Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
One of the major forces behind the push for recognition of the health
benefi ts of grassfed meat is Jo Robinson, an investigative journalist from
Washington state. Jo told me that one day in 1985, while she was research-
ing omega-3 fatty acids, she came across an intriguing study. It found that
animals in the wild had much higher levels of omega-3s than farm-raised
animals, because they are browsers that eat mainly grasses and bush. Not
long after, she read that meat from farm animals raised on pasture and grass
had values of omega-3s that were very close to wild meat. She followed that
thread, spending much of the next decade continuing to research the topic
— though it wasn't easy.
“It took me years to research all the benefi ts of grassfed meat, dairy prod-
ucts, and eggs,” Jo said, “because at that time there was very little research in
the United States. We had totally committed our national agriculture to con-
fi ned, grain-fed animal production, so that's what all the research was on. I
had to go back to studies done prior to the 1970s in the U.S. research litera-
ture, and to European and New Zealand studies for more modern research.
But gradually I pieced together all these studies and discovered that grassfed
was better for the health of the animals, better for the health of consumers,
better for the environment, and better for the farmers, partly because they
could earn more money marketing directly to consumers. Grassfed is small
and local — there aren't any grass-based megafarms — so you are feeding
local economies when you eat grassfed.”
As her research continued, Jo discovered that grassfed animals don't just
benefi t from higher levels of omega-3s (two to fi ve times higher than in
animals raised in confi nement and fed largely grain-based diets). They also
boast higher levels of other benefi cial nutrients: Conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA), another good fat, is also two to fi ve times higher in grassfed meat
and dairy products than in those from grain-fed animals. Antioxidants (the
nutrients that help fi ght the free radicals that attack our cells, leading to
cancer and other ailments) are 10 to 50 times higher. And grassfed products
contain signifi cantly higher amounts of vitamins, minerals, calcium, and
even dietary fi ber.
Today Jo runs a great Web site for consumers and
farmers that helps connect grassfed producers with
customers. See Eat Wild in the general information
section of the appendix and Jo's topics in the topic
section of the appendix. Also check out the American
Grassfed Association (AGA), listed in the same
