If you would only eat organic beef, why would you consider eating non-organic beef jerky? Beef jerky is surprisingly high in artificial hormones, which can cause a number of health risks. But this doesn’t mean you need to get rid of one of your favorite snacks.

Here are five of the most common and major health benefits eating organic beef jerky can offer you and your family:

1. 1. Lots of healthy Omega-3s
      Grass fed organic beef is is low in saturated fat (bad fat) and is high in Omega-3 fatty acids (good fat). In fact, organic meat contains two to six times more Omega-3s than non-organic. Omega-3s are heart-healthy fats and are also great for improving mental health. It’s also said that switching to organic, grass fed beef is one way to immediately lower your risk of heart attack.

1. 1. Reduces the risk of cancer
      The Omega-3s in organic beef jerky aren’t only good for cardiac health. They also help to reduce the risk of cancer because they help the healthy development of your entire body’s cells. Healthy cell development and reproduction means a lower risk of abnormal cell division.

1. 1. Better for healthy weight loss
      Organic grass fed beef and organic meats are typically better for weight loss because they’re leaner. This means they’re low in fat and therefore lower in calories. Therefore, you won’t have to feel like you’re sacrificing your health the next time you dig into a bag of organic jerky.

1. All the benefits of lean meat
   What an animal eats largely determines the nutrients of the meat. Grain fed beef is largely fatty and contains a high number of hormones and antibiotics. However, grass fed meat has the same nutrients and lean meat as deer. Therefore, by eating organic meat and snacks like beef jerky, you get all the benefits of lean meat such as lower cholesterol levels without the danger of red meat.

It’s great for the environment and your health to choose organic food from Kentucky farms that practice sustainable farming practices. However, when you go shopping for snacks be sure to choose healthy, organic, grass fed options to keep your body strong and your family happy.

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Whether or not you want to make any changes to your overall diet, choosing to eat organic food is a smart idea. Organic food is free from harsh chemicals, tastes better, and can help you fight back against cancer.

Need more than health benefits to persuade you? Here are some of the most common environmental reasons why choosing organic food from sustainable Kentucky farms should be one of your resolutions come next year.

Ecosystem preservation
According to the EPA, more than 600 chemicals are registered for agricultural use throughout the United States. This adds up to billions of pounds of chemicals every year.

These chemicals and pesticides affect our bodies as we eat the food treated with them. They also affect the environment and ecosystems in which they’re sprayed.

Organic farming keeps chemicals and pesticides away from the environment, which helps to keep farmland and soil healthy. It also keeps dangerous pesticides away from birds, soil organisms, insects, and other wildlife that are important to the sustainability of the environment.

Agricultural diversity preservation
It can be dangerous to rely on only one type of crop. Yet, up to 75% of the genetic diversity of American crops has disappeared over the course of the last 100 years. This is problematic because of the disastrous effects that can occur should a disease or insect attack this crop.

For example, the Irish potato famine involved only a few varieties of potato crop. The blight tore through the entire crop resulting in the starvation of millions of people.

Organic farming uses crop rotation as an effective technique to improve soil fertility and reduce the need for chemicals like pesticides. What’s more is that organic food is often grown in assortments to grow crops that are able to combat against pests and droughts.

Eating organic poultry, organic beef, and organic crops can do wonders for your health. You consume less fat and you’re not eating growth hormones or pesticides. However, eating organically can also do wonders for the environment. Therefore, the next time you go shopping, consider how to the foods you choose can impact your local ecosystem.

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It can actually make a huge difference for your health. Here are three unappetizing reasons why you should stop eating grain fed beef and make the trade to grass fed beef.

• Grass fed beef has more nutritional value
  If you’re eating beef in order to get a good source of protein, it’s best to stay away from grain fed beef. A six-ounce steak from a grain fed cow typically has 100 calories more than a six-ounce steak from a grass fed cow. Grass fed meat is also up to six times higher in good fat (omega-3s) than grain fed meat while also being low in saturated fat, which can clog your arteries.

