Grass-Fed/Finished Meat VS Conventional Meat & Processed Meat Substitutes

All too often, we base our food decisions on information that can be confusing without considering the whole story. At Wild Idea Buffalo Company, we want to be part of the solution, not the problem. We've waded through the information and have pulled out some highlights, but we encourage you to investigate the links provided at the bottom of the page.  

Nutritional Information: 

Nutritionally we know that conventionally raised meats (meat from animals that have been kept in confinement (CAFOs) and injected with antibiotics and hormones and fed an unnatural GMO diet that's laced with herbicides and pesticides) and processed foods in general, are not good for us and are disruptive to our gut biome. We are also learning that eating grass-fed meat that has foraged on a variety of plants and on a diverse variety of pasture, with lots of different kinds of wild plants, get an incredible array of phytonutrients. Animals that are allowed to graze like this will intuitively mix and match their nutritional needs to what plants are available, making sure they get the right balance of vitamins and minerals and provide a much healthier meat that passes more nutritional benefits along to us. 

“Meat substitute burgers, are highly processed foods made to replace meat in a meal and are then marketed as plant-based. We should all be eating a more plant-rich diet. And while these products do contain ingredients that come from plants — usually derivatives of soy, and in other product forms of wheat or pea protein — these plants are so processed and refined they are far from a whole plant food. Remember, Twinkies are plant-based. Ideally, we should eat whole plant-based foods. These meat substitute burgers are also combined with a large amount of other processed ingredients, like modified food starch, yeast extract, and cultured dextrose just to name a few. We can’t talk about these products without pointing out the use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, which Impossible Burger uses for two different ingredients: soy leghemoglobin and soy protein. We don’t yet have the complete picture of what GMOs can do to our health, but we do know that GMO crops like soy and wheat are heavily sprayed with toxic herbicides like glyphosate. Glyphosate also harms our microbiome, an essential part of our health from immunity to digestion, skin health, brain function, and so much more. Tests show that an Impossible Burger has 11 times as much glyphosate as a Beyond Burger, or 11 parts per billion. Research shows that 11 pbb is 110 times the amount of glyphosate that can harm your gut bacteria. It also has been linked to increased cancer risk, according to a report by a working group of 17 experts from 11 countries published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

If you’re choosing a processed non-meat burger over a beef burger from a conventional animal feeding operation or a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), then it is much better for the environment and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It may be better, as well, from a health point of view (but this is unproven as yet). But, if you have a choice between a processed non-meat burger and a grass-fed burger from a regenerative farm, the real beef burger is a much better option for your health and the planet.” - Dr. Mark Hyman

In addition to the nutritional benefits of eating 100% grass-fed/finished meat, the environmental benefits are also proving themselves.

“Managed grazing is a vital part of regenerative agriculture. At the highest level of sophistication, a skilled shepherd is an “ecological doctor” who has learned to use grazing to produce meat or milk and to create environmental health. The herd in his or her hands is a living organism, biological and ecological “tools” for creating health of soil, plants, wild and domestic animals, and humans. Managed grazing can moderate climate change, an outcome that challenges the view of feedlots as the best way to reduce GHGE from livestock. Collectively, managed grazing and other regenerative agricultural practices—silvopasture, tree intercropping, conservation agriculture, and farmland restoration—rank number one as ways to sequester GHG.” From: Is Grass-Fed Meat and Dairy Better for Human & Environmental Health?

"Phytochemicals in a regeneratively raised animal not only offset the impact of their gas on climate but it also benefits the soil through the quality of their waste. It’s an amazing positive feedback loop where the plants, animals, humans, and the environment all win." - Fred Provenza

“Regenerative food and farming, coupled with 100 percent renewable energy, not only holds the potential — through qualitatively enhanced soil health and supercharged plant photosynthesis — to mitigate global warming by drawing down several hundred billion tons of excess carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil, but also to actually reverse global warming while simultaneously restoring the environment, improving the nutritional quality of our food, and regenerating the economic vitality of small farmers, herders and rural communities.

Regenerative food, farming and land use, especially grazing and pasturing animals properly on the world’s 4.3 billion acres of pasture and rangeland, is the key to ending CAFO (and GMO grain) emissions and drawing down enough CO2 to reverse global warming.” From: Regeneration International

As we learn more about our food choices and the impact they have on the world in which we share, consumers are now becoming modern day hunter-gatherers. We realize this takes more time, but the planet’s health and our health literally depends on it.

Food is necessary to both energize us and keep us healthy. Knowing where your food comes from and how it’s raised or grown, allows us to make a personal connection to the earth, where all true good food comes from. This connection plays a vital role in not only nurturing us nutritionally, but also in lifting us up and filling us with joy.

We hope you join the growing heard of Earthetarians who participate in consuming whole, organic plant-based foods and 100% grass-fed/grass-finished, humanely field harvested Buffalo Meat.

Dr. Mark Hyman, The Doctor’s Farmacy Podcast

Is Grass-fed Meat and Dairy Better for Human & Environmental Health?

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