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August 01 2008

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Grass-Fed Beef is Better for Your Health and the Environment

Several studies point to the health benefits of grass-fed beef, as distinguished from cattle raised on corn-based feed. In addition to having higher levels of “good fats” such as omega-3’s and conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), grass-fed beef has significantly less fat and calories.

Grass-fed beef also avoids some of the health concerns associated with cattle fed on grain. The outbreak of mad cow disease in Europe in the 1990s was caused by grain that was mixed with meat-and-bonemeal from contaminated cows.

Grass-fed beef is even be better for the environment. Because fewer cows can be kept on a pasture, farms that raise grass-fed beef tend to be smaller and less polluting. In addition, the mass production of corn necessary to provide grain for industrial cow farms produces serious emissions in the form of harvesting and transportation.

Sources:

  Finding Dulcinea July 29, 2008




 
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Comment on This Article Community Comments (7)
 
 
Posted On Jul 31, 2008
This has been well known for a long time.
If grass-feeding animals are fed grains....they become as sick and nutrient deficient as we do...and then we eat them...
...No surprise there then!
I like the wrapper around Anchor butter, which explains succinctly about their cows eating grass and flowers.....

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Posted On Jul 31, 2008
Anchor butter is made in New Zealand David. All dairy herds here are kept on grass. We live next to a dairy farm and can see the cows out contentedly grazing during the day. They are moved into the milking shed morning and evening to be milked, then returned to the pasture.

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Posted On Aug 01, 2008
Aaltrude i wonder if they distribute to Canada, can't seem to find any here in Ontario Canada...

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Posted On Aug 02, 2008
I love grass fed beef!!  In tests it has the equivalent amt. of Omega 3s as wild alaskan Salmon (stay away from farm raised)....Since I am so afraid of fish contamination....I have been eating grass fed beef a couple of times a week( in addition to non pasturized milk, yogurt and grass fed butter).....my cholesterol was just done and it is 176 (a little too low for my age...should be 220) my triglycerides are 40  and my HDL is 54!!!.......Beef is not too blame.....it is the way it is raised..

Beware of "organic" beef...these cows could just be getting organic grain...and still not out in a pasture.....or getting organic "hay"...not the fresh stuff.....really know your source!...I travel two hours one way to get my beef (and pork and chickens and butter and cheese)....from an amish farmer...his cows are from an old line of his family's.....the chickens are in the pasture with the cows scratching at the cow patties to eat the maggots.....anybody familiar with permaculture knows what I'm talking about (for those who don't, it's steps beyond just organic...here's a crash course, if you're interested   http://www.permaculture.org.uk/mm.asp?mmfile=Origins_of_permaculture just 100 acres done properly could feed a whole community 

The cost isn't as expensive as in the stores...in my area (PA) 1# of grass fed groundbeef is approx. $6.88, on the farm it's approx. $2.50......my farmer is also an amish butcher...everything is cut to my specs (delmonicos are approx. $4.25/ lb.)    I go maybe 3x per year and load my freezer...a lot of my friends follow.....The meat is so fresh!   Slaughtered the day before  and deep ruby red...like red wine...not that bright christmas red you see in the stores(fake! and grain fed)

Cows are not meant to be  fed corn...peace!

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Posted On Aug 03, 2008
I used to get grass fed beef from a biodynamic farmer years ago. He would go to the slaughterhouse with a bull and keep it calm and relaxed right up until slaughter time. Best tasting beef I ever had. No tissues flooded with hormones associated with panic and stress.

If you've ever been to a slaughterhouse, the animals often start realizing that this is not a good place to be, long before they are loaded into the chute. My husband designed the water treatment facility at a Florida slaughterhouse and reported seeing a bull jumping the fence and galloping off down the road. Smart bull! But I wouldn't want his meat on my plate after that!

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Posted On Aug 01, 2008
In China, where they eat a lot of donkey, the skin is especially prized for it's high Vitamin D content. I wonder if this is true for cow skin, also.

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Posted On Aug 01, 2008
BeeGirl, can't answer for the beef, but I know that lard from pastured pigs is higher in Vitamin D than anything except fish oil.

And it sure makes a tender, flaky pie crust! Nom nom nom...

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