Why Organics

Why Choose Organic and Grass fed Beef?

More essential Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain-fed animals.
• Each day that an animal spends in the feedlot, its supply of omega-3s is diminished

More health-promoting CLA

• When animals are raised on fresh pasture alone, their products contain from three to five times more CLA than products from animals fed conventional diets.
• You would have to eat five times the amount of grain-fed meat to get the same level of CLA found in grass-fed animals.

More Vitamin E, C and Beta-Carotene

• The meat from the pastured cattle is four times higher in vitamin E, C and Beta-Carotene than the meat from the feedlot cattle and almost twice as high as the meat from the feedlot cattle given vitamin supplements.

Less Total Fat

• Meat from grass-fed cattle is lower in total fat than feedlot-raised animals.
• Research shows that lean beef actually lowers your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels.
• Typical annual consumption of beef per person is 66.5 pounds.
• Switching to lean grass-fed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year. If all Americans switched to grass-fed meat, our national epidemic of obesity might diminish.

Why don't we use antibiotics on our livestock?

Overuse of antibiotics in animals is causing more strains of drug-resistant bacteria, which is affecting the treatment of various life-threatening diseases in humans. The Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences has estimated the annual cost of treating antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S. at $30 billion.

- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. May 4, 1999
"Antimicrobial Fact Sheet"
(http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/)

Fifty million pounds of antibiotics are produced in the U.S. each year. Twenty million pounds are given to animals, of which 80% (16 million pounds) is used on livestock merely to promote more rapid growth. The remaining 20% is used to help control the multitude of diseases that occur under such tightly confined conditions, including anemia, influenza, intestinal diseases, mastitis, metritis, orthostasis, and pneumonia.

- American Medical News, February 15, 1999
"FDA Pledges to Fight Overuse of Antibiotics in Animals"
(http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/)

Antibiotics in farm animals leave behind drug-resistant microbes in meat and milk. With every burger and shake consumed, super-microbes settle in the stomach where they transfer drug resistance to bacteria in the body, making an individual more vulnerable to previously-treatable conditions.

- Newsweek, March 7, 1994
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek/)

Many health officials and chefs promote the use of organic food, but what makes it any different than traditionally grown fare? In the case of organic beef, the differences are pretty remarkable. The life of an organic cow and one that lives on a conventional feedlot are worlds apart. In addition, most traditional cattle feedlots have substantial negative impacts on the environment, whereas organic ranches do not.

Where Does Organic Beef Come From?

According to the USDA's Federal Regulations for the National Organic Program, farms and ranches must have a special organic certification in order to label and sell their production as organic. Meat that is labeled and marketed as organic must come from livestock that has lived under continuous organic management from the last third of gestation.

Where Does Traditional Beef Come From?

Most conventional beef comes from cattle that are raised on concentrated-animal feeding operations (CAFOs), sometimes called factory farms. According to "Food, Inc.," the book accompaniment to the documentary film of the same name, these are industrial-scale facilities that feed and house tens of thousands of animals in such close proximity that normal behaviors, such as grazing, cannot be carried out.

Livestock Living Conditions

According to Brian Walsh from "Time" magazine, cattle raised on CAFOs live in such close quarters that they can hardly move, and, in some states, farm animals don't even have space to lie down. Organic cattle, on the other hand, are raised in open-air fields or pastures, and are free to move about as they wish. USDA regulations state that organic livestock must have access to "the outdoors...fresh air, and direct sunlight...opportunity to exercise...and appropriate clean, dry bedding."

Differences in Diet

Under USDA regulations, all organic livestock must be fed a diet of "agricultural products...that are organically produced and ...organically handled." This usually means that organic cattle eat grass or organically grown grains that are not sprayed with synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or other chemicals. Most cattle raised on traditional feedlots eat mainly corn and soybeans. According to Weber, cattle and other ruminants are designed to eat grass, but those that eat grains have been found to have more E. Coli bacteria in their intestinal tract and feces, which can contaminate meat with the deadly bacteria during slaughter. Unlike conventionally raised livestock, organic animals are not fed plastic pellets, formulas containing urea or manure, or slaughter by-products, as stated by the USDA.

