What Are The Benefits Of Eating Organic Meat?

With the growing demand for organic food, you can now find organic meat and poultry in most grocery stores. This type of meat must meet strict government standards before it can be called "organic." However, it may cost you twice as much as conventional meat. Consider the benefits to decide whether it is worth the higher price.

Features

Organic meat regulations stipulate that animals may not be given food containing animal parts. All food given to animals that will be sold as organic meat must be organic. Farmers cannot give these animals antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic meat and poultry production is often also more humane, since animals must have access to pasture.

Nutrition Benefits

Although not all organic meat comes from animals that have been grass-fed, the meat that does is lower in saturated fat and contains more healthy omega-3 fats and higher amounts of conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, which may help to reduce your risk for cancer. The more grain animals have been fed, the lower the levels of these healthy fats in the meat, so look for meat that is both organic and free-range or grass-fed.

Health Benefits

Animals raised to provide organic meat are much less likely to be infected with mad cow disease than conventionally raised animals. They also have lower levels of IGF-1, a hormone linked to cancer. Organic methods of raising meat also help to keep antibiotic resistance in human bacteria from developing as quickly.

Considerations

Buying your organic meat from local farms can help to keep costs down, though it will still be more expensive than conventionally grown meat, according to "Consumer Reports." Some large companies may also offer organic meat by mail order at a lower price than you can find in supermarkets.

Expert Insight

While "Consumer Reports" lists meat as one of the organic products for which it is worth spending the extra money, "Business Week" says it depends on how much of a risk you think mad cow disease is and whether you can afford the additional cost. Avoiding ground meat, processed meat products and meat on the bone can also lower your risk for mad cow disease, if you can't afford to buy organic meat.