I Love Good Food!

Through my Paleo adventure some have called me a food snob – but I like to call myself more of a food evangelist. I know how good food can be when you choose the highest quality. Food is amazing when we get it from healthy sources and it is not tainted by the food industry trying to get more with less. 

The more information you have the better choices that you can make so here is the information that you need to make informed choices for you and your family…

WHAT DO THE LABELS ON BEEF MEAN?

Normal Beef Standards

Most cows are fed corn and grains. Grain and corn are cheaper than grass, and allow cows to grow faster. They are also often given growth hormones in order to get them to grow faster. When they get sick, which sometimes happens because grain can be tough on a cow's digestive system, the cows are also given antibiotics.

Grass Fed Beef

Grass Fed cows only eat grass or hay. They are not fed corn or grains. This beef contains more healthy fats than normal meat that you find in the stores. These cows aren't always fed out in a pasture, and they could be given antibiotics and hormones to help them grow faster.

USDA Organic Beef

USDA Organic Beef can be fed grass or grain, but they cannot be given growth hormones. The cows also cannot be fed genetically modified soy or corn. Organic cows are not given antibiotics either. The FDA recently allowed cows to be cloned and sold for consumption, but organic meat comes from cows that have not been cloned.

Natural Beef?

If the beef you consume doesn't have any added colorings, artificial flavorings, or preservatives, it's natural beef. It doesn't matter if the meat comes from a cloned cow that has been eating corn, given growth hormone, and was put on antibiotics for half of its life, it's still considered natural.

You are headed off to the store to buy a good cut of beef for dinner, what are you looking for?  Ideally, you would want to buy 100% grass fed beef.  This beef has been fed its natural diet and is healthier.  If we go back to our discussion on fats, grass fed beef has an omega 6 to 3 ratio of 1:1 – perfect!  But, if you choose conventionally raised beef, their omega 6 to 3 ratio is closer to 6:1.  These grain fed cows have higher inflammation, have higher cortisol levels and need regular antibiotics to stay healthy – sounds like us when we eat bad food.  What do I do if I can’t find grass fed beef?  Should I skip it all together?  Instead, buy beef with less marbling and/or cut off any visible fat.  Fat is where the toxins end up from eating bad food, chemicals and antibiotics. 

So if you are on a budget, you have a couple of options. 

1.     Buy grass-fed directly from the farmer.  You can buy whole, ½ or ¼ of a cow at a significantly lower price then $10/lb that you would pay at the grocery store.  The larger the amount that you buy the lower the price so get together with friends to buy the biggest portion possible. 

2.     Choose organic meat with less visible fat.

3.     Choose conventionally raised meat and cut off any visible fat.

The next time you're at the grocery store shopping for beef, you now know what the labels mean. Don't be fooled into thinking that "all-natural" beef is something special, because it's not.

WHAT DO THE LABELS ON CHICKEN MEAN?

Natural

No artificial colors or flavors were used but the chicken can still be pump up with a salt solution.  Again, this label does not really mean anything special.

Free Range

Birds were not raised in cages.  They have access to open air at least 5 minutes per day and this could mean a gate to a paved lot.

100% Vegetarian Feed

Chickens aren’t natural vegetarians since they forage for bugs when left to their own devices.  This label indicates that they didn’t have access to pasture but were fed grains and possibly grasses.  The important part is that their feed did not contain animal byproducts, which can mean ground up animal parts and feces.

Pastured or Pasture-Raised

Pastured suggests that the birds lived on pasture and got some of their food from the pasture environment. For poultry, this usually means that the bird get about 20% of its food from pasture source (grass, seeds and bugs) and 80% from grain/grasses feed mixes (corn, oats, soybeans alfalfa, clover, etc.). Ask your farmer what he/she uses for feed. Chickens, unlike cows, don’t have the digestive ability to live on pure grass, but the inclusion of fresh pasture sources in their diet naturally boosts the nutritional content (vitamins and omega-3s) of the poultry.

 Organic

100% organic feed, no animal byproducts, no hormones, no antibiotics, outdoor access, no irradiation, no pesticides (for the feed), no synthetic fertilizers, no sewage sludge (yes, folks, you read that right), no synthetic pesticides, and no GMO. Farmers who are in the process of converting to fully organic practices can use the term “transitional.”

Here’s how I Prioritize My Chicken Options:

1.  Pastured – You won’t find them in any Yakima grocery store and they are pricier than organic, but the poultry offers more nutritionally through extra nutrients like vitamin E, folic acid and B-12 as well as more omega-3s. Even though pastured chicken might not be labeled antibiotic-free, it’s likely the farm doesn’t use medication. It’s extra work to pasture birds, which indicates a greater commitment on the farmer’s part. Plus, the chickens are less likely to need antibiotics when they live on a natural diet with plenty of space.  To find pastured poultry, check out eatwild.com or your local farmers market.

2.  Organic – Although pastured chicken provides nutritional extras, organic poultry at least ensures that you’re not getting a dose of pesticides, arsenic, and antibiotics with your dinner.  You can find whole chickens ($2.29/lb) and breasts ($5.99/lb) at Costco.

3.  100% Vegetarian Feed - If a chicken isn’t pastured, the non-vegetarian part of the feed is likely animal by-products. Need I say more?

CHOOSING EGGS

 PASTURED EGGS are the cream of the crop and found at your local farm or farmers market. We get ours at Baron Farms in Wapato for $4/dozen.  ORGANIC EGGS guarantee you 100% organic feed and no antibiotics plus Costco has 2 dozen for $7.25.  As we talked about with the chicken, CAGE FREE EGGS doesn't tell you more than the hens did not live in cages.  OMEGA 3 ENRICHED EGGS mean that the hens received flax seed in their feed but I would want to make sure that they were fed 100% VEGETARIAN as well.

FISH

 Fish is pretty cut and dry in my book. If it isn't wild or sustainably caught, don't touch it! We buy most of our fish at Costco. We choose the frozen wild Hake, Cod and Salmon. Recently, they have also started to carry wild shrimp. Tuna is a little trickier - you want it to just be tuna in the can and no soybean oil or other extras. Costco carries Wild Plant Tuna that is pole and troll caught and Trader Jo's also carries a pole and troll tuna with no funky ingredients.

PRODUCE

Eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables is more important to me than where you get it. Know that local produce is usually more nutritious than produce that has traveled long distances because it starts loosing its nutritional value as soon as it is picked. Fresh picked usually tastes better too! I focus on organic when we are buying one of the dirty dozen (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php) and we wash produce in a 3:1 water/vinegar solution for 10 minutes before it gets put away in the refrigerator. Frozen is also a really great option, especially in the winter months.

DAIRY

If you choose to eat dairy product, choose full fat options. Grass fed is even better (Vitamin K2) if you can find it and raw if you know the farm that it is coming from. Full Fat dairy has gone through less processing and it has natural vitamin A and D instead of synthetic vitamins that are added back into low fat dairy products.

Pride and Joy Dairy in Granger has raw, grass fed milk and is worth the trip to check it out. We also use KerryGold grass fed cheese and butter that you can find at Costco and most grocery stores in the specialty cheese section. These are treats to us and worth the extra expense for good quality.

Leave all processed foods at the grocery store! Do not be seduced by their colorful packages and nutrition claims - they are not healthy choices. Stay out of the center aisles of the grocery store - they are filled with wheat flour, cornstarch, high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, and food coloring. These foods will spike your blood sugar and leave you hungry because they provided no nutritional value. Stick with whole food. You might just think they are just ingredients but they are ingredients that can make amazing food.