As a Naturopathic Doctor, I am often educating my patients about their diet.  One question I often come across is, why is free range meat better?  This video by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) highlights the unethical treatment of animals that are raised for food. These animals are kept in crowded, unsanitary barns with the corpses of other animals, they are abused physically. Animals kept in such conditions are constantly under stress, and this has a detrimental effect on the quality of food (meat, eggs, milk).

These unsanitary conditions leave animals more susceptible to infection which in turn decreases the safety of the food that is consumed.  Marcos H. Rostagno, a scientist with the USDA has researched how stress in farm animals increases food safety risk.  In farm animals stress results from overcrowding, heat, cold, handling, transporting and unloading.  This stress causes alterations in the microflora found in the gastrointestinal tract, it can cause the pH in the animal’s stomach to increase.  Both of these scenarios increase the susceptibility of an animal to infections.  More pathogens that are present in the animal lead to an increased contamination of animal carcasses.  To maximize product yield we have ignored the well being of the animals and this has increased food safety risks to consumers.

Animals that are free range are exposed to less of these stresses and treated in a more humane manner.  They are fed a natural diet (allowed to graze pastures) that is easier for them to digest.  These animals aren’t abused physically and they don’t trample over each other to get to food.

The Journal of Animal Science has previously reported that grass fed beef and chicken when compared to grain fed animals is lower in fat and calories.  Grass fed meat is low in total fat while being higher in omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3’s are considered ‘good fats’ because they have a vital role in many processes in our body.  In a nutshell, free range meat is healthier for you and comes from animals that were treated humanely.

Here is the PETA video (warning: the content is graphic).