Organic Meat Versus Conventional Meat

If you’ve ever been to the grocery stores in the past few years and you have a keen eye, you’ll notice a minute shift on the majority of offered products. They used to sell a lot of junk and processed food but now they still do, but with a little more healthy food varieties.

And if ever you do choose the healthier options, you’ll notice a lot of “organic” labels. You then purchase these organic products immediately, either to try them out of curiosity or maybe because of the assumption that it is better for your health.

But what is the difference exactly? What are its advantages over the non-organic products? Here we focus on meat and discuss organic meat versus conventional meat.

For one, organic meat is generally more expensive than conventional meat. Why so? Because organic, used in this term, refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, and meat. Organic farming involves soil and water conservation to reduce pollution, for one.

Some examples of organic farming practices include using natural fertilizers and using crop rotation or mulch to manage weeds. Other examples include feeding animals only with 100-percent organic feed, not giving them antibiotics or hormones, and allowing them to graze in open pastures similar to the animals’ natural living conditions. Knowing these facts will make you understand why some organic products are generally more expensive.

Another difference is the level of Omega 3-fatty acids which is really healthy and good for the heart. Some organic meat and poultry have more Omega 3-fatty acids than conventional products do. The reason is simple: animals that eat more grass have lower fat levels overall and have higher omega-3 levels than animals fed more grain.

The bottom line is there isn’t much difference between organic and conventional meat. Grass-fed beef has a slight edge over grain-fed because of higher omega-3 levels, but the amounts are probably too small to affect human health. What’s probably good about organic meat is that you can sleep well at night knowing you didn’t have to take unnecessary hormones and antibiotics by eating meat.