Why Choose Organic Meat Over Processed Meat?

Why should you choose organic meat? Well, because organic standards show tangible differences in the quality of the meat and the effect of production on the environment. Organic lets us benefit from the improved nutritional profiles of all meat, while also averting potential hazardous compounds. Organic meat has a better nutritional profile, it does not contain pesticide residue, it does not contribute to antibiotic resistant bacteria, it is against growth promoters, and all in all, it protects the environment.

What is Organic Meat?

Organic poultry and livestock farmers have to follow a certain set of standardized regulations to make sure meat is produced organically and sustainably with both the health of the animals and the consumers in mind. There are numerous distinctions between organic and processed but the main difference is in the animal’s diet and places of hangout, along with their treatment during illness.

Here’s How Organic Meat is Better

Here are some benefits of organic meat:

Pasture Access

Organic livestock like cattle, sheep, or goats, have to be grazed throughout the grazing season, at least 120 days every calendar year. The pasture on which they are grazed must be organically managed, minus the spray of toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Pasture-based diets are essential for animals, as more grass in their diet results in more balance in gut microbes, reduced acidity in the rumen, the largest chamber to duly process roughages, and an overall improved digestive health.

Feeding and Grazing

The diet for these organic livestock has to be completely organic, so it can’t have growth promotants, antibiotics, genetically modified ingredients (GMOs), or any slaughter by-products from mammals or birds. In the grazing season, organic ruminant livestock has to get at least 30% of their food intake from grazing on an organic pasture.

Living Conditions

In organic livestock production, an animals’ stage of life, the environment, and the climate needs to be taken into consideration while offering year-round access to all places outdoors. The outdoor environment has to include an ample amount of shelter, shade, exercise areas, clean water for drinking, fresh air, and direct sunlight. Absolute total confinement of animals indoors is prohibited. You can use feeding pads, yards, and feedlots to provide ruminants with better access to the outdoors in the non-grazing season or supplemental feeding in the grazing season.

Animal’s Health

On organic livestock farms, there is extensive practice of preventive healthcare to deter illness. The failure of those efforts allows organic farmers to use other restricted medicines, though antibiotics and most synthetic chemicals are strictly prohibited.

Environmental Health

Organic farmers must use practices with the aim to minimize impacts to the environment around the farm. There is a common practice of recycling manure into crop as well as pasture production to avoid nutrient runoff and bring up carbon storage in the fields. There is also use of beneficial farming practices like crop rotation as well as cover crops to manage soil fertility and assist in protecting the soil and water quality. Organic production could have a lower contribution to climate change by bringing down greenhouse gas emissions. Synthetic fertilizers as well as pesticides which are leading drivers of climate change in the agricultural sector are strictly prohibited in the process of organic production.

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