Conventional meat VS Organic meat.
The stark differences are more than evident.
In Australia over a staggering 300 chemical additives are approved to be used in the production of food. Some conventional farms have started to inject their animals not only with antibiotics but chemical-based solutions that are aimed at supposedly building weight gain and extending meat shelf life.
People often wonder why animals are being administered antibiotics at all. Of course, animals get sick sometimes too, but for many years farmers have been injecting small doses of antibiotics into their stock to prevent sickness outbreaks. These outbreaks most often occur in overloaded mass production farming where animals are kept in very tight confined spaces which makes for the perfect bacteria breeding ground. Antibiotics are also used to promote the growth of the animal making for quicker turnaround times. Hormone usage in meat is not illegal and are used to see animals gain weight quicker than they naturally would so farmers can grow more animals at quicker speeds to ultimately make more money.
Interestingly enough most hormones have actually been banned in Europe since 1989. So what does that say about the impact that such hormones can have on animals and ultimately us as humans?
The use of chemicals and hormones on animals leads back the notion of animal welfare. If animals were raised in high animal welfare conditions like those of Organic practices there is an evident and substantial drop in chemical usage and the need to inject nasties. Organic animals have a completely different life, they are not subjected to doses of harsh chemicals from the day they are born, instead, they grow up eating organic feed and are out feeding in pastures where they build naturally strong immune systems. Organic meats are also less likely to contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as the animals have never been subjected to that chemical. These resistant bugs can be passed on to humans by eating meat that contains these super-resistant bugs and that's not the only thing that can get passed on. The chemicals that are used on the animals as well as the chemicals they inherit from their feed, don't always leave the animal and can still be found in the end product which is the meat that we eat. If we are constantly eating foods that are not natural and are laced with these horrid toxins with time they can bioaccumulate in our bodies.
Here's some food for thought: If antibiotics make animals gain weight and we humans eat meat that can and often does still have traces of antibiotics in it, what are the chances of that chemical making us gain weight?
If you needed another reason why Organic, Free-range and grass-fed meat can be of benefit to you, here is one more. Its been uncovered that the meat and dairy products from Organic grass-fed cows trump grain-fed cattle, with 30% 50% higher levels of CLA. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a trans and cis fatty acid and in contrast to other trans fatty acids, is recognised as beneficial as it carries antioxidant and anti-cancer properties which work toward slowing down tumour (mammary, skin and colon tissue) growth.