It's the omega-3s...and the cows get it from GRASS, not corn.
Yes, pastured cows and chickens conjure up nice warm and fuzzy images of animals actually enjoying their lives which goes a long way with all of us sickened by industrialized farming practices. But beyond the cruelty aspects, lurks a very important public health reason to choose grass-fed...
As more research is piling in on the importance of omega-3s in our diet (actually, the correct balance of omega-3 to omega-6) it is becoming clear that feeding cows corn harms not only the cows (who were not genetically designed to eat grain), but the people who eat the meat. That's us. You and me.
If the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is too high, you end up with things like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and every other hell related to inflammation.
So how does 'grass-fed' factor in?
Omega-3s are found in grass. Omega-6s in corn. Corn is cheap. When we made the critical mistake of shifting animals to corn as their primary feed to increase profits, we threw off the balance of omega-6s to omega-3s in American diets. Going from a two-to-one ratio respectively to a ten-to-one ratio.
So that quick buck that was made by shoveling corn into our cows and chickens (and now even salmon) is costing you your health and threatening to bankrupt our healthcare system. As Michael Pollan says in his book The Omnivore's Dilemma, "We may one day come to regard this shift as one of the most deleterious dietary changes wrought by the industrialization of our food chain."
The meat industry is banking on the fact that you will be asleep at the wheel on this one. Make the decision to know and to vote with your wallet. Support your local organic grass-fed farmers...they are our heroes.
