Since the 1990s, local meat farmers have started producing natural meats. By keeping their cattle on pasture land where they can roam freely and eat fresh green plants, they are following more traditional practices, while eliminating the use of artificial growth hormones and antibiotics. Unlike the feedlots on factory farms, this is a more humane option for the animals, and also better for the environment. Grass fed beef and other meats also taste better, and now it’s possible to buy grass-fed steak online.
Pasture v. feed lot
In factory farms, cattle are put into feedlots where they are fed an artificial diet of grain, soy and other supplements to fatten them. Many farmers add antibiotics and growth hormones to the feed to add bulk faster. Cattle are kept confined in small spaces and forced to stand in their own manure. This is stressful for them, for farm workers and for nearby residents.
Luckily, there are more humane alternatives available right now, with small farms that put cattle out to pasture in the traditional way. Cattle live in open meadows and sunshine, eating grass and fresh green plants. Pasture raising cattle is not only the more humane opinion, it also produces healthier and better tasting beef. Free range pork is also healthier and tastes better.
Health benefits of sustainable meat
Beef from humanely raised cattle is healthier and more nutritious. It is full of Omega 3 and Omega 6 acids, derived from a diet of fresh plants growing in the sunshine. Grass fed beef and other pasture raised meats have less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. They have more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and health-promoting fats.
The ultimate argument in favor of grass fed beef might be the taste. There are no chemicals and no artificial additives, just natural meat of the kind that humans have eaten throughout history. Grass fed meat recipes are easily available online and can help you benefit fully from their nutritional properties. And best of all, it’s now possible to buy grass-fed steak online. So you can eat healthy even if you don’t live in the country.
Better for the environment
Feedlots also harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases. The floor consists of bare dirt and manure, which produces ammonia and greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. Pasture, by contrast, uses the manure as fertilizer, fixing it into the soil and drawing out the greenhouse gases instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.
In fact, scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that grasslands that are grazed by cattle are better at fixing carbon in the soil than undisturbed ones. The manure acts as as fertilizer, and the carbon is stored in the soil, slowing down global warming and climate change. Raising cattle on pasture rather than feedlots is a self-sustaining, sustainable system. When you buy grass fed beef, you’re making a big contribution to saving the environment.
When you buy grass-fed steak online, you’re getting the healthiest meats possible for yourself and your family. You’re also supporting humane farming and the environment.
