Although I am not necessarily encouraging anyone to eat meat (it is a personal choice), if you do eat meat, please read this. Like most of the goods in this country, our meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are now being mass produced. Today, most commercially available meats are factory farmed because it’s fast, convenient and more profitable. And if you are a meat eater, eating organic animal products is always better than eating regular, mass produced, factory-farmed feedlot animals. Unfortunately, even organic products can be from animals that are raised in confinement and fed grains. On the plus side, at least the feed doesn’t contain cost saving restaurant waste, animal byproducts, municipal garbage, bubble gum and poultry manure as it does in regular feedlots.
Switching from natural diet of grasses to grains:
Originally all cattle were grass-fed, which is what they were meant to eat–grasses and shrubs. Grazing animals such as cows, sheep, goats and bison possess a rumen, or a second stomach, which is like a fermentation tank. In this rumen, normal bacteria convert grasses, shrubs and plants into protein and fats. When you feed these “ruminants” grains, all sorts of problems occur. In particular, it makes their digestive tracts acidic and they develop “sub acute acidosis.” This results in the animals experiencing diarrhea and excessive salivation. The animals may also kick at their bellies, eat dirt and go off their feed. We also know that this acidic environment encourages the development of E. coli bacteria. This is why feedlot animals need to be given constant antibiotics and is one of the reasons why humans experience problematic bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
Switching ruminants from their natural diet of grasses to grains also lowers their nutritional value (see benefits of Grass-Fed Meats).When you choose grass-fed beef, lamb, bison or poultry, you’re eating nutritious and healthy meats, as nature intended.
A good resource is http://www.eatwild.com/. Remember if it doesn’t say grass-fed, you can assume it’s grain-fed.
The benefits of eating grass fed meat:
- Better for your health.
- No antibiotics, animal by-products, hormones or other drugs.
- Less fat (6-8 times less) and therefore fewer calories. Grass-fed beef often has the same amount of fat as skinless chicken breast.
- Less pro-inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids.
- More anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids (2-5 times more than grain-fed cattle), because grass is high in Omega-3.
- More conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), another good fatty acid that reduces the risk of cancer, diabetes and obesity. The human body can’t produce CLA, but it can be obtained through foods such as whole milk, butter and beef. Studies show grass-fed cows have 500% more CLA in their milk than those that are fed silage.
- More vitamin E.
- Better for the environment. Less ground, air and water pollution.
- Better for the animals. More humane treatment of the animals.
When you choose products from pastured animals, you are eating the food that nature intended. You are also supporting small farmers, safeguarding the environment, promoting animal welfare, and eating food that is nutritious, wholesome and delicious.
Check out this animation movie about the meat you eat to our website link or www.themeatrix.com




Hormones in U.S. Beef by Sam Epstein
“Meat still not monitored for hormone residues”
U.S beef is heavily contaminated with natural or synthetic sex hormones. The hormones in past and current use include the natural estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, and the synthetic zeranol, trenbolone, and melengesterol. When beef cattle enter feedlots, pellets of these hormones are implanted under the ear skin, a process that is repeated at the midpoint of their 100-day pre-slaughter fattening period. These hormones increase carcass weight, adding over $80 extra profit per animal.
Also, and not surprisingly, but contrary to longstanding claims by the FDA and USDA, residues of these hormones in meat are up to 20-fold higher than normal. Still higher residues result from the not uncommon illegal practice of implantation directly into muscle. Furthermore, contrary to misleading assurances, meat is still not monitored for hormone residues.
“Hormone residues in meat linked to the escalating incidence of cancers”
Increased levels of sex hormones are linked to the escalating incidence of reproductive cancers in the U.S. since 1975, 60% for prostate, 59% for testis, and 10% for breast. Nevertheless, the FDA and USDA maintain that hormone residues in meat are within “normal levels,” while waiving any requirements for residue testing.
Following a single ear implant in steers of Synovex-S, a combination of estrogen and progesterone, residues of these hormones in meat were found to be up to 20-fold higher than normal. The amount of estradiol in two hamburgers eaten in one day by an 8-year-old boy could increase his total hormone levels by as much as 10%, particularly as young children have very low natural hormone levels. Not surprisingly, the incidence of childhood cancer has increased by 38% since 1975.
“Jeopardizing the health and safety of consumers of meat, milk and poultry”
These concerns are not new. As evidenced in a series of General Accountability Office investigations and Congressional hearings, FDA residue-tolerance programs and USDA inspections are in near total disarray, aggravated by brazen denials and cover-ups.
A January 1986 report, “Human Food Safety and the Regulation of Animal Drugs,” unanimously approved by the House Committee on Government Operations, concluded that “the FDA has consistently disregarded its responsibility – has repeatedly put what is perceives are interests of veterinarians and the livestock industry ahead of its legal obligation to protect consumers, thus jeopardizing the health and safety of consumers of meat, milk and poultry.
Based on these concerns, Europe banned imports of U.S. beef in 1989, and Japan followed up with its own ban in 2003. Before the ban, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for American beef, importing more than $1.5 billion worth in 2002.
In this connection, it is well recognized that American women have about a five-fold greater risk of breast cancer than Japanese. However, as recently confirmed by studies of cancer rates in Los Angeles County, the most highly populated ethnically diverse county in the U.S., the low risk in Japanese women increases sharply in immigrants to the U.S. after one to two generations. This, and a wide range of other studies in migrant populations, are supportive of avoidable, dietary, and possibly other “Westernized” lifestyle, causes of breast cancer, particularly hormonal meat.