Why grass-fed, compassionately raised, free-range, and wild caught should describe the meat you eat

Who cares how the animals you eat are raised? YOU should! And so should the farmers who raise them! You may not think it's important how the animals you eat are raised...but it is. Not only how they are raised but also what they eat and the health care they are provided. Just as our diets and lifestyle affect our health, the diets and lifestyle of the animals we eat affect their health. Grass-fed, pasture raised animals create meat that offers more nutrients, less fat, less potential for bacterial infections (like e coli). If you eat unhealthy animals your health can be negatively impacted. Just look at what the Mayo clinic says about grass-fed beef...

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According to the Mayo Clinic: ​"Grass-fed beef generally comes from cattle that eat only grass and other foraged foods throughout their lives. Often, conventional beef cattle eat a diet that includes grains, such as corn, at some point. The difference in the diets of the cattle changes the nutrients and fats you get from eating the different types of beef. Grass-fed beef may have some heart-health benefits that other types of beef don't have. When compared with other types of beef, grass-fed beef may have:

• Less total fat
• More heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids
• More conjugated linoleic acid, a type of fat that's thought to reduce heart disease and cancer risks
• More antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E

I can hear it now. Someone is thinking...but I eat fast food all the time and I'm healthy! Most of us have not been raised on a diet of healthy whole foods cooked at home and it shows as we age. Our bodies cannot keep up with the toxic things we feed them. As a result some of us gain weight, some of us become stricken with autoimmune disease, some of us begin to lose our cognitive abilities. Overtime what we eat impacts our health. It's best to start eating right, before the impacts are too great. 

So how do you find well feed and well raised meat? First, look for a local farmer who feeds and raises the animals well. Here is a resource for finding such a farm. There are also some on-line retailers
that specialize in working with such farms to supply quality meat.  For example: US Wellness Meats has long been 'the' place for grass fed, grass finished, and compassionately raised meat. Vital Choice is a great place for sustainable wild harvested seafood. We at Health Empowered You order our meat for our families from US Wellness meats and our fish from Vital Choice. 

Have a favorite place to get quality meat and sea food? Please share with our reads by commenting below. Happy eating!