Eating organic/grass fed beef-meat

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  Aug 16, 2010 8:00 AM GMT

  Anyone here eat all organic foods/vegetables and grass fed beef/meat?
  
  I have been listening to podcasts on the benefits of it and studying it lately and it does make alot of sense. All the chemicals from the vegetables and insecticides and etc on vegetables can't be good for you...as well as all the stuff they do to animals to get them bigger faster can't be good for the meat we ingest everyday....
  
  Even if there were no nutritional advantages of eating this way, just knowing that I am not taking in all these additional chemicals into my body is starting to make me want to switch to this way of eating as soon as I can.
  
  I have already found a local farm where I can purchase alot of these items from and invest in a cow or poultry or whatever that is grass fed and etc. Ordering "raw" milk, organic vegetables, eggs and etc.
  
  It just seems to make sense ya know? What do you think?
  
  I always seem to think also about how much better an organic grown tomatoe tastes when someone gives me one compared to the crap you buy in the store....the organic one just melts in your mouth, so ripe, delicious and full of flavor!!! How can eating this way for everything be bad for us?
  
  I think if we all went back to eating this way it could possible cut down on disease, cancers and etc?
  
  What do you think?
  
  

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  Aug 16, 2010 10:59 AM GMT

  No beneficial effects on human health has been shown from switching to an all-organic diet yet but there are great effects on biodiversity and water health in areas with organic farming. So it does help nature.
  
  With regard to raw milk my rule of thumb is to not drink raw milk from a cow you can't see while drinking it. The effect pasteurization (sp?) is negligible compared to dunking the milk into a hydrochloric acid bath.
  
  With regard to grass feeding - since our ancestors for the last couple of billion years have been eating mainly cyanobacteria and chloroplasts and things that ate those, I sincerely believe that grass-fed is so much better for you. Cows are fed grains so they will become obese. That way even a dried up old milk cow can become edible if you add enough salt.
  The positive effects on human health of eating vegetables is well documented and I believe we can get some of the same benefits by feeding our meat animals some of the same. Also if organic vegetables are tastier to you you should eat more of them, thus improving your health.

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  Aug 16, 2010 11:37 AM GMT

  I've been doing all organic for several years. I even "farm" in my backyard seasonally and am enjoying tons of heirloom tomatoes atm and they are way better than store bought non organic. I fertilize with compost and clam shells, etc.
  
  I also try whenever possible to buy local from local farmers, fisherman etc. It reduces the amount of energy used to get the food to me and supports the local economy (thats goes same for dining out - try and dine at as many in-town restaurants as possible).
  
  I eat organic as much for its benefit to the environment as for the theorized health benefit of not injesting residual pesticides. It's signifcantly more expensive but I think the long term benefits outweigh the cost.
  

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  Aug 16, 2010 12:01 PM GMT

  Could not have stated it better, pjp201. Well said.

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  Aug 16, 2010 1:37 PM GMT

  When it comes to produce, I do buy organic for the "dirty dozen" most heavily sprayed crops, but I won't pay 50 cents for an organic lime if the non-organic ones are better quality and cost less.
  
  For meat, I eat mostly organic, with an emphasis on grass fed. I buy pastured, locally raised eggs, chicken, beef, and lamb. I also hunt deer on occasion, but I'm really not overly fond of venison.

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  Aug 16, 2010 1:54 PM GMT

  organic food are significantly more expensive, not sure if it's worth it.
  I'm skeptical about this organic crap. I would only trust growing my own veggies and having a farm. Not possible living in an apartment.

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  Aug 16, 2010 5:42 PM GMT

  I'm still in the camp of "hogwash." I buy weed from smelly dudes with dreadlocks, not nutritional advice.

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• metta
  
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  Aug 16, 2010 5:44 PM GMT

  Raw Organic Milk Chart:
  
  http://organicpastures.com/whyraw.html
  
  Also great for people who are lactose intolerant.
  
  
  Body Burden
  http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/

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• neosyllogy
  
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  Aug 16, 2010 5:54 PM GMT

  Chemicals and pesticides kill off the weak cells in your body until only the strong are left! Take your poison son, it'll make you a man's man. (Not in the gay sense, but that's already a given anyway, I guess.)

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  Aug 16, 2010 5:56 PM GMT

  Big Ag and their hired thugs would disagree...
  
  

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  Aug 16, 2010 6:01 PM GMT

  The main (provable) advantage of range-fed cattle (not organic, by the way) is on the environment; huge, multi-county corporate farms contribute to run-off, lack of biodiversity, excessive use of antibiotics and herbicides. Run-off chokes waterways with silt, organic waste and pesticides. People eat cheaper, but we're being set up for a food supply collapse.