Additives

Since so many animals live so close together on CAFOs, disease can spread quickly; therefore, farmers must dose each animal with antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick. According to Walsh, increased use of antibiotics on farm animals leads to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that can be passed to humans. Organic cattle don't need antibiotics, because they don't live in such tight quarters. USDA organic standards prohibit the use of any medical treatment given to animals unless they are sick, including antibiotics and synthetic parasiticides. Organic farmers and ranchers are also prohibited from giving their animals hormones or supplements to promote growth, as conventional feedlots often do in order to make their cattle grow faster, so that they can be slaughtered sooner, which lowers the cost of raising them. According to Weber, ingesting hormones from meat can lead to hormonal imbalances that may cause cancer.

Environmental Impact

Grass from organic pastures isn't treated with pesticides, nor is it fertilized with chemicals, but with the animals' manure instead, thereby eliminating the problem of disposing of tons of manure produced by animals in non-organic feedlots. Walsh writes that CAFOs are detrimental to the environment because they produce millions of tons of manure that contaminates nearby water supplies, and they consume millions of tons of corn that is chemically fertilized, which produces runoff that contaminates the Gulf of Mexico and kills large amounts of sea life each year. Also, according to Weber, CAFOs can't possibly process the enormous amounts of waste produced by thousands of animals, so they collect manure in cesspools and spray it onto the land, which can cause health problems for facility workers and neighbors, as well as potentially contaminate vegetable crops with E. Coli bacteria present in the manure.

Is Organic Beef Worth the Cost?

Because of the efficiency of CAFOs as well as government subsidies, millions of pounds of meat can be produced quickly and cheaply, making hamburgers cheaper than whole grains and fresh vegetables, which contributes to the increasing obesity epidemic. Organic, grass-fed meat, however, is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids--which can lower cholesterol--beta-carotene and vitamin E. Unfortunately, organic meat costs much more than conventional meat, because it is more expensive to produce since organic ranchers can't raise as many cattle per acre as CAFOs. But Walsh writes that the long-term cost to our bodies and our planet far outweighs the extra dollars we dole out at the supermarket.

Organic beef carries a heavy price tag and has a reputation among environmentalists and health food enthusiasts as the superior choice. While organic beef isn't vastly nutritionally different from traditionally grown beef, choosing it over traditionally grown beef may offer some health benefits, such as decreased exposure to pesticides and hormones. The American Heart Association recommends eating any type of beef in moderation to help minimize heart disease risk.

Nutritional Profile

Organic foods contain nearly the same nutrient profiles as conventionally grown or raised foods, according to MayoClinic.com. That means organic beef won't give you more iron, protein or vitamins and minerals than conventional beef. Organic beef has less fat because of the livestock's vegetarian diet, slower weight-gain and increased physical activity.

Organic beef comes from cows that have not been treated with hormones or antibiotics. Hormones help increase appetite, speed weight gain in increase milk production in cattle, which means more meat and milk in a shorter span of time. Antibiotics also speed growth and help keep the animals free of diseases and infections that can spread rapidly when thousands of cows live in close proximity. Their use sparks controversy due to links with early puberty in girls, increased risk of breast cancer, resistance to antibiotics and increased dairy allergies. According to Cornell University, limited research and contradictory findings mean we don't yet understand if or how these additives negatively affect the human body.

Minimized Exposure to Pesticides

Overexposure to pesticides can affect your nervous and endocrine systems and may increase your cancer risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In order to obtain USDA-certified organic status, livestock must be fed organically grown grain and have access to pesticide-free pastures for grazing. While farmers may not add or use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, foods still run the risk of exposure due to overspray from neighboring farms and contaminants that leech into soil and groundwater.