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Is Grass-Fed Beef Healthier, More Nutritious?

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

May 26, 2022

Good Morning and hello from your farmer,

Beth and I have been actively farming and selling direct to consumer for about 12 years now.

It took us a few years to learn that it is very important to discern who you listen to as well as avoid. That is where I came up with my Four Rules: 1) They must own the land 2) They must own the animal 3) they must use their own capital 4) They must be successful.

For me to consider their advice they would have to be able to answer YES to all four rules. A "No" on any of the four kicked them out. This focused my attention only on farms (people) who are doing what we are doing successfully.

Through the Grass-Fed Exchange Board Membership I was able to develop a lot of great contacts. One of those is Dr. Allen Williams who lives (and farms) near Starkville, MS and is a partner in several companies to include Understanding Ag and Soil Health Academy. And, Allen rubs shoulders with a lot of influencial people involved in important research.

Recently, Allen shared new research (Dec 2021) performed by Dr. Stephan Van Vliet, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, Utah State University, The Study: Grass-Fed Beef Healthier, More Nutritious, found that grass-finishing, compared to conventional grain finishing, increases a wide variety of health promoting compounds in meat and improves animal health.

Many studies in the past have found that grass fed beef has higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids,
which have important roles in heart and brain health. Additionally, research has shown that grass fed beef contains higher amounts of very-long chain fatty acids, which are associated with decreased risk of heart disease.

Dr. Vliet's report goes much deeper and does a good job of explaining the scientific terms. However, it all boils down to the natural diet, exercise, and sunshine that the grass-fed beef receives as compared to the conventionally raised beef that is NOT fed a natural diet and gets very little exercise (or fresh air) in the cramped CAFO pens.

We are all involved in agriculture every day. As Wendell Berry said, "Eating is an agricultural act".

Is food something you take for granted - after all, food is just food, right?

Or, do you deliberately seek farmers who care for the soil, plants and animals regeneratively where you can get the best nutrition for your family.

At Nature's Gourmet Farm it is our passion to raise our animals the way God intended - in their natural environment where they can express their characteristics (pig can be a pig for example). And then be able to offer our meats and eggs to nourish families who are committed to a healthy lifestyle.

Have you made the commitment for a healthier you?

If not, and you are looking for premium ALL NATURAL GOODNESS of beef, pork, chicken, and eggs raised on pasture as God intended - without growth hormones, drugs, chemicals, and antibiotics - and raised humanely then you have come to the right farm. Our delivery schedule and product availability is listed below along with order buttons that will take you to our website where you can browse over 90 product choices and place your order from the convenience of your home. It's that simple!

More from the blog

Taste Test

Greetings Ben and Beth, I'm really looking forward to my next order pick up. I'm trying to improve my cholesterol numbers, thus eating more chicken, and ran out of your chicken products. I ended up buying some industrially produced chicken, and man was that a mistake! It smelled terrible raw, also while it was being sauteed, and also later when I reheated it to put into an otherwise healthy salad. I have enough of this subpar stuff to last until I pick my order, but I don't think I can ever buy this CAFO stuff again.

Beef Update & A New Product

Beef Update – Typically this time of year folks are hesitant to buy bulk beef for their freezer due to hurricane risk. That is why we have delayed our next custom half & whole beef processing until September. If you are interested, our next harvest will be September 2nd with pickup on September 22nd. If you want to be included then please email me your name, email, and cell number to be added to our wait list - and be the first folks contacted and guaranteed to receive an order. Beef prices continue to increase and hit a new All-Time high this week fueled by strong demand and limited supply. For example, based on what a 700 pound steer sold for at the Hattiesburg Stockyard Monday, I could make more than feeding him till he weighs 1100 pounds and sell as packaged beef - but our mission is to provide nutrient-dense, clean food to our customers. Effective immediately custom beef half and whole prices will increase $0.50 to $6.25 per pound based on the hanging weight. Retail cuts will increase for September deliveries as well.

Real Health Is NOT A Pill. It's A Practice!

Two Great Must Read Articles – Typically I don't make a big deal about articles we have read, but these two are so good that I felt they needed to be shared. The first is by Joel Salatin titled "Food Think" that is part of his The Lunatic Farmer blog. You can read the full article at this link. The second article is one Beth forwarded to me from the Health Viewpoints section of Epoch Times titled "Americans Spend Trillions on Health Care but Remain Unwell - Here's Why" Dr. Yang, FAPA, a board certified psychiatrist, begins by stating the difference between treating disease and building true health lies in a proactive and preventative lifestyle. Note - Beth and I would agree with other folks who commented that his article is spot on and very important for folks to read and understand. You can read at this link.