• A grass fed cow lives a happier life
  Grass fed beef is leaner and healthier because the cows that eat grass for the duration of their lives aren’t likely to suffer from disease or growth problems. Grain fed cows, on the other hand, are less likely to grow from the poor nutritional value that grain provides. Therefore, farmers who raise their cows on grain are forced to use hormones in order to bulk up their cows for beef.Additionally, the low nutritional value of grain and the unlikelihood of these cows having been able to graze in an open pasture causes these cows to fall ill and therefore are often treated with antibiotics, which are then passed on into the meat you’re eating.

• Grass fed beef tastes better
  Grass fed cows typically eat a series of grasses, not just one kind of grass. They eat clovers, shrubs, rushes, sedge, and true grasses in addition to standard grass. This diverse diet helps to increase the taste of the beef. In contrast, grain fed beef that has been given only one source of food is often bland tasting or unmemorable according to a study by the Huffington Post.

Grass fed beef is not only environmentally friendly, but it’s also significantly more healthy than grain fed beef. By eating ASH-free grass fed beef, you can be sure that you’re getting the right kind of protein you need without any assisting, harmful hormones or antibiotics.

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Corned Beef Brisket Recipe

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You can quickly see the prices in the table below.

What Six Ridges Farm can offer that the stores can’t:

Traceability – Every calf is born on our farm and is raised here until harvest.  On the commodity market, animals change hands 8 times on average and travel thousands of miles.  None of the stores offer local beef products, with the exception of Whole Foods.  But they couldn’t tell me the farm or family they support.  Also, lot of grass fed beef is from other continents and is usually a 6-15 year old dairy cow.

Sustainably Raised – Pasture based farming.  Livestock are moved frequently to fresh pastures, healing the land as they go.  No chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used on our pastures.  Livestock are ASH-Free.

Transparency –  Anyone is welcome to visit the farm anytime. No trade secrets, no locked doors, every corner is camera-accessible.

Family Farm – We own and operate our family farm.  We aren’t land barons that hire farm managers to operate our farm for us.  We are hands on and love what we do.  We want to offer a healthy and delicious product to you and your family.

Bulk Discounts – Buy a sampler pack or a quarter to a whole steer, and save!  You can buy for as low as $6.75 a pound when purchasing in bulk.   From summer grilling season to holiday dinner parties, you will experience the practical convenience of having a broad selection of cuts in your freezer whenever needed. The time saving conveniences along with the economical savings make our bundles a great choice for families who are serious about eating healthy every day!

Commodity Beef at the Stores

As mentioned, I was surprised at the lack of grass fed beef in places like Trader Joe’s, Lucky’s and Fresh Thyme.  These stores pride themselves on having a healthy product and in some cases, boast of their support of the local farmer.

The commodity market is about trading on pennies; food quality and animal health are low on the list of priorities.  Livestock change hands many times, and travel thousands of miles.  Over the past year, the US commodity beef market has feel considerably for local farmers.  Prices dropped to less than half of what they were, while costs to raise the animals continued to rise.

LifeCycle of a Commodity Steer

Steers start with the cow/calf operation, then the yearlings operations, then are transferred to the finishers operations, and the feed lot.  Livestock traders are in the middle of each of these transfers, adding their selling fees.  Each purchaser will vaccinate and give antibiotics to keep the animal healthy for transport. Finally, they are shipped up to a processor that could process up to 29,000 head of cattle a day.  When labeling required the country of origin, ground beef often listed 4-5 possible countries.  There is no traceability on the commodity beef market.

Last year The Daily Meal posted this article: 19 Reasons Why You Might Want to Stop Buying SuperMarket Meat.

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Pasture Based Farming

Our grassfed animals live low-stress lives.  They are not confined to a feedlot, they graze on grasses native to their diet.  Each field has an ample clean water supply.

Our rotational grazing allows the farm to heal.  The cattle provide natural fertilizer.  Fields are not over grazed and are given time to recover before the cattle are returned for grazing.  By not over grazing, the fields are able to capture more rain run off to help keep water for grass to grow.

More Nutritious

Research has found that grassfed beef is  higher is omega-3’s and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than it’s grainfed counterpart.  Grassfed beef is 400% higher in vitamins A and E.  Omega 3’s and CLA’s are essential to brain health.

To find out more about the research studies around grassfed beef, visit Eat Wild

Highlights from their findings, grassfed beef is:

• Lower in total fat
• Higher in beta-carotene
• Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
• Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
• Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
• Higher in total omega-3s
• A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
• Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
• Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
• Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

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