Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Are You Chicken Shit?

Have you been scared away from buying 100% grass fed beef because of the perceived high cost of it?  I would encourage you to look at buying bulk amounts direct from a good farmer.  The cost ends up being very affordable considering the prime cuts you end up getting for less than $5/pound.  Here is a great blog post talking about why one should buy grass fed verse conventionally fed beef cattle.   There are many health reasons to go this route.  




Still not convinced?  Maybe this will put you over the edge.
"Increasingly, American cattle farmers feed their herds chicken manure, which health officials warn could contain dangerous bacteria that ends up in ground meat eaten by humans....
The waste that is mixed with livestock feed is a less expensive alternative to using grains and hay.

The U.S. News article cites as an example Dardanelle, Arkansas, farmer Lamar Carter, who recently bought 745 tons of manure from local chicken houses to feed his 800 head of cattle.
My cows are as fat as butterballs, Carter said. If I didn't have chicken litter, I'd have to sell half my herd. Other feeds too expensive."
The article cited is 14 years old.  This practice surely has been outlawed by now right?  Wrong, it is still perfectly legal.  I have no idea what the stuff in the grocery store beef section is fed.  Do the employees at the grocery store know if their beef was fed chicken shit?  I have no idea.  My beef farmer will allow me to tour his farm to show me what the cattle eat and why he may cost a bit more.  As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.


CP

1 comment:

Be said...

Friends don't let friends buy grocery store meat! Great post.