Healthier meat & dairy

• Current controversies
• Pastured meat and dairy
• Hormones and antibiotics
• rBGH
• Factory farming
• Country of origin labeling (COOL)
• PCC's quality standards
• Links & resources

Pastured meat and dairy

Many scientific studies show that pasture-raised livestock is healthier for animals, consumers, the environment and communities than factory farmed meat and dairy.

Pasture-raised animals consume a natural diet of grasses and other plants that their bodies are adapted to digest. Pasturing improves their health, reduces environmental damage, and yields meat, eggs and dairy products that are tastier and more nutritious than foods produced on factory farms.

The USDA recently released new guidelines (PDF) for pastured meat and dairy but critics such as The Cornucopia Institute say that there are loopholes that could make the standards ineffective.

Choosing pasture-raised and pasture-finished also eliminates any concern about Mad cow disease/BSE.

See also:

Access to Pasture for Organic Dairy; Sound Consumer, January 2006.

PCC's letter to the USDA in support of pastured meat and dairy standards; May 2006.