Is Eating Beef Bad For The Planet? The Surprising Truth

For several decades now doctors and researchers have written volumes of research papers and results of clinical trials on the link between cholesterol and heart disease.

Beef does contain more cholesterol than fish or chicken breast meat and a diet high in fatty beef has been shown to contribute to heart disease and cancer.

On the flipside, these studies were done on subjects who consumed typical American diets of feedlot fattened, heavy grain fed beef. Animals used for feedlot "finishing" are  bred to have a high fat content or "marbling" and then fed a diet of rich grains to add further fat to their bodies. Studies have shown that an animal is literally being "fed to death" from the day that it enters a commercial feedlot. Should the diet it is fed continue and it not be slaughtered in a few months, the animal would die a premature death due to a variety of ailments, including intestinal diseases, arthritis, and other ailments. 

Grass Fed Beef and Bison, Alternatives To Feedlot Beef

Lean, grass fed beef and bison meat, that which has never seen a smelly, sprawling commercial feedlot, compares well to chicken in fat content. An added plus is that organic grass fed beef and bison is not treated with growth hormones nor have the animals been treated with pesticides, toxic de-wormers, etc, which may contribute to cancer in humans.

Environmentalists cite the amount of methane that is produced in beef production and many studies have indicated that cows and swine could be the world's largest greenhouse gas producers, since methane has several times the effect as CO2 in global warming.

Again, most of the animals producing all of this methane are raised in feedlots, and  fed an overly rich diet of corn and grains, causing more flatulence and therefore more greenhouse gasses than cattle grazing in pastures.

Grass fed animals such as cattle and bison,  that spend their lives on the open range are not over fed, and therefore do not produce as much methane as any other ungulate or hoofed animal of similar size.

There are many arguments about whether or not to eat beef, including the argument that we should not kill another living, breathing, feeling creature, especially  warm blooded mammals such as cattle. I respect those who choose to eat a vegetarian diet, however for those who choose to keep eating meat, grass fed beef or bison are a better choice than feedlot raised meat.

The vegetarian - meat eater argument aside, if you do decide to eat beef then a grass fed animal is the way to go.

In a time when the world is struggling to feed an ever increasing population, it is important to realize that there will always be huge areas of the world that can never be farmed, but which can produce food for a hungry world from seasonal grasses, weeds and forbs.

These areas include many of the former ranges of the American bison or buffalo in the Great Plains, which some suggest should be returned to its original habitat to produce meat for consumption.

Both bison and organic grass fed beef represent a wise use of our natural resources in that they can produce food off of land that should not be farmed and is better off being covered in grass to prevent erosion of the soil.

Grass covered plains need to be "mowed" regularly by grass eating animals such as beef cattle and bison to remain healthy ecosystems free of weeds, since this is how these ecosystems evolved.

For those that do make the moral choice to eat meat, eating a limited amount of free range, organic beef and bison may actually benefit the planet by using our natural resources wisely.

Books such as the "Compassionate Carnivore" describe how to still eat meat and choose wisely. If we meat eaters vote with our dollars we may see more ranchers switch to raising grass fed beef and bison rather than sending their cattle to stinking, dirty feedlots. The bottom line is that conventionally raised beef, fattened in feedlots, is bad for our environment and our health. Grass fed bison and beef, utilizing un-farmable land wisely, can help provide protein for a hungry world. Vote with your dollars for more environmentally responsible beef by buying only grass fed, hormone free beef and bison.