Grass Fed Goodness

It is a common belief that all meat that is raised for consumption is the same.  But this is very far from the truth.  There are a number of different practices used today to raise meat for consumption, and studies have shown that some are much healthier than others.

The main difference is that some animals are raised free range and eat a natural diet, while most animals are raised in factory farms and fed grains and other foods not naturally found in the animals diet.

An organic, grass or natural fed, free range animal is raised as the name implies, more or less free to roam.  They live outside, in the open, and have lots of space to move about.  They are fed grass as opposed to grain, and they are virtually free of antibiotics and artificial hormones.  These animals are much healthier to eat.

Factory farm animals, on the other hand, are much different.  These animals are raised inside a building and often crowded extremely close together with no room to move. Many live their entire lives like this.  They eat grain or some type of by-product, and they are fed numerous chemical drugs and growth hormones.  They are also subject to treatment that most free range animals are not.  These animals are not so healthy to eat.

The difference in these animals diets have been shown to have a huge impact on how lean the meat is, as well as it’s nutritional value.  Basically, the closer the animal’s diet is to its natural diet, the leaner and more nutritional it is.  For instance, cattle that is fed grass has 2-4 times the amount of Omega 3 Fatty Acids as grain fed cattle[1]. 

German and Canadian researchers conducted a study to compare the nutritional vale of cattle raised in a natural grazing system (NGS) as opposed to an intensive production system (IPS).  This is what they had to say €œbeef raised on NGS is clearly superior with regard to a more favorable fatty acid profile in comparison to IPS beef.[2]

The reason for this is that the greens that are part of the animal’s natural diet contain omega 3’s.  So when the animal eats greens they store the omega 3s in their tissues.  Factory farmed animals are very rarely or never fed greens.  They are mostly fed grains, but are often fed intestines, feathers, hair, skin, hooves, blood, road kill, euthanized cats and dogs and much more.  So consider cows, which are vegetarian animals, eating these substances.  Their digestive systems are designed to break down grass, not leftover animal debris or even grains. 

One of the easiest ways to find true grass fed meat is to go to the local farmer€™s market.  There is almost always a vendor offering grass fed meat or someone that knows where to get it.  You can also visit this wonderful website, www.eatwild.com, for information on the benefits and where to get grass fed meat.

References

[1]  http://eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm

2  Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, June 2008, 56:4775-4782.