Like Your Meat! This is worth reading.

For years I've been trying to persuade people to eat less red meat, and when they do, to eat "grass fed". Yes its more expensive, but how much is your good health worth? Because of the enormous demand for meat today, the production of beef, pork and lamb has evolved from the traditional farming methods to horribly cruel husbandry, with the animals being raised in cramped cages in dark warehouses, often stacked one on top of the other, especially in the case of poultry. Most of these animals never see the light of day, and are unable even to move in their cramped conditions, they exist under totally inhumane conditions. I wonder how people can believe that raising them this way, injecting them with hormones and other chemicals to increase their growth can possibly produce something that is healthy to eat? The spread of cancer over the years has coincided with the increased meat consumption. Not only does raising animals for meat production this way compromise the flavor of the product, we are at risk from eating inferior food, but also putting (real) farmers out of business. Any animal that is farm raised, by that I mean grazing in fields under the sun, exercising and eating its natural food 'grass' is a healthy animal, the meat from those animals is untouched by chemicals and hormones, and has so much more flavor. So many people I speak to about this say "Oh I don't want to know", not only is that remark ignorant, but the cold hearted willingness to turn a blind eye to whats going on just so you can eat meat without a care or a worry about how it's raised, well you deserve to suffer the consequences. Those of you who do care about humane farming, correct husbandry and animal welfare, not to mention your own good health, will take notice of this snippet I have pasted here from an article by Joel Salatin about the dangers of eating meat raised using (what should be) unacceptable methods. Joel Salatin is co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming.The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. But more money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin. The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It’s usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher.