With the holidays quickly approaching, it's time to make plans! If you're like my family, your holidays center around food, mainly meat. (We love our pernil!) This year I want to have a more humane and healthy holiday by making sure I purchase antibiotic-free meat.  But, I want to go further than that and that's why I'm following these 5 Tips for a Healthy Holiday Season.

Don’t Get Tricked, Get Certified

Look for certifications that require better treatment, specifically Certified Humane, Animal Welfare Approved and GAP levels 3 and above. Take the ASPCA's label guide with you so you’re armed with facts.

Don’t Pay the Cost of “Cheap” Meat

We pay a steep price for cheap meat, eggs and dairy – in the form of poor animal welfare, poor quality and potential human health risks. Consider investing in higher-welfare products. It may save your life.

Go to the source

Use this search engine to locate a farmer’s market near. There you can often talk directly to people who work on or for the farms to learn how they raise animals.

Plant Power

Try adding more vegetables to your holiday meal. You might also try some of the ever more available and tasty plant-based alternatives for meat, egg and dairy products.

Ask and Receive

We have the power to demand humanely raised products in our stores! This holiday season and going forward, let's tell our local stores we want humanely raised chicken. You can use the ASPCA's supermarket request letter.

Do you have any other suggestions to add? If so, leave it in a comment below so we can all benefit from your wisdom!