The Value of Buying Grass-fed, Organic, Hormone-free Animal Foods

One of my previous posts talked about the importance of organic produce - mainly fruits and vegetables. There is also value in buying organic , pasture-raised animal products.

​The quality of animal protein is dependent on the health of the animal; and the health of the animal depends on the life it had, what it ate, and where it lived. The meat, milk, and eggs in our supermarkets are highly contaminated and vastly inferior in nutritional quality to those available to our ancestors just a few decades ago. Healthier animals provide healthier food for humans. Organic means that a food is free of fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, and antibiotics. Let’s take a look at the differences between pasture-raised and pen- raised animals. 

                           Grass-fed / pasture-raised cattle

• Grass-fed cattle eat organic, wild grasses (not grains or animal by-products), shrubs, clovers, and herbs, which each have their own nutrient profile
• They are not treated with drugs, antibiotics, or growth hormones

                         Modern cattle-raising techniques

• Cattle do not see the open range. They are in pens crowded with sick, overweight cattle and their manure
• Cattle fed grain (includes GMO soy and corn and animal by-products)
• Use of steroids - to make meat more tender
• Use of antibiotics - allow cattle to survive in crowded feedlots
• Use of growth hormone - FDA approved a genetically engineered growth hormone for cows
• Diseased animals routinely pass inspection and find their way into the food supply ​

Milk

• As far as milk is concerned, the modern cow is a “freak of nature”. This freak- pituitary cow is prone to many diseases.  
• A century ago: cows produced 2-3 gallons of milk per day.
• Today: cows produce 3-4 times as much and that is accomplished by selective breeding to produce cows with abnormally active pituitary glands. 

Nutritional Benefits: Grass -fed vs. Grain-fed beef

• Lower in fat - up to 50% less fat than grain-fed beef
• Leaner beef means fewer calories
• Higher in vitamins B, E and K
• Higher in beta-carotene
• Higher in minerals - magnesium, calcium, selenium, iron, and zinc
• Higher in heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids
• Higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) - a fatty acid that is health promoting. It makes fat more usable and available for energy and lowers the risk for diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.
• Healthier GI tract - means fewer incidents of e-coli

Butter

Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) occur in large amounts only when butter comes from cows eating green grass.
Butter from pasture-raised cows contains CLA, which has strong anti-cancer properties. It also encourages build-up of muscle and prevents weight gain. CLA disappears when cows are fed even small amounts of grain or processed foods. 

                                Pasture-raised chickens

• Allowed access to pasture
• Eat worms and insects whose nutrients end up in high quality eggs
• No animal by-products in their feed, no injections, and no antibiotics
• Eggs from pasture-raised chickens are the most complete, nutritious, and economical form of animal protein available. Have 10 times more omega 3 (heart friendly) fatty acids

                                 
​                                   Factory-raised chickens

• Raised in crowded pens, often under artificial light both night and day
• Fed substandard food
• Given antibiotics - to guard against infection
• Eggs - inferior in nutritional quality to that of free-range, pasture-raised chickens ​

Note the vibrant color of the egg yolk from pasture-raised chickens. 

Make an effort to obtain organic beef, lamb, and chicken. Other good meat choices include buffalo, wild game (deer) and game birds like duck, geese, pheasant, and wild turkey. To help you find small, local farms in your area (searchable by zip code), try: www.localharvest.org or  www.eatwild.com. In addition, seafood is a great source of animal protein. It tends to be very digestible and contains a great variety of trace minerals. Choose wild fish over farm-raised, which are often fed soy food instead of the healthier insects, larvae, and smaller fish that is part of a wild fish’s diet. Farmed fish also are given antibiotics and injected with dyes (salmon). To make healthy seafood choices, check out Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch website at ​http://www.seafoodwatch.org/cr/ seafoodwatch.aspx.  

Sources:
Fallon, S. (2001). Nourishing traditions. Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing.
Lopez-Bote, C.J. et al. (1998). Effect of free range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative stability of eggs. Animal Feed Science & Technology. 72: 33-40.
Wiedemann Ranch. (2012). www.wrbeefco.com/our-beef/nutritional-benefits-of-grass-fed-beef 

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