
Browse the crate free Heritage Duroc fresh cuts, or start with our story for the farms behind them.