Raising animals in a pastured based system helps create an environment close to how nature intended them to live and therefore have many health benefits including higher levels of Omega 3 Fatty Acids (essential for heart health, reduces risk of obesity, arthritis, allergies, insulin resistance and autoimmune diseases) and lower in Omega-6 fatty acids (may contribute to heart disease, cancers and depression). Higher in beta-carotene (reduces the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease) and vitamin E. The fat in pork is mostly unsaturated, and most of that is monounsaturated oleic acid, the same fat in olive oil (render pork fat for excellent cooking). The rest of the fat in pork is natural saturated fat which raises the HDL (the good cholesterol). Pasture based eggs include 50 % more folic acid than store bought, they also have 4x the amount of beta-carotene, 4x Omega 3 and less than half the cholesterol. Egg yokes (that are packed with antioxidants) are remarkable brighter compared to the pale yokes of store bought eggs.
Pasture based systems are built upon ecological and animal health practices that ensure there are no herbicidal chemicals used in growing forage, no growth hormones are used and no antibiotics used unless 100% needed for a particular animal. Agribusiness today is solely worried about yield and the bottom line so they pack animals into buildings, stuffing them with engineered food sprayed with herbicides that the animals are not naturally designed to eat, pump them full of medication to prevent disease that are caused by conditions they live in (which could be the source for some of these super bugs we have seen lately). Pastured based system philosophy is that a happy animal is a tasty and more nutritional animal, put them in their natural habitat and let nature take care of itself like it has the past several thousand years. You cannot place a value of knowing that the meat you eat had a good, fulfilling life and that its true nutritional potential was met.
Confinement Operation:
Inhumane Conditions
-Limited space
-Pigs cannot turn around in their pens as they get older
-Chickens are packed into tiny crates
-Cows are packed into feed lots and stuff with corn and other fillers, most never
seeing a blade of green grass once they arrive
-Inactive animal means more fat, less muscle
-Stressful lives from overcrowding
-Overcrowding leads to disease
-Standard practice of giving anti-biotics to prevent disease
Facility Operations
-Store waste in cesspools which can lead to air and to water pollution
-Buildings must include giant fans to remove ammonia from the stored waste below the
animals or the fumes alone could kill them and have negative health affects to workers
-Overcrowding leads to more waste than local farms can use on fields so
then must be shipped out. More cost & more air pollution
-Most are absentee owners so most of the money does not stay local
Pastured Operation:
Humane Conditions
-Pasture raised animals are allowed to run, wallow, root, sun bath and breath fresh air.
-Active animal means more muscle, less fat
-Stress free lives with social interaction and free to roam (mostly) as nature intended
-Lower populations tend to have less chance of E Coli outbreaks
-Anti-biotic free unless 100% needed
-Animals are allowed to do/eat what they are naturally designed to do/eat.
Facility Operations
-Slower turn around but better quality product
-Waste is naturally spread and returned to earth for nutrition for future forages
-Buying from local farmers helps support the local economy
Pasture based systems are built upon ecological and animal health practices that ensure there are no herbicidal chemicals used in growing forage, no growth hormones are used and no antibiotics used unless 100% needed for a particular animal. Agribusiness today is solely worried about yield and the bottom line so they pack animals into buildings, stuffing them with engineered food sprayed with herbicides that the animals are not naturally designed to eat, pump them full of medication to prevent disease that are caused by conditions they live in (which could be the source for some of these super bugs we have seen lately). Pastured based system philosophy is that a happy animal is a tasty and more nutritional animal, put them in their natural habitat and let nature take care of itself like it has the past several thousand years. You cannot place a value of knowing that the meat you eat had a good, fulfilling life and that its true nutritional potential was met.
Confinement Operation:
Inhumane Conditions
-Limited space
-Pigs cannot turn around in their pens as they get older
-Chickens are packed into tiny crates
-Cows are packed into feed lots and stuff with corn and other fillers, most never
seeing a blade of green grass once they arrive
-Inactive animal means more fat, less muscle
-Stressful lives from overcrowding
-Overcrowding leads to disease
-Standard practice of giving anti-biotics to prevent disease
Facility Operations
-Store waste in cesspools which can lead to air and to water pollution
-Buildings must include giant fans to remove ammonia from the stored waste below the
animals or the fumes alone could kill them and have negative health affects to workers
-Overcrowding leads to more waste than local farms can use on fields so
then must be shipped out. More cost & more air pollution
-Most are absentee owners so most of the money does not stay local
Pastured Operation:
Humane Conditions
-Pasture raised animals are allowed to run, wallow, root, sun bath and breath fresh air.
-Active animal means more muscle, less fat
-Stress free lives with social interaction and free to roam (mostly) as nature intended
-Lower populations tend to have less chance of E Coli outbreaks
-Anti-biotic free unless 100% needed
-Animals are allowed to do/eat what they are naturally designed to do/eat.
Facility Operations
-Slower turn around but better quality product
-Waste is naturally spread and returned to earth for nutrition for future forages
-Buying from local farmers helps support the local economy