Can Meat-Eating Be Green?

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How to choose the best beef, chicken and pork

Featured item: MAR 31, 2008

If we aren't vegetarians, some of our loved ones are. And when we give in to the carnivorous call, we feel guilty (or gleeful, like we're getting away with something we shouldn't be doing) and even worried: Is this stuff shot full of hormones? Will I get mad cow's disease? Is this going to fester in my colon for all eternity? (Sorry.) Turns out the beef, pork and poultry that’s best for the environment also happens to be the safest and healthiest, and—even better—the best-tasting.

Simply put, eating meat, any kind of meat, is not really eco. Farm animals are responsible for consuming one-third of the world's annual grains, such as wheat, corn and rice. In America alone, they generate more than 100,000 tons of manure per minute, posing a health risk to us, as well as causing huge algal blooms to wreak havoc on aquatic life. Just a little over two pounds of beef (about four large hamburgers) require up to 810 gallons of water to produce. Add to this the toxic pesticides and hormones involved in the meat industry—which find their way into the soil, water and our bodies—as well as the 80 million tons of global-warming-causing methane gas that get, er, released from the business end of the cows themselves, and we have a whole lot of reasons to lay off meat. But if you can't give it up, fortunately, there are plenty of ways to reduce your impact.

For some people, going vegetarian is a life-long choice they never think twice about, but for those of us who slaver at the smell of bacon, there is such a thing as choosing the greenest meat possible. With mad cow disease and beef recalls (143 million pounds!) frequently in the news, we wanted to get the bottom line on how to enjoy meat without as much guilt or worry. After speaking to such experts as Applegate Farms' owner Stephen McDonnell and Paul Willis, the founder and manager of Niman Ranch's pork company, we made a list of green meats, starting with the safest and most sustainable, so if you want to keep your eating eco-friendly, stick to the top of the list.—Patrick Reilly

1. Make meat your "sometimes food." While there are health benefits to a meat diet—high levels of protein, Omega-3 fatty acids—you certainly aren't going to get healthier by eating more of it. Consider meat as an appetizer or side dish to your vegetable main course: A steak dinner for one could be cut down into three smaller side dishes, or a couple of chicken pieces can be divided up and become appetizers. Or avoid eating meat at home, and treat it as more of a special-occasion thing for when you go out (although it's amazing how much cheaper the check is if you stick to vegetarian dishes).

2. Go local, support small. To produce beef, pork and poultry in large quantities cheaply, industrial farmers cut corners that harm the environment and result in a lower quality of meat. Using the cheapest feed—which can contain animal blood, bones and brains (this is how mad cow happens), not to mention feathers, chicken feces, and plastic pellets, all of which is allowed by the FDA—compromises the health of the animals. This means they will need be pumped full of antibiotics to be kept alive. These antibiotics are then passed along to us, and are thought to contribute to the creation of antibiotic-resistant super-bacteria. Farmers also increase their profit margins by injecting hormones into the animals, to increase their growth rate so that they can be slaughtered sooner. The effects of these hormones on human development are not fully understood, although studies have found that mothers who eat beef can produce altered sperm counts in their sons. While increased risk of breast cancer and early puberty are considered by some to be the possible result of hormones in beef, no conclusive evidence has been found. So it's in your (and your kids') best interest to shop from smaller, local farms. There will most likely be a difference in price, but you'll be paying for a better-tasting, safer, more sustainable product.

3. Know what the animals were fed. Unfortunately, farms are not required to list animal by-products, antibiotics and hormones as part of their ingredients, so the only way to be sure you're eating safe meat is to look for the following labels:

Organic: Organic, or biodynamic meat comes from animals who were fed only organic, pesticide-free grains for the entirety of their lives. While organic meats tend to be the most expensive, they are also the safest meat available.

Antibiotic Free: With antibiotic-free meat, it's safe to assume the animals were raised in a humane and healthy environment, since it is only when they are over-crowded, poorly fed, and pumped full of hormones that they require antibiotics.

All Vegetarian: Animals were raised on a purely vegetarian diet, fed absolutely no animal byproducts.

Grass Fed: Grass-fed is a term that applies primarily to beef, and usually means that the cows were raised on land with enough space to allow them to feed by grazing. Grass-fed cattle certainly seems to make for the best-tasting meat on the market, and as long as they were grazing on pesticide-free grass, they're organic as well.

Natural: The term "natural" alone doesn't mean anything, beyond the fact that no artificial ingredients or coloring were added to the beef, poultry or pork (which is a bit like saying no sugar was added to your water, so it's natural, too). As Paul Willis put it, the term natural simply means 'It's just meat', so unless there are other qualifiers like 'Antibiotic Free' or 'Organic' on the packaging, there's no way of knowing how the animals were raised or fed. Of course, avoid any meat products—this pertains to hot dogs in particular—that contain phosphates and nitrates, which are chemical additives used to extend shelf life. Anything with these words in the ingredients is most likely guilty of a number of other green sins as well.

4. Know how they were raised: Packing as many animals into as small a space as possible is another way to make industrial farming more profitable. The crowding greatly increases the spread of disease, increasing the need for antibiotics. Look for free-range poultry and grass-fed cattle to ensure that the animals were given plenty of space to roam, however, getting in touch with the farmers themselves is the only way to really be sure, since there are no USDA standards or requirements for free-range beef, and free-range poultry only need five minutes of outdoor access to qualify as such.

5. Know where they were raised: This is tricky, because the best meat comes from animals raised in an environment that can naturally support them, and more often than not, that environment can only be found outside the United States. According to Stephen McDonnell, the best grazing land can be found in South America, particularly Uruguay, where there's an ideal situation for sustainable cattle farming. Of course, livestock can and is raised sustainably on land in North America, you just have to....

6. Ask questions: Since there are few regulations in place to ensure that farms are living up to their environmental and animal-friendly claims, take it upon yourself to ask your local butcher, farmer, or supermarket manager what they know about the meat they're selling. Ask which farm it came from, whether the animals were confined to crates or stalls, whether the farms contribute to a liquid manure system and whether they were tail-docked (the cruel, painful and unnecessary removal of an animal's tail). They may not always know the answers to your questions, but at the very least they'll know that you care, which will make an impression that can lead to better buying decisions on their part.