Is Buying Organic Ground Beef Worth the Cost?

I've read claims and have heard critics explain that over 26 million pounds of antibiotics are given to our livestock each year. Compare that to the 3 million pounds of antibiotics given to the human population of the U.S. That number doesn't include the amount of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides that are used annually in animal agriculture.

The benefit to that is the quantity of food that is available in the marketplace. The downside is that we ingest directly or indirectly those antibiotics, insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides.

But there is an alternative. We can have our "beef" and "eat" it too! Organic ground beef is readily available. 

My wife and I have chosen to switch to organic beef products. They are delicious and do not contain the antibiotics and other 'cides' mentioned above. In fact, in order for organic beef to receive the USDA organic beef seal, it must conform to the following:

• No CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) - organic cattle must reside in facilities that allow exercise and comfort
• Open Air Grazing - cattle are allowed access to direct sunlight and graze on pasture land
• No Antibiotics or Growth Hormones
• 100% Organic Cattle Feed - no animal by-products in their food
• Traceable - from birth to market

Cost of Organic Hamburger might me a problem to many people

Yes, organic beef (which is range fed beef) costs more. 

Here's how we look at it. As a population, there are many things in our lives where we know what we should do, but we don't. We know we should exercise more but we don't. We know we should keep better records of every-day expenditures but we don't. We know we should eat better but we don't. And we know we should eat less but we don't. (The obesity rate in the U.S. is well known to be out of control.)

So our goal is to do more with what we know. If I eat less I can spend more on quality food. It really is that simple.

Bottom Line on Organic Ground Beef

So, buying organic beef costs more but we don't buy it as often. To paraphrase Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto": "eat food, mostly green, but not too much". Organic hamburger is food - good food!