With veganism trends on the rise as a fad new diet or an alternative lifestyle, people may find themselves questioning their dietary habits. You do not have to go vegan to make a difference in your health or in the world. Here are six reasons why you should try eating grass-fed meats:
- A healthier you
Grass-fed meats are richer in omega-3s, vitamins, and conjugated linoleic acids, which lower risks for heart disease and heart attacks. Grass-fed meats also are produced without antibiotics as a growth-promoter, which means that you the consumer will not be taking in any excess antibiotics.
- Supporting local business
The agribusiness industry is responsible for mass-producing meat and animal products, so if you purchase grass-fed meats, you are supporting your local farmers. This stimulates the local economy through shopping at small businesses, so not only are you are supporting the local economy, you are also supporting a local family!
- Greening the environment
If you have never thought about the effects of the agribusiness industry on everyday life, you should check it out. Agribusinesses affect not only the animals involved, but they also heavily impact the environment through water and air pollution. The animal waste from factory farms is stored in giant containers called lagoons, and these lagoons have the potential to leak causing animal waste to run into waterways. This causes issues of dirty water in addition to the spread of antibiotics. Air pollution is another consequence to these massive factories. The constant stream of work never gives the air a break!
- Helping animals
Once again, look into factory farms and the agribusiness industry. Their practices may surprise you, which is why eating grass-fed meats lets you help animals! In factory farms, gestation crates, farrowing crates, and battery cages (seriously, look them up!) are used to house pigs, chickens, and cattle in the buildings. By buying grass-fed meats, you are giving these animals a chance to live longer, live outdoors, and live in a more natural way.
- Better tasting meats
Grass-fed cattle are grown using a grass diet over a grain diet. Cows are not meant to consume grain due to the nature of their digestive tracks, so grain causes sickness in the cattle, leading to antibiotic usage. By living on a local farm, cows, pigs, and chickens are free to roam and eat the grass and plants found in nature resulting in less antibiotics and less hormone usage, creating better tasting meats!
- Lowering Antibiotic Resistance
Over 84 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States are used in livestock food causing the population’s antibiotic usage to increase. As a result of the farming practices, factory farms use combined with the close confinement of the animals, the animals are bound to get sick. They become deformed due to the small spaces they live in; they never see the sunlight (in most cases) and lack vitamin D; and they are under immense pressure, so their stress levels rise. However, the main use of antibiotics on a factory farm comes from their use as a growth promoter, and antibiotics used as a growth promoter create an environment for antibiotic resistant bacteria to thrive. Therefore, buying grass-fed meats ensures that animals will only receive antibiotics if they are sick, and they will not be used a growth promoter.