Not using antibiotics can also be expensive for small farmers, who may rather help an animal recover from disease or sickness than let them die because they cannot use antibiotics to heal their livestock. Small farmers and conventional farmers who are not organic may also choose to abstain from using hormones and steroids which quicken the growth of livestock.
Hormones given to poultry and livestock correlate to a higher rate of hormone-dependent cancers , which is why some prefer to eat hormone-free meats , though those are not necessarily organic. She noted that studies are inconclusive about how much humans can absorb the byproducts of these hormones, which have been linked to certain cancers, but a surefire way to avoid them is by eating organically raised cows, which are never given endogenous growth hormones.
Hogan also mentioned that antibiotics are prevalent in conventional chickens and "can be preserved in the chicken we eat at the dinner table. Whether or not an animal is organic, knowing if it's been treated with hormones or antibiotics could be a useful guiding factor in your meat-eating decisions. The USDA's organic standards for livestock stipulate that cattle must be able to graze in an organic pasture for at least days during grazing season.
That four months of the year, however, is just a sliver of a cattle's lifespan: Most beef cattle are slaughtered at about months of age , meaning that most of your grass-fed organic beef's life may have been spent eating organic feed like hay and alfalfa pellets rather than grass. So yes, your organic beef is technically grass-fed, just like you're salad-fed if you only eat salads in the summer and crap the rest of the year.
If that's a no-go, search for the phrase "grass-finished. While your carnivorous guilt may lead you toward purchasing meat from an animal that lived a happy and carefree life, an organic label doesn't necessarily mean the cow your beef came from was treated like the queen of the pasture. The researcher of meat, dairy and egg industries described seeing birds with Marek's disease suffering from missing eyes, swollen abdomens and fungal infections at an organic egg farm in Northern California.
Reese also noted that the open pasture made the birds susceptible to predators. As a response, the farmer chained a dog to the chicken coop, which Reese described as whimpering with "matted fur" and no water nearby. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Related Articles. What Is the Flexitarian Diet?
Trending Topics. What Parents Need to Know. Grass-fed vs. Share this article via email with one or more people using the form below. However, recently, more people have become interested in turning to organic eggs, milk, dairy, and meat.
For many consumers and farmers alike, organic agriculture means more than avoiding contamination from pesticides and antibiotic bacteria. They want ethical and sustainable ways of producing meat. Take Grutto , for example, and organic producer that has published a manifesto on their website incorporating ethical and sustainable farming principles. Yes, animals deserve to live a good life and receive proper care. Food waste is also a big issue requiring more attention and action, and we need to fight for and preserve the biodiversity of our ecosystems.
Here are some key differences between organic and non-organic meat that you need to be aware of:. The first difference between organic and non-organic meat is that organic meat comes from animals that are not treated with drugs, hormones, and antibiotics. Food contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a big cause of concern as antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a cause of death for over 55, Europeans and Americans every year. According to a study published last year in the Food Science and Nutrition Magazine , multiresistant bacteria was commonly found in beef from northwest Spain.
According to an article published in the Washington Post , organic meat can still be contaminated with pathogens, though contamination is likely to occur with bacteria that can be easily treated with antibiotics.
A common question asked is what happens to animals that are raised on organic farms and that need antibiotic treatment to overcome infection.
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