For the locarnavores out there who are interested in purchasing meat, cheese and dairy products from farmers who raise animals with kindness and engage in sustainable environmental practices, eatwild.com is a superb resource.

The Eat Wild web site is owned and operated by Jo Robinson, author of Pasture Perfect, a book that educates readers about the superiority of grass-fed livestock over animals that are raised in factory-farm conditions. Robinson's research into this subject has concluded that meat from grass-fed animals is higher in Vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids than meat from animals raised with more conventional farming methods.

Farmers who wish to list their farms on the web site are asked to meet or comply with a list of criteria that includes raising animals in a low-stress, natural environment, protecting waterways from damage caused by livestock, no treatment with hormones or routine antibiotics in well animals, and access to the outdoors and natural food - pasture. Georgia farms on the Eat Wild list can be found by clicking this link.

Shoppers are encouraged to use the guide as a beginning point for finding sustainably raised animal products and to visit the listed farms or otherwise conduct research into these suppliers' operations. Robinson lacks the resources to verify all the claims made by farmers who certify that they have met the criteria required to be listed on the site.

Still, it's a great start.