The Benefits of Grassfed Lamb

As we become more knowledgeable about the ways in which the food industry damages our health and environment, many of us are investing more of our food dollars in locally grown ingredients. We're moving back to eating the way our grandparents (or great-grandparents) did, buying locally and in season. Many of us relish tomatoes and corn fresh from the farmer's market, but too many of us are still heading to the grocery store to purchase meat. Increasingly we don't have to.

A growing number of small farmers are producing locally raised meats. And many of them are moving back to traditional husbandry methods. Instead of crowding them into feedlots and fattening them quickly on grain and animal byproducts, small farmers are choosing to pasture raise their stock, allowing them to roam and graze on grass—returning them to their natural diet. Grassfed animals are more expensive to produce; they require more land and more time, but the effort is well worth it.

Grassfed meat has a more interesting flavor than the bland store-bought meat we have become accustomed to. It is also demonstrably healthier than grain-fed meat. On factory farms, animals are packed into feedlots and quickly fattened on grain, animal byproducts (which causes mad cow disease) and a chemical cocktail of antibiotics and growth hormones, resulting in meat that is high in fat and riddled with chemical residues. Numerous studies show that grassfed meat is lower in fat and higher in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and contains conjugated linoleic acid, protecting us from cancer. Our local economy benefits when local farmers stay in business. Our environment benefits when there are fewer animals concentrated in one place and when we use less gas shipping ingredients all around the country.

The facts can't be denied. Grassfed is better, but it definitely requires more effort from all of us. Just as producing truly pasture-raised and grassfed meat is not easy for the farmer, purchasing it isn't always easy for the consumer. There is currently no USDA regulation for the labeling of grassfed meats, but when such a regulation is passed, it will likely allow animals that are grain fed during the last months of their lives to be labeled grassfed. The American Grassfed Association is working to keep the standards meaningful, supporting a regulation that would only allow animals that have been pasture-raised and grassfed their entire lives to be labeled as grassfed.