Local is the new organic! July 29th, 2011
Dr. Mercola recently posted the following article on his website that compares Grass-Fed to Organic. Here in Fredericksburg we have access to numerous sources of grass fed beef. My personal favorite is Mount Vernon Farms in Sperryville. You can join together with family and friends and get beef shares or place online orders that are delivered to Fredericksburg once a month year round. http://mountvernonfarm.net/index.html
Grass-fed beef, for instance, is lower in fat than regular CAFO-raised beef. It also contains three to five times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid. The milk from grass-fed cows is also higher in many nutrients, including CLA, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and omega-3 fats.
Health benefits of CLA include:
- Fighting cancer
- Promoting fat loss
- Increasing your metabolic rate
- Promoting normal thyroid function
Delaying onset of diabetes, and improving management of adult-onset diabetes - Helping maintain normal cholesterol levels
- Helping maintain healthful triglyceride levels
- Enhancing your immune system
Why Choosing ‘Grass-Fed’ Beef is More Important than Choosing ‘Organic’
Keep in mind that grass-fed, and particularly grass-finished, beef is almost always preferable to certified organic. There are two primary reasons for this:
- Most grass-fed cattle are fed on grasslands with limited pesticides, fertilizers, and other harmful chemicals, and the animals will never see the inside of a feedlot. Hence it’s often comparable to organic even if it’s not marked as such.
- Most organic beef is still fed organic corn, which is what causes the myriad of health problems associated with eating CAFO-raised beef. Grain diets create a much higher level of acidity in the animal’s stomach, in which E.coli bacteria can thrive.
The term “grass-finished” means the animals were grass-fed throughout their life. Some producers feed their herds grass only in the beginning, and then finish them off on grains.
Grass-fed and finished beef not only trumps grain-fed beef in terms of nutrition, but also in food safety. It has a minimal risk of contamination compared to grain-fed beef due to the difference in stomach pH in the two diets. And since grass-finished animals live in clean grass pastures, this superior level of sanitation greatly reduce the risk of E.coli infection as well. If you can find certified organic, grass-fed and grass-finished meat, you’ve essentially struck gold…
What You Need to Know about the USDA Grass-Fed Label
On November 15, 2007, the USDA enacted new standards for the grass-fed label. According to this new USDA marketing claim standard:
- Grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass (annual and perennial), forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state.
- Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season. Hay, haylage, baleage, silage, crop residue without grain, and other roughage sources may also be included as acceptable feed sources…
This sounds all good and well. However, there are few loopholes. Most importantly, these standards are voluntary, so in order for you to confirm that this standard is actually being met, and the animals were indeed grass-fed until the end, the meat must also carry the “USDA Process Verified” label in addition to the “grass-fed” label.
Additionally, as pointed out by the American Grassfed Association, the definition of “growing season” means that animals could be confined indoors for long periods, and can be kept off of pasture even when there is grass growing. The rules also do not restrict the use of antibiotics and hormones in the animals.
Another issue frequently overlooked is that of cost to the farmer. USDA certification is costly, which prevents many small farmers—who are often raising food in traditional, healthy ways anyway—from legally calling their products “USDA grass-fed,” because they can’t afford to pay for the certification. However, if you go to your local farm and talk to the farmer, you can determine whether or not they fulfill the criteria of ethical and sustainable grass-fed and finished meat production for yourself. By going straight to the source, you’re likely getting the absolute best meat there is, USDA-certified or not.
Are You Ready to Make the Switch?
If you’re currently a vegetarian, and your diet allows you to function at the highest level of energy and fitness and you rarely feel hungry or crave sweets, then you’re likely on the right track. These are signs that you are eating foods that are appropriate for you.
However if you avoid animal protein for ethical reasons, and are struggling with health challenges, then I encourage you to consider changing your diet to include ethically-raised animal proteins. That may actually be the best form of animal activism, because it benefits not only yourself and the animals, but your entire community and the environment as well. The more people start demanding humanely-raised, grass-fed organic meats, the more farms will spring up to meet the demand, which will make it easier and less expensive for everyone to get access to these superior foods.
If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have at least one local farm, look for a farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture program in your area. LocalHarvest.org is a good source. Simply enter your zip code to find nearby farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food.
Switching from supermarket to local farmer allows you to get superior food from a safer, more humane source, while supporting your community and the environment at the same time—it’s truly a win-win-win-win proposition, and what could be better than that?
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