Organic meat, poultry, and dairy products are now available at most supermarkets, which is a change for the better. When you buy certified organic, you know your food will be free of pesticide residues, synthetic hormones, genetically modified organisms and a long list of harmless additives that can compromise your health and especially the digestive tract. You also have the satisfaction of knowing that their products are eco-friendly.
So what’s the big deal? Why is it so important to choose grass-fed when buying meat?
1. Perennial grasses are better for soil
2. Grass Fed meat contains 10 times more fat soluble vitamins and CLA than regular grain fed meat
3. Animals that are grass-fed their entire life are healthier — and their meat is safer for you.
4. Grass-fed animals produce the right kind of fat.
5. The corn fed to feedlot cattle is fossil-fuel intensive and heavily subsidized.
6. Perennial pasture reduces flooding and pollution-laden runoff.
7. Grazing animals don’t need the large quantities of antibiotics that feedlot cattle do.
8. Perennial pasture is a carbon sink.
9. Modern grazing methods match the efficiencies of industrial-scale grain production.
10. Pastured animals are treated more humanely.
Organic is not enough when it comes to meats. In fact, if I had to choose between organic animal products and free range grass fed animal products, I’d choose grass fed every time. Why? The main reason is that grass fed meats is far nutritionally superior to organic products and have no side effects for our health.
When a ruminant is taken off pasture and fattened on artificial grain or soy fed diet, it loses its stores of vitamins (especially E), minerals, betacarotene, CLA and omega-3. It does not matter if the grain is organic or not. Feeding large amounts of any kind of grain to a grazing animal makes the meat less beneficial for human consumption. The meat of an animal fed on grain will contain excessive amounts of Omega 6 which lead to inflammation and eventually disease.
All the “scientific studies” are performed on low quality meats and never on organic grass fed meats, otherwise the outcome would be very different. The reason why red meat is associate with all kind of diseases of the GI tract is because of the high content of the bacteria E Coli O157. Ruminants have a digestive tract made to digest grass NOT grain and soy in the best scenario. Feeding grain of any kind to a ruminant dramatically increases the acidity of its digestive tract. This abnormally acid environment causes the E Coli to drastically multiply and also to become more acid-resistant.
According to a recent study published in “The Journal of Science”, these altered bacteria are much more likely to survive the cleansing acidity of your digestive juices and will make you ill or badly ill. Remember: whatever the animal eats you will too! Finally, grass fed meat is likely to be free of the most undesirable elements even when it is not organically certified. I do not know of any grass farmers who doctor their animal with synthetic hormones, put antibiotics in the feed, or use pesticides on their field …… simply because they do not need it. Their animals live at their natural state and are healthy.
If I have to drive a cheaper car or even ride a bike, go less on vacation, buy less clothes, etc. in order to buy quality food I will do it with no hesitation. I want to live a healthy long life and be able to do whatever I want to do with no pain or disease. Health is the most precious thing we can own !!! … enjoy a vibrant and long life , eat 100% grass fed meat.
©2013 Shantih Coro