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  Aug 16, 2010 8:18 PM GMT

  I eat organic & grass fed beef/meats. I find they do actually taste better, and the beef has actually had a proper grazing diet, as oppose to the corn meal diet they stuff general beef with, gaining weight/ mass to speed up the weight for slaughter. Not to mention no chemicals is a bonus, at least for my piece of mind.
  
  After living in SF, I really came to appreaciate organic & locally grown produce for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which the lack of pesticides in them, not to mention in the environment.
  Benefit, pro or con, we are living in a country of obese people & horrid environmental practises, which, admittedly are slightly improving, but at the very least I like the idea of respecting the food we eat and the animals we eat. I love meat. Dear sweet gods, I love meat. And, I make a donation to the
  Nature Conservancy, everytime I eat veal. It kind of like a penance...

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  Aug 16, 2010 9:35 PM GMT

  There continues to be more and more science around the benefits of grass-finished meats. Check out
  
  www.eatwild.com
  
  and click on health benefits to see some interesting stories with references included.
  
  Check out these 2 mice:
  
  
  My gross simplification of the study, found under health benefits at the URL above: Same amount of exercise, one 4th-generation mouse (fat) getting high Omega-6, the modern conventional western diet. one mouse (lean) getting higher Omega-3 (normal mouse chow), what you'd find in a more grass-finished diet. It's scary to think about the intergenerational effects of diet.
  
  Here's a hint you may not know. If you have a freezer and know a rancher selling grass finished beef, buy the beef in the fall. That is the time of year when the cow has the highest amount of good CLAs, Omega-3s, etc. Over the course of the winter, when fresh grass is likely not available and the cows are on hay, these nutrients decrease. A 25-pound pack of beef easily fits in the freezer compartment of a regular US-sized refrigerator. Anything more than that and you're probably looking at a dedicated freezer.
  
  When it comes to poultry, free-range is not what you think it means. You really want pastured poultry. Free range simply means the (debeaked!) chicken can walk around the warehouse with thousands of other birds rather than spending its whole life in a cage where it can't even stretch out its wings. Watch the movie Food Inc if you want to see how free-range chicken is produced.
  
  

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  Aug 16, 2010 10:00 PM GMT

  "Organic" is a label that doesn't have a helluva lot of meaning these days. As far as taste goes, you're better off trying to eat locally grown produce than to buy "organic" apples grown in China (or wherever) and shipped to Whole Foods.
  
  Grass-fed beef has a significantly lower fat content than the usual feed-lot beef. I like the flavor of grass-fed but a lot of people have no idea how to cook it.
  
  Here's one of a zillion stories about "organic certification":
  
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html

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• shag91607
  
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  Aug 16, 2010 10:50 PM GMT

  ObsceneWish said"Organic" is a label that doesn't have a helluva lot of meaning these days. As far as taste goes, you're better off trying to eat locally grown produce than to buy "organic" apples grown in China (or wherever) and shipped to Whole Foods.
  
  Grass-fed beef has a significantly lower fat content than the usual feed-lot beef. I like the flavor of grass-fed but a lot of people have no idea how to cook it.
  
  Here's one of a zillion stories about "organic certification":
  
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html

  
  
  There's a huge difference between products that are labeled, 100% organic, USDA organic, and "all-natural" products. Same with organic labeling on produce; it can't just be used willy-nilly - even on imported products.
  
  Hell, there's more stringent labeling and certification guidelines for the term "organic" than there is for "grass-fed." Just saying.

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  Aug 17, 2010 1:59 AM GMT

  And there's the horror of what "free range" can mean.

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• kittar
  
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  Aug 17, 2010 2:01 AM GMT

  ObsceneWish saidAnd there's the horror of what "free range" can mean.

  
  
  Amen!
  
