{"id":53243,"date":"2016-05-02T17:50:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T21:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=53243"},"modified":"2016-05-16T17:06:13","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T21:06:13","slug":"animals-too-are-what-they-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/ro\/journal\/animals-too-are-what-they-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"Animals, Too, Are What They Eat"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of a series<\/a> that explores the idea of mindful meat consumption.\u00a0<\/i>Have a question about how animal diet affects the product? Fill out the form below, or\u00a0<\/i>click here to submit<\/a>.\u00a0We’ll build an article answering your best questions in fall, 2016. Stay tuned!<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Humans aren\u2019t the only animals that need healthy diets for a healthy life. Fueling the body with the\u00a0food it\u00a0evolved to eat is better for animals as well as humans. If you are a human\u00a0who eats meat<\/a>, this type of\u00a0animal diet is better for you too.\u00a0After all, if you\u2019re eating an animal, you\u2019re essentially eating everything that it has consumed throughout its life, both good and bad. This isn\u2019t to say that chickens and cows should drink only green juice, of course, but it does mean they should be eating what they would eat naturally had they not been domesticated. This may seem like a no-brainer, but unfortunately it\u2019s not. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many factory farms\u2014from which the majority of Americans get their meat\u2014pump animals full of\u00a0<\/span>antibiotics and hormones in order to prevent illness and induce abnormal growth. When we eat those animals, we\u2019re ingesting all of that.\u00a0While the scientific community has not yet reached a consensus on precisely\u00a0how much better\u00a0grass-finished meat is\u00a0for consumers<\/a>, there’s no doubt that it’s better.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re eating an animal, you\u2019re essentially eating everything that it has consumed throughout its life, both good and bad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Grass-fed beef\u00a0contains<\/a> up to five times more Omega-3s\u00a0and twice as much conjugated linoleic acid (or CLA). This fatty acid is associated with reduced body fat and can provide other nutritional benefits. If that weren\u2019t enough, grass-fed beef has more Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and micronutrients such as sodium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and potassium. To boot, a 2015 Consumer Reports study<\/a> found that among 300 samples, grass-fed beef was three times less\u00a0likely than grain-fed beef to contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are what you eat\u201d has never been more appropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we buy cheap meat that is low quality and inhumanely raised, we are supporting a livestock system that is destructive,\u201d writes<\/a> Taylor Collins, co-founder of EPIC Provisions. \u201cWe are supporting large multinational conglomerates that destroy our environments, make animals sick, and produce meat full of hormones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By supporting farmers and operations that produce\u00a0grass-fed meat, you are voting for an agricultural system that supports the environment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A\u00a0picturesque image of cows is\u00a0one of them roaming\u00a0in a small group, surrounded by greenery, grazing\u00a0on fresh blades of grass. It’s not a stretch to assert that this is how cows should be raised. The average American cow, however<\/a>, does not see a single blade of grass after its first six months. Once the average cow is weaned from its mother, it is trained to eat grain that its rumen\u2014its stomach\u2014was not designed to process. When an animal is fed food it did\u00a0not evolve to digest, it’s more likely to get sick.\u00a0<\/span>Even when this corn or soy is „organic,” it doesn’t mean that it’s good for the animal. Regardless of what type of grain it is, it’s not what the cow evolved to eat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So why are factory farms with grain-fed, hormone loaded cows still the norm? <\/span>Farm subsidies<\/span><\/a> are a big reason. As long as feed crops like corn and soy continue to be subsidized by the government, this will be the status-quo. <\/span>But humans have the power to shake things up. Your fork is your ballot. By supporting farmers and operations that produce\u00a0grass-fed meat, you are voting for an agricultural system<\/a> that supports the environment. Think carefully about the food that goes into your body, and enjoy the benefits of a healthy planet.<\/span><\/p>\n