Food is amazing – it’s essential to our survival, it’s delicious, and it’s something that many people consider to be a passion. But there is certainly a range in the quality of foods that we all consume, from food from fast food restaurant establishments to food from local farms. When it comes to meat and fish products, this quality is all the more important. The quality of a cut of meat has the power to make or break the flavor and overall quality of a dish, and it can impact health as well.
For the vast majority of people living in the United States, eating meat is a part of life. Meat is rich in iron and protein as well as a number of other important vitamins and nutrients, and is the key source of both in the diets of many in the country. But many of us have not tried what would be considered a more exotic meat, the general population sticking to the essential staples: chicken, beef, and pork. Other meats like turkey are also popular, but other meats like bison and wild Alaskan salmon certainly have their benefits.
Buying free range meat has become more and more popular in recent years for a number of reasons. First of all, the meat that is typically found in your local grocery store is more likely to be less than ideal quality. In fact, supermarket meat can contain high percentages of staph bacteria, which is potentially dangerous if consumed by the general population. With nearly half of all supermarket beef containing this staph bacteria (forty seven percent, to be exact), more and more people are turning to grass fed and free range meat options. Many people are also turning to grass fed and free range options because of the sheer amount of chemicals that the typical farm animals raised for meat are given. For instance, many people do not know that as much as eighty percent of all antibiotics produced in the United States are given to farm animals that later become the meat on our tables.
But grass fed beef like wagyu beef presents a viable alternative. Though grass fed beef is likely to be the pricier option, it also contains higher levels of both Vitamin A and Vitamin E, as well as a higher content of omega-3 fatty acids, an important component of human health. Grass fed beef was also found to have significantly more beta carotene as well. And though grass fed beef currently makes up less than five percent of all beef sold in the United States, it is quickly growing in popularity for these reasons and more.
When it comes to free range animals, wild Alaskan salmon is also popular and presents a health conscious alternative to more fatty meats. Even the comparison in health between wild salmon and farmed salmon is significant. For instance, wild salmon is more calorie friendly, containing nearly thirty percent less calories than the calories that are typically found in a farmed cut of salmon. And types of wild Alaskan salmon have only around thirteen grams of fat. When comparing all types of salmon, the average fat content is more than twenty five grams. Wild alaskan salmon even has fewer grams of saturated fat, making the fat that it does contain much healthier. Wild alaskan salmon is the ideal choice of fish, and can often be found in stores that sell seafood online.
Eating meat is as American as apple pie, and can be a great way to get essential nutrients such as protein and iron. However, the type of meat that you eat matters and for the reasons mentioned above and more, higher and higher numbers of people in the United States are making the switch to grass fed or free range meat. From wild Alaskan salmon to grass fed beef and even bison, the options for grass fed and free range meat are broader than ever before. Such meat can be bought online but is also becoming more prevalent in grocery stores around the country.