In cooking, the process of clarification entails straining out extraneous muck from liquids so that they might be pure, clear and ideal for consumption. With this series on food terminology and trends we're attempting to do the same.

As food writers and reporters, we toss out a lot of terms - sustainable, pescetarian, free-range - and just assume that everyone's on the same page. If they're not, the conversation suffers, and we can't have that, now can we?

Here's a round-up of concepts and words we've explained thus far.

• What is "adulterated" meat??
• Who oversees the food safety system?
• What does "organic" mean?
• Why do sprouts get people so sick?
• How is foie gras produced?
• What are gestation crates?
• What is "meat glue"?
• Much a goo about 'pink slime'
• How do sprouts get salmonella?
• What does farm to table mean?
• What's the deal with gluten?
• What is high fructose corn syrup?
• How is GMO food labeled?
• What is “genetically modified” salmon?
• What is “sustainable” seafood?
• What does “pasteurized” mean?
• What do “free-range,” “cage-free” and “organic” mean in terms of eggs?
• What is a CSA?
• What is a vegan, pescetarian, vegetarian - and what do they eat?
• What do and don't Orthodox Jews, Catholics, Muslims and other people of faith eat and why?

Is there something you'd like to see clarified? Let us know in the comments below, and we'll do our best to define.