letstalkfood:

I sat down this morning to do some research on the benefits of Organic Beef vs Commercial Beef, and I was blown away by some of the information I found. Turns out that not even Organic beef is as healthy for us as we have been lead to believe. I don’t intend to sit here and slam the Commercial or Organic beef industry, but I am going to provide information that may help you make an informed decision when it comes time to buy meat for the family again.

I found out that there are two types of Organic Beef, Grass-Fed and Grain Finished. Grass-fed means just what it says, the cattle are fed nothing but organic grass from the time they are born to the time they are slaughtered. These types of cattle are leaner and sometimes said to be less flavorful than grain-fed. I guess some people haven’t figured out what a little light seasoning can do. To me, this sounds like the way to go if you are going to purchase beef. Sure it may cost more than most beef, but can you really put a cost on your health?

Grain-finished Organic Beef is grass-fed beef cattle that are pulled from the rest of the herd and are fed organic grain for the remainder of their lives before slaughter. This is where a vast majority of your Certified Organic Beef comes from. It is more common practice in the Organic Beef industry to grain-finish the cattle, as some say it provides customers with a more flavorful cattle with a higher percentage of fat. Extra fat? I know that it provides flavor and if you cook it right you lose most of it, but isn’t fat what we are trying to stay away from? Not to mention that these cattle in particular are place in crowded feedlots. This means that they are also given additional feed additives and antibiotics to prevent illness from this unhealthy environment. It is however more healthy to eat this version of Organic beef than regular commercial beef cattle.

Commercial beef is by far the most unhealthy form of beef you can possibly eat. They are feed mostly grains filled with all kind of additives and antibiotics. Not to mention they are given steroids and other growth hormones to speed up the growth process. Rapid growth means more fat. Do we really need MORE fat? There isn’t much we don’t already know about how regular commercial beef cattle are raised, so I am not going to spend an eternity talking about it. You know how unhealthy steroids and growth hormones are, so don’t eat it.

I am going to finish by asking everyone for their personal opinion about the benefits of Organic Vs Non-Organic. Whether it be beef, chicken, fish, or any other product you feel strongly about, I want to know how you feel.