Grass-fed, Hormone-free, Anti-biotic Free, Sustainable BEEF: Healthy for YOU, Healthy for the Environment
Posted on September 4, 2010
We received the following email last week from the Organic Consumers Association http://www.organicconsumers.org/):
“A landmark report released earlier this year from the President’s Cancer Panel, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, What We Can Do Now,” recommends eating organic food as a strategy to reduce cancer risk.
Though the “O” word itself (organic) is scarce, the authors referenced organic food in everything but name.
“Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers Similarly, exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic runoff from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications,” the report states.
Food produced without antibiotics, hormones, or toxic agrichemicals is, by definition, organic. Certified organic farms are inspected at least once a year and subject to surprise visits to make sure the harmful chemicals and drugs referred to in the President’s Cancer Panel report are not being used.”
This is coming from a Presidentially appointed panel on reducing cancer risks!
Organic fruits and vegetables are abundantly available in most locations. If you’re vegan, then it’s relatively easy to eat a fully organic, pesticide-free, hormone-free, antibiotic-free diet. But for those of us who tend to be more carnivorously attuned, healthy, tender, tasty meats can be more difficult to find than veggies and fruits. And if you do find free-range, grass-fed beef, it’s sometimes tougher than shoe-leather.
A new-old solution has recently come to our attention. A Mexican breed of cattle has been recently introduced into the US ranching and beef production market – the Criollo (“Kree-oh-yoh”)breed. The breed has been largely untouched genetically since its herds were introduced to the New World by Christopher Columbus. Rather than to rehash their website, I provide this link: http://www.leanandtenderbeef.com/ for you to read directly from the breeder/seller of this very tender beef. But to tantalize you:
• It is a very tender beef – genetically tested for a tenderness rating that is very close to that of Japanese Kobe beef
• As free-range beef, the taste is genuinely the wonderful, flavorful beefy taste that my mom used to get from her beef.
• It is lower in fat content compared to most commercially available beef
• It is raised, in this particular supplier’s case, without hormones, or antibiotics.
• It is very healthy for the land, because it will utilize an entire pasture rather than just hanging out near the water tanks, so the entire pasture is constantly being fertilized and the cover crops turned over, and it will eat more than just the most tender grasses, meaning that it helps keep the pasture’s growth balanced. This makes it one of the most “green, sustainable” meat-producing breeds around today.
We have tried everything from the ground beef to roasts to steaks on the grill, and found all cuts to be the most flavorful, most tender beef we’ve ever enjoyed. And we can unhesitatingly recommend it as an excellent source of antioxidants and protein for our clients, due to the humane, healthy, sustainable way in which it is raised.
Healthy eating, of course, means balanced eating. Humans are omnivores – we were designed to eat what grows in season, and animals that were roaming the land freely. I personally consume organically grown fruits and vegetables whenever I have the choice, and choose free range, cage-free bug-eating poultry and eggs, as well as grass fed beef, almost exclusively in my diet.
In our world at Homeopathy Center of Houston, we strongly recommend “organic, sustainable, local” foods be at the center of everyone’s diet. If you’re a beef eater, check out Criollo.
Bon apetit!
