Grass-Fed Beef is Better for You, Better for Earth

Grass-fed beef is where it’s at. Did you know that the majority of U.S. bovines feed on a mix of grains (mostly corn) instead of grass? Forcing cattle to eat a diet full of grains allows ranchers to fatten them up quicker and get the meat to our stores faster and cheaper. But, the quality of life for the bovines suffers as does the quality of our meat. Compared with a serving of grain-fed beef, healthier grass-fed beef has 1/3 less fat, almost twice the amount of omega-3s, twice the amount of conjugated linoleic acid (CLAs), and fewer cases of E. coli. (Ref: Women’s Health Mag, July/August 2008, p. 86-93)

Women’s Health says to look for black and white labels on your meat that say “GRASS-FED AND USDA PROCESS VERIFIED.” Also reach for labels that say “organic,” “antibiotic-free,” and “hormone-free.” The healthiest cuts of beef are: top sirloin, 95% lean ground beef, top round roast, sirloin tip steak side, bottom round roast, and eye round roast.

Grass-fed beef is also significantly better for the environment. Growing corn for feed produces a ton of greenhouse gases and also adds more chemical fertilizers to the soil. Every year, the U.S. grows 1.5 billion bushels of corn strictly for cow feed. Yikes! It takes 50% less fossil fuel energy to produce grass-fed beef as it does grain-fed.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, grass-fed beef is considerably more expensive. But, consider that the American Institute for Cancer Research recommends that you eat less than 18 ounces per week. Save that steak dinner for special occasions or when you’re really having a craving. When you do, go ahead and splurge on the top-quality grass-fed kind. It tastes better too!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Fat, Food labels, Meat, Omega 3s, Organic, Protein. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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One Response to “Grass-Fed Beef is Better for You, Better for Earth”

Michael Says:
July 1st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Good post. Grass-Fed is the way to go. It’s starting to become more available but still not understood like it should.

Good mention of the issue of Corn. I didn’t realize how bad it was on the environment. We though we were solving a problem with ethanol fuel but only contributing to another one. They make it sound so “green” that they are not polluting through oil. Trading evils for lesser evils. It’s still bad though.