  Redbull, you should check out this book, if you haven't already:
  
  
  Michael Pollan, the author, covers all manner of world food issues, from the true meaning of organic, to the goodness of local food. Check it out
  

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• conquer
  
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  Aug 17, 2010 2:09 AM GMT

  here in victoria, locals are very conscious about where things come from. i buy locally raised meat, chicken etc and organic veggies, potatoes. i am currently trying to reduce my use of plastics of all kinds, but thats virtually impossible. most grocery stores here are going to start charging for bags soon

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  Aug 17, 2010 3:05 AM GMT

  well i'll try to finish this thread for a third time and add my two cents worth as a Canadian cattleman. There are two processes in feeding a steer before slaughter. About a month after a bull calf is born, it is castrated to eliminate the testosterone from bulking up the animal and making the meat tough. It also keeps unwanted bulls out of the herd. The castrated bull calf is now called a steer and ranges with its mother on free pasture or free range, all of which is grass of some sort but is still grass. There is no such thing as organic grass, cattlemen do not fertilize pasture, it would be taken into the meat and it is ridiculously expensive. We fertilize grain and hay crops. At about 6-7 months of age, the steer is weaned off the cow and sent to auction where the big feedlots come in. The purchase the steer and it is transported for pen finishing, the size of the feedlot varies. In canada, the majority of our beef is finished with grain, which is the expensive but best way to finish a steer. this will last until the steer is around 12months. now it isn't on a strict diet of grain, it is also hay and grass fed but the grain lends to tender, dark, marbled meat which is lower in fat and higher in protein. Hence why people rave about Alberta Beef. American ranchers, on the other hand tend to finish with corn, which is the lesser way and more economical. The beef however tends to be a yellower color, has more fat and the protein isn't as high. So when someone tells you that your beef is fed organic grass, they are full of bullshit (pun intended).
  As far as vaccines, etc. animals do need shots to prevent disease and sometimes require medication if they deveelp an illness. Federal law in Canada prohibits the marketing of any animal that has been dosed orally or by injection for a minimum of 90days following same. We take special care in raising and handling the animals. it is our livelihood. the big problems are NOT on the ranches but in the packing houses when the animal is slaughtered. I'd be happy to try and answer any questions unless there is another rancher here that knows more.....

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  Aug 17, 2010 3:34 AM GMT

  Michael Pollen does a great job in explaining how our American food supply is so f'ed up and corrupted by big Ag and how ADM and Cargill (sp?) threw money and power around to hijack the food production business in the US and oriented everything towards cheap surplus corn. Yes, Alberta beef is quite yummy too.
  
  I grew up on a central NY dairy farm and we raised Angus and Herefords (mostly) since we had so much surplus feed corn, alfalfa and timothy hay) for the Holsteins and Jersey dairy cows. We sold locker meat (whole, 1/2 or 1/4 animals) for extra income but usually ate Holstein steers (lame) so I didn't really develop a taste for beef until the last 10 years when the grass fed products became available. My parents were thrifty depression era kids and I guess that beef money helped us all through college.
  
  I am lucky enough to eat mostly elk, deer, duck, salmon and trout for grillables.
  
  I am impressed in how many of you are environmentally minded and clued into the devastating the impacts of raising animals for human consumption causes. The book "Diet for a Healthy Planet" written in the '60s picked up on this long ago.
  
  The less chemicals you take in the better for you and the planet but it's a fact that the US has such a surplus of food because of the pesticides and fertilizers that are used. The planet earth reached carrying capacity in the 1930's and that's at 1930's levels of technology and standard of living.

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• metta
  
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  Aug 17, 2010 6:36 AM GMT

  ^
  It was Diet For A New America that did it for me. I have been a vegetarian since 1990 because of it.
  
  

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  Aug 17, 2010 3:30 PM GMT

  redbull saidAnyone here eat all organic foods/vegetables and grass fed beef/meat?

  As much as practical, yes. I always look for organic before buying the other crap.

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  Aug 17, 2010 4:39 PM GMT

  To me 'Organic Buying' has become a rolling wagon that everyone is jumping on, like herbal medicine, vitamins, etc. Now i'm NOT against this but i know big industry and i know the north american consumer mind. Big industry sees what we want and supplies it by the boat load. Now put the label organic (which is not regulated or defined) on something and watch your sales boost. Its the same with Granola cereals. Everyone thinks they're healthy, but read the nutrition label on the package and they are high in sugars and calories. Wall/Yonge street agencies know exactly how to spin a product so they will sell. The electric car is a good example right? What in the world are we gonna do with all those batteries when they are no good?
  
  Eat right, eat healthy, and do your best without falling into the band wagon trap and DON'T believe a thing corporate America is spinning, it's bullshit covered in calories.....

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  Aug 17, 2010 6:13 PM GMT

  vetteset said Now put the label organic (which is not regulated or defined) on something and watch your sales boost.

  
  
  I don't know about Canada, but in the USA, organic is most definitely defined and regulated. In fact, it's become so defined and regulated that it's often too expensive for small growers to get organic certification. None of the local producers I buy from is certified organic.

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  Aug 17, 2010 8:00 PM GMT

  but what about kobe beef?

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