All Natural Antibiotic-Free Vegetarian Diet and Grass Fed

CWatermelon

Hey friends who are Whole30 or Paleo friendly, I need some advice. I went shopping at The Fresh Market, my only local source for organic healthier choices, and was asking about meats and chicken that are grass fed and they guy gave me a spiel about All-Natural, Antibiotic-Free Chicken and Meat: 1) Never Given Antibiotics 2) Fed a 100% Vegetarian Diet - never fed animal by-products 3) Raised in a Spacious Environment producing a more tender item. Apparently this is the new trend in which TFM is heading this year. He said that most customers preferred the health benefits of this All Natural Antibiotic-Free Vegetarian Diet over the grass fed? There are eggs out there that are advertised the same way. Have you heard of this? What do you think?

MikeFlyMike

see it all the time. It is cheaper than all grass fed. You will also find people selling "grass fed" that is "finished with grain" and they won't tell you that unless you ask the right question AND then they tell you its better that way.

(if so, why aren't they saying "grain finished" in the marketing)
No I absolutely do not believe it is better than grass fed - either for you, or in taste.
Would I eat it? yes - over cafo beef any day.
But given a choice I wouldn't touch it. I had to go buy a 1/4 cow to get what I wanted - and saved a TON of money that way.
When I eat out - I don't bother asking and eat what they are serving

caribougal

I agree with Mike.

For beef... what they have is better than beef from your local grocery chain, but not as good for you as organic grass-fed (and finished!) beef. Vegetarian diet = lowest quality corn, which cows are not designed to digest. It makes them fat very fast and makes them cheaper to feed, but is not healthy for them, or us.

For chicken... that's great that they're vegetarian-fed... again, cheap corn and soy, probably. But chickens are supposed to eat bugs too! And move around and peck in the grass and dirt, for cripes sake. It's hard to find pastured chicken in the stores. Try to find a local farm for it, or order bulk from someplace like www.grasslandbeef.com. Buying whole chicken is much cheaper, and then you have the bones for stock.

Good luck!