WHY
GRASSFED BEEF?
Health
Benefits of Grassfed Beef
Eating
beef raised on pasture grasses and hay has several health benefits.
• Less
risk of E. coli contamination
Commercially
raised cattle live in very confined paddocks with many animals and
all of their waste matter. These are prime conditions for the spread
of the E. coli bacteria. Also, cattle are natural grass eaters.
When their diet is switched to grain in a commercial feedlot, their
stomachs become very acidic. E. coli bacteria thrive in this acidic
environment. Freely roaming on pasture and eating grass eliminates
these issues.
• Less
fat and calories
Grassfed
beef is 4 times lower in fat than commercially raised cornfed beef.
Since fat has more calories per gram than protein, grassfed
beef is lower in calories.
• More
Omega-3
Grassfed
beef has 2 to 4 times as much Omega-3 as cornfed beef. Omega-3 is
one of the ‘good’ fatty acids and plays a role in the prevention
of heart disease, cancer and arthritis. Omega-3 fats must come from
your diet, as your body cannot make them. Green grass is naturally
high in Omega-3. Corn, however, is not a good source of Omega-3.
• More
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
Grassfed
beef has 4 to 5 times more CLA than cornfed beef. CLA is proving
to be one of the best natural defenses in preventing cancer.
• More
Vitamin E
Grassfed
beef is up to 4 times higher in vitamin E than cornfed beef.
*
All data from the Journal of Animal Science
Environmental
Benefits of Grassfed Beef
At
Mack Brook Farm, our cattle roam over 50 acres of pasture. Their
diet is the lush pasture grasses, until snow covers the ground.
Then, during the winter, they eat hay harvested from our fields.
This type of farming benefits the environment in several ways by:
• Significantly
reducing the use of fossil fuel
Since
pasture grass is a perennial, it only has to be planted once, unlike
corn or grain, which are planted and harvested annually. Therefore,
heavy equipment that requires a lot of fuel is not taken into the
fields each year to till and plant or to fertilize and harvest,
as it is for grain crops. The animals roaming around take care of
both fertilizing and harvesting.
• Using
far fewer chemicals
Because
the fields are being naturally fertilized by our cattle, no commercial
fertilizers need to be spread. In addition to using less fuel, this
also reduces the amount of chemical runoff into our waterways.
• Lessening
soil erosion
The
pasture grasses form a healthy stand of vegetation and root mass
all year long that holds the soil in place, thus reducing soil erosion.
The root mass also improves water filtration.
• Enhancing
soil composition
As
discussed above, the cattle take care of fertilizing the fields.
The naturally deposited manure adds nutrients to the soil increasing
the amount of organic matter in the pasture. This enhances soil
life by enriching all the ‘good’ microscopic organisms essential
to a healthy planet. The decomposition process has an added benefit
of ‘carbon sequestration’ that reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide.
*
Information from the New York State Department of Agriculture
MACK
BROOK FARM
Free
Range Grassfed Natural Beef
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312 McEachron Hill Road | Argyle, New York 12809 | (518) 638-6187
2008 (c) Mack Brook Farm | site designed by Studio 162
