Grass-fed beef is gaining in popularity in the United States as consumers realize the health benefits as compared to eating conventional, “grocery” store beef. At the same time, however, we’re also seeing more reports about the damage that the cattle industry is doing to our environment and ecosystems. What gets lost in the media coverage, however, is the difference between organic, grass-fed beef and the conventional beef industry when it comes to the environmental impact. It may surprise you, then, to learn that not only is organic grass-fed beef good for you, but it is also good for the planet.
In other words: it’s not the cow. It’s the how.
The beef industry as a whole is often criticized as a major source of the greenhouse gases that are contributing to the warming of our planet. According to the US EPA’s report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the “Agricultural” sector as a whole accounts for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions. If you unpack that category, you’ll find that the PLANT based agriculture sector accounts for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions while ANIMAL based agriculture accounts for only 4%! But, even that doesn’t give you the full story.
Just as the human health benefits of organic, grass-fed beef are significantly better than those of industrially-produced beef, so is the environmental impact. To put this all in proper context, however, we have to take a step back and define specifically the type of beef we are talking about here. That is, cattle that spend their entire lives on US soil (don’t be fooled by those Product of the USA labels), are raised on USDA certified organic farms, are allowed to roam and graze freely, are fed a diet entirely of grass and other natural ruminants and are never given hormones, antibiotics or other chemicals or by-products.
Studies by Dr. Richard Teague, a leading expert and research scientist at Texas A&M University’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, reveal that the regenerative agricultural and grazing practices that are common with raising organic grass-fed beef can actually result in a carbon negative footprint (check out the video here). In other words, those cattle operations actually reduce the levels of harmful greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. While the science can get pretty complicated, the concept is pretty easy to understand. Simply put, if you allow plants, animals and insects to live and interact the way Mother Nature intended, then the end result is an ecosystem that operates in a peaceful harmony.
John and Molly Chester embraced this concept when they launched Apricot Lane Farms in 2011 with an overarching vision of using farming practices that focus on the enhancement of the environment, wildlife habitat and biological regeneration of soil while reducing, or eliminating, outside inputs. They make all their decisions through the lens of “biomimicry,” which is an approach that “seeks sustainable solutions to farming challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.” If you want to learn more about John and Molly’s journey, be sure to check out the documentary The Biggest Little Farm.
When viewed from this perspective, then it is easy to understand why Andrew French writes that grass-fed beef is the most vegan item in the supermarket. Organic farming methods and raising grass-fed cattle relies on agriculture based on perennial trees, grasses and other vegetation and allows nature to thrive without the annual destruction of industrial farming methods. That’s why Andrew French believes, “the least [environmentally] harmful foods to eat come from perennial plants and the animals that eat those perennial plants.”
Food taste–whether produce or animal proteins–starts with the health of the soil in which it is raised. So, if your goal is finding foods that are good for you, good for the planet, and taste delicious, you owe it to yourself to try American-sourced, certified organic, grass-fed and grass-finished beef. You’ll taste the difference, feel better after you eat it — and you’ll help the planet, too.
