Whole FoodsMarket Inc. has launched an animal welfare rating system to help the grocer’s shoppers find out a bit more about where their meat is coming from. The system, designed by the nonprofit Global Animal Partnership, provides information and a ranking for beef, pork and chicken based on how farm animals are raised. Under the system, independent, third-party certifiers audit farms and rate animal welfare practices and conditions using a tiered system. The ratings range from a “1” ranking (which would include no crates, cages or crowding) up to a “5-plus” ranking (the most animal centered, where animals spend their entire lives on one farm). Whole Foods, which has a La Jolla location at 8825 Villa La Jolla Drive, said more than 1,200 farms and ranches that provide its stores with products have received certification. Shoppers will see color-coded signs and stickers throughout Whole Foods Market meat departments that identify the ratings. Whole Foods already requires that animals sold in its stores be raised on a vegetarian diet without being administered antibiotics or added growth hormones.