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Organic Beef

More and more consumers are wondering if they should be purchasing organic foods, including meat, chicken or fish, due to concerns about consuming foods that may contain antibiotics and growth hormones Additional questions that arise include:

are livestock fed non-genetically engineered feed?
are pastures without animal remnants which guard from mad cow disease?
are animals treated humanely (e.g., open space, no cage)?

Organic beef, pork, or poultry is legally defined as:  

coming from animals that weren’t offspring of cloned animals, were raised on 100% organic feed, not given growth hormones, antibiotics or other drugs. Additionally, the meat has not been irradiated.  In the U.S., foods must be certified in order for the food to be marketed as organic. When referring to organic vs. natural beef there are apparent differences. Organic has to do with how food is grown (how the animals are raised). Natural on the other hand deals with how a food product is processed. Further terms used by the USDA in classifying food are as follows:

• Certified: Implies that the USDA’s food safety and inspection service and the             agricultural marketing service have officially evaluated a meat product for class grade, or other quality characteristics.
• Free range or free roaming: Producers must demonstrate to the agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.
• Natural: A product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and that is only minimally processed (a process that does not fundamentally alter the raw product) may be labeled natural. The label must explain the use of the term natural (such as no added colorings or artificial ingredients: minimally processed).
• No hormones (pork or poultry): Hormones are not allowed in raising hogs or poultry. Therefore, the claim “no hormones added” cannot be used on the labels pork or poultry unless it is followed by a statement that says, “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”
• No hormones (beef): The phrase no hormones administered may be approved for use on the label of beef products if sufficient documentation is provided to the agency by the producer showing no hormones have been used in raising the animals.
• No antibiotics (red meat poultry): The phrase no antibiotics added may be used on labels for meat or poultry products if sufficient documentation is provided by the producer to the agency demonstrating that the animals were raised without antibiotics.

All certified organic meat is independently inspected and monitored at every phase of production to ensure compliance with USDA National Organic Standards. Organic livestock producers use roughly one half gallon of fossil fuel from the time a calf is born to the time of processing. This is a considerable shift in traditional ranching which is highly fuel dependant and disregards working in harmony with nature. Additionally supporting local farms cuts down on the number of miles it takes for food to reach its end destination. Furthermore organic producers do not contribute to the environmental degradation of the land by rotational grazing.

Organic Vs. Non-Organic

When animals are 100% grass-fed, their meat is not only lower in saturated fats but also slightly higher in omega-3 fatty acids. This healthy fat is the same fat found in salmon and flaxseed, which studies indicate may disease the risk heart disease and bolster the immune system. Dr. Steve Atchley an advocate for health conscious meat says, “Any feedlot-fattened animal has a much higher level of saturated fat than a forage-fed steer," (Roosevelt). Furthermore, grass fed beef is lower in calories and contains more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which recent studies suggest may decrease the risk for breast cancer, diabetes and other ailments such as. Moreover, grass-finished meat is higher than grain-finished meat in vitamin A and vitamin E, two antioxidants which help to prevent disease.

Although there is evidence supporting organic beef, no matter which method of produce beef travels there are still healthy benefits. For example if one were to purchase non organic beef they have the option of purchasing lean cuts of beef such as a flank or tenderloin which is low in fat. Additionally due to the extended time devoted to organic beef, the price tag is higher them traditional meat. According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center prices for all beef products offered in retail supermarkets averaged $3.56 per pound, as opposed to natural organic products which averaged $5.19 per pound.

One ranching practice that has become a serious health problem is the grain based diets offered to cattle. A grain diet breeds an acid resistant form of E coli in the cattle which can be transmitted by feces and other dead carcasses. Also overuse of antibiotics in grain based cattle diets has caused resistance among many types of bacteria. The same argument can be made for cattle that are grass dependant, citing that natural fertilizer use exposes people to food born illness such as E coli.

Is Organic Beef More Healthy?

Based on the fact that organic meats are free of many antibiotics and hormones, organics also tend to have fewer pesticides as well. In one study comparing the pesticide residues between organic and non organic vegetables, it was apparent that fewer residues were found on those organic products. The Pesticide Data Program of the US Department of Agriculture concluded that conventionally grown vegetable samples were far more likely to contain multiple pesticide residues than organically grown samples. Additionally when comparing specific residues, it was consistent with all prior data in the fact that concentrations in organic samples were consistently lower.
 
Evidence suggests that grass fed beef may be healthier than beef raised in traditional feed- lots. Generally grass fed cattle are slaughtered at smaller weights than grain fed beef producing leaner cuts of beef and a lower percentage of fat. The bottom line is that regardless of whether the beef that is consumed is organic or nonorganic, consumers probably should not be consuming red meat (including pork) more than 2-3 times per week. Ingesting excessive amounts of red meat leads to an increase intake of saturated fats which increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. Moreover, excess meat consumption is associated with an increased risk for a number of cancers including: colon, pancreatic, breast, and gastric, to name a few. The risk for type 2 diabetes is also increased.
Furthermore, it is speculated that carcinogens found in cooked or processed red meat, hormone treatments of cattle for growth purposes, and the type of iron found in red meat may be associated with an increased risk for disease.

References

Baker , BP. "Pesticide residues in conventional, integrated pest management  (IPM)-grown and organic foods." Nutrition Action July 2007:

DeCarlo, Tessa. "The Better Beef Guide." Organic Style (2004): 1-5.

Palmer, Sharon. "Organic Beef." Today's Dietitian 9(2006): 36-42.

Roosevelt, Margot. "The Grass-Fed Revolution." Time (2006): 1-4.

"The National Organic Program." USDA National Organic Program Standards.
2007. United States Department Of Agriculture. 16 Jul 2007     http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/NOPhome.html

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