Well, not really. But carnivores can enjoy steak in an eco-friendly manner, experts say. It all depends on what the cattle are feeding upon. Grass-fed cattle have up to 33% less fat and nearly double the amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids than cattle that feed on grain. However, most U.S. ranchers raise their cattle on grain mixes composed mostly of cheap corn.
The grain-fed cattle bulk up quickly on the high-carb diet, so they’re more profitable for ranchers. However, a growing trend in the industry is bucking the grain diet tradition. The benefits are two-fold: the cattle are healthier, with higher levels of CLA, a linoleic acid associated with weight loss and reduced cancer risk, and have lower chances of being contaminated by E. coli. So what does all of this have to do with the environment? Simple. The corn that is mass produced to feed to the cattle is associated with major greenhouse gas emissions. A staggering 1.5 billion bushels of corn are produced in the United States each year just to have enough corn to feed to the cows.
