We've all heard the names whispered in fearful voices during the last several years; avian flu, swine flu and mad cow disease. These health scares have all come from one main source; commercially raised animals, which are disbursed into our supermarkets. These animals are almost universally infected with numerous harmful and disease-causing bacteria and viruses; and that's not all! Industrial sized amounts of antibiotics are administered to those animals in the hope of heading off the varying sicknesses before they totally overtake their bodies. These medications do not usually have quite the intended outcome, however; often the medications kill off the weaker strains of bacteria, allowing the more resistant, and also more dangerous, bacteria to thrive. These are common facts in the factory farms, so why are we so shocked when we hear the word 'pandemic'?

These diseases come about merely because of the conditions in which the animals are raised; they are brought up in detrimental surroundings that act as giant Petri dishes for bacteria. However, there is an option which many people are turning to in these times of anxiety about the mass-marketed food supply. Grass fed meats, chicken and dairy products are virtually free of the bacteria and diseases that run uncontrolled through factory farmed meats and products. Grass fed and grass finished meats are healthier and more nutritious than their commercial counterparts. Many of the cruel commercial practices employed in raising mass-marketed beef and other animals, including the overuse of human antibiotics on animals, have been banned in many European countries for years, including England. Grass farming does not use any of the damaging tactics that are used by the commercial farming industry.|These problems that alarm the majority of people come about mostly because of the conditions in which factory-farm animals are raised. Luckily, there is something that can be done to guard you and your loved ones from the risks involved when partaking in the mainstream meats. Grass fed and grass finished meats are the option that many are choosing to get safer sources of protein for their families. Pastured steers and grass fed chicken are not raised in the unforgiving and inhospitable environments as those that are raised on antibiotics and hormones. They are allowed to feast on open pastures and have the individual space they need to prosper and live happy, healthy lives. Because they enjoy this better lifestyle and are raised and allowed to grow and mature at a natural rate, they are much healthier for us, too. Many other countries have known for a long time that the tactics used by commercial farmers are brutal, risky and plainly, wrong. Grass fed animals are virtually without viruses and harmful bacteria on any large level, and that means much less danger of disease in the meats supplied by traditional and natural methods.

Grass fed meat is also better tasting than the supermarket varieties that are produced by agribusiness. Favorites like rib eye steaks and grass fed ground beef are more succulent and flavorful when they come from grass fed cattle, simply they are healthy, naturally raised animals living and eating their intended diets. Grass fed beef is essentially different from commercially raised beef in that the animals are not required to live on foodstuffs that they would normally never consume, nor are they caged in shoulder-to-shoulder and made to suffer harsh and contaminated living conditions. Instead, grass fed animals are given the space the need to thrive, and they are allowed to graze freely in what truly are 'greener pastures', beneficial to their health and vitality. The better health enjoyed by grass fed animals is transferred to you when you eat grass fed and grass finished beef. The healthful properties of nutrient-rich grass fed beef are unlike those of any other meats on the market.

As our culture grows increasingly worried about health, as we should be, many people are bearing in mind the amount of calories they consume. Yet another advantage of grass fed and grass finished beef is this; if you were to trade all of your beef with grass fed beef; without changing anything else in your eating habits, you would save yourself more than 17,000 calories a year! At that rate you would lose about six pounds a year. What a jumpstart to a better, more vigorous way of life! Imagining the opportunities, however, is nothing compared to living the reality. Find out just how improved your life can be, and not just around the dinner table; make grass fed beef, free range chicken and even raw milk cheese the first step to your improved life.