How can eating grass fed meat benefit my health?

Here at Legges, we make it our everyday mission to supply you with only the finest quality grass fed beef and lamb, in addition to a wide range of other meats which we source from a handpicked selection of farmers who are predominately located within a six-mile radius. 

We understand food traceability is important to you – you like to know where what you’re eating has come from and how it’s been reared or grown, and rightfully so! For this reason, whenever you drop by, call, or email to ask where the free range pork chops you’d like for supper this evening or beef within your BBQ burgers have come from, our Butchery Team can tell you! 

So, what is grass fed meat? 

Cattle, for example, who’ve been cared for and reared slowly on a diet of grass and preserved forage (such as hay and silage) provide us with pasture fed beef. 

It’s a familiar sight to see cattle happily grazing out in the fields in the summertime, and in the winter months, when they’re tucked up in barns together away from the elements, they’re fed hay (dried grass which is cut, bailed and stored in a covered area ready for feeding), or silage (grass that’s been cut, bailed and wrapped or compressed and covered tightly, to retain natural nutrients). 

Why is grass fed meat better for you? 

Grass fed meat has many benefits for both the animals themselves, as they consume food naturally and in a similar way to how they’ve evolved to do so over the years, and to our health. 

Here are just three of the many ways pasture fed meat can support your health: 

1. Fats 

Meat that’s been raised on a grass-based diet tends to be lower in saturated fat in comparison to grain-fed meat – supporting your heart’s health. 

Research suggests that grass fed beef, in particular, comprises two to six times more Omega-3 fatty acids (good fat) – helping to prevent diseases such as strokes, and autoimmune responses such as eczema. Pasture fed meat in general also has anti-inflammatory properties thanks to the high levels of Omega-3. 

2. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) 

CLA is a fatty acid that’s found in meat and dairy. It’s thought there are higher levels of CLA in grass fed meat and dairy produce ‘which may offer a potent defence against heart disease, diabetes and cancer’. (Pasture For Life) 

3. Vitamins and minerals 

Grass fed meat also contains higher vitamin levels, particularly Vitamins A and E, and is richer in other antioxidants. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, did you know Vitamin E also is associated with having anti-ageing properties? (Although we don’t recommend wearing steaks, like a well-known singer once did, to test-drive this finding!) 

Research also suggests this meat has greater mineral levels. 

Where can I find grass fed meat near me? 

The Pasture-Fed Livestock Association was established by a small group of farmers in 2009 and is now an organisation that ‘champions the virtues of grass-based farming and meat production’. Their website encompasses a hive of information about the extensive benefits of producing meat from animals fed exclusively on pasture – you can click here to visit it. 

“In addition to feeling strongly passionate about grass fed farming and providing grass fed meat to our customers here in Herefordshire and beyond via our website, I am also very interested in regenerative farming and would love to move a completely year-round grass fed system,” Anthony Legge. 

Can you taste the difference between grass fed and grain fed meat? We’d love to hear your flavoursome thoughts! You can message us on Instagram or Facebook, or send us an email: orders@leggesofbromyard.